Processing sequence, 7 processing sequence – Sonnox Fraunhofer Pro-Codec User Manual
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5.7 Processing Sequence
5 THE PRO-CODEC PLUG-IN
5.7 Processing Sequence
The concept underlying the development of this plug-in was that it should be the very last
item in the mastering chain. A 16 or 24 bit master has been finalised and possibly
rendered to a WAV file. What is now required is to take that finalised master and produce
an encoded, data-compressed version (or versions) for end-user playback.
In other words, the mix would normally be fed via a limiter to control peaks, and then
dither would be applied before the data is truncated and written to the 16 or 24 bit WAV
master. Again, under normal circumstances, this WAV file would be passed via an
encoder to derive a final MP3 or AAC file for end-user distribution.
However, please note that this final step is not necessarily carried out currently by the
mastering engineer. Frequently, only the WAV file (or AIFF, or lossless encoded file) is sent
to the distributor or aggregator. This means that the mastering engineer has no control
over which encoders are used, which encoder parameters are used, or whether the final
encoded file will clip and/or distort when played back on a consumer device. Also, there
is little point in producing a mix optimised for a particular codec or bit rate.
The mastering engineer can now achieve this control by using the Pro-Codec plug-in.
Each mix can be auditioned exactly as the end-user will hear it; and consequently the mix
can be tuned appropriately by the mastering engineer for a selected codec.
It is important to note that the Pro-Codec plug-in should be used
after the limiter → dither
→ truncate process. If a dithered master WAV file is required, it should be rendered with
the Plug-In monitor set to input or with the Plug-In bypassed.