"Jim Lesurf" wrote in message
...
In article , Iain
Churches wrote:

As you well know. Dave, levels of pay in our industry are skill related.

ahem Given the clipping and related oddities I've encountered on some
CDs
I must confess to having my doubts as to how that 'skill' is judged and
applied in various cases. In some cases it is a 'skill' I'd be embarassed
to possess, although I guess if they are mainly concerned by their pay,
they may not be bothered... :-)

Jim. May I ask you a question? As a lover of classical music,
are you pleased with the standard of mastering of the CDs
you have in your collection? I am pretty sure the answer is
"yes". If not, I would be interested to read a list of recordings
that do not meet your expectations (bearing in mind that you
really need to AB between the production master and the
CD to know if there is anything wrong)

As a jazz fan, and a recording professional, I rarely find a
jazz CD which does not lived up to my expectations as
far as the mastering is concerned (bearing in mid that
much of the jazz repertoire is historical material, often
from concerts and club dates)

If I ask pop music fans, as I have done on many
occasions, "are you happy with the quality of the product",
they reply in the affirmative.

So, generally speaking, the mastering engineer has succeeded in
pleasing both producer and audience in three major, very different,
genres of music. Doesn't this rather negate your comment about lack
of skill in mastering?

A chef may offer Beef Wellington as his speciality, but if some of
the customers insists on soggy pie and mash.......

Cordially
Iain.