12 INCH VINYL RECORD PRESSING

Joel Plaskett Three Vinyl

Joel Plaskett - Three
Triple LP in custom gatefold

Buck 65 Vinyl

Buck 65 - Vertex
Over 30 minutes per side

Sonic Avenues

12 Inch Vinyl Pressing Quote

Please contact us to discuss your project with our vinyl pressing expert David

Rush service available!

Vinyl Quote Form

Contact info

Company, record label or band name:

First name: Required

Last name:

Your email address: Required

Phone:

Project Description

Project description, genre, notes:

Artist:

Title:

Catalog code (example: ABC002-V) - the catalog code will help identify your project in manufacturing and when you distribute it:

Currency you want to pay in:

Quantity:

Requested date:

Vinyl Format:

MASTERING

Album Mastering:

Vinyl Master Cutting

Length of A side:

Number of songs on A side:

Length of B side:

Number of songs on B side:

33 or 45 RPM:

If double-LP or other special requirements enter additional details here:

PRESSING

Vinyl color:

Special effects:

Vinyl Colors

PRINTING

Vinyl labels:

Add a UPC barcode

Cover type (jackets without spines are less expensive):

Inner sleeve type:

Additional insert:

Stickers:

Download Codes:

Other printed items or options (obi-strips, marketing spines, UV spot gloss, embossing, foil, Pantone colors, etc:

PACKAGING

Shrinkwrap or polybag type:

Shipping destination(s) or pickup:

Account Info

Address

Country:

Province or State:

City:

Postal Code or ZIP:

Other address info:

Additional info:

Your website:

How did you hear about us:

COLOUR VINYL OPTIONS

We can mix just about any Pantone color you want. We also have a wide range of special effects!

Colour vinyl options from Duplication.ca

PREMASTERING

Premastering is getting your audio ready for the lacquer cutting engineer. You can skip this step if your audio is already mastered and you supply an accurate cue sheet.

A cue sheet must be supplied for the cutting engineer to follow so he knows when to add the spiral between songs. Here is a document you can download and return with your audio files.

Some jobs we've done

The Pygmies Vinyl

The Pygmies

FM Attack Vinyl

FM Attack

Asif Illyas Vinyl

Asif Illyas

Eden Fineday Vinyl

Eden Fineday

Jessica Rhaye Vinyl

Jessica Rhaye

Steven Page

Ryan Driver Quintet Vinyl

Ryan Driver Quintet

Klo Pelgag Vinyl

Klo Pelgag

Joel Plaskett Truthfully Vinyl

Joel Plaskett - Truthfully

Zebrassieres

Chris Davis

Dinner Belles

Les Chiens

Animal Nation

Steve Poltz

The Visitors

Ben Caplan clear vinyl, gatefold:

Click the picture to visit his site

A few notes about vinyl labels:

Labels are not adhesive labels - they are pressed into the vinyl at high temperature.
The labels must be baked to remove moisture - during the baking there will be some colour shift most noticeable on pastel types of colours.

Most labels will be off-white due to the baking process.

On small orders we can use adhesive stick-on labels.

33 or 45 RPM?

If your record is under 12 to 16 minutes per side you have the option of cutting it at 45 RPM for enhanced sound quality. At 45 RPM the record is turning faster so there's more groove area for the music. It's analogous to the way an mp3 sounds better at 192 kbps compared to 128 kbps.

12 Inch Singles and EPs

Putting just one or two songs on a side will you give you the best possible sound quality. A 12" single will sound much better than a 7" single.

REFERENCE CUTS

You can request a reference cut before committing to lacquers, stampers, and test pressing. A reference cut (aka dub plate) is almost the same cost as a lacquer.

Steps to make a vinyl record:

Vinyl record pressing can be a slow process. Here are the steps involved in making records:

Audio Mastering:

Your mix engineer or mastering engineer should prepare a mix knowing it will be destined for vinyl. To get the best sound and playing time on vinyl:
- pan the bass to the center and consider that bass frequencies will use up a lot of space on the record. If you want to exceed 20 minutes per side the bass may have to be reduced.
- cut back the level of the cymbals and other high frequencies
- put the highest-energy mixes at the start instead of the end of a side
- don't use any out-of-phase effects
- a typical overly loud CD mix will use up a lot of space on vinyl, so the volume will just have to be reduced to compensate. You might as well make an enjoyable normal mix with good transients instead of a super-loud squished mix. To make a loud vinyl the ideal solution is to put less music per side.

File specs:

For best results supply one digital file for each side with a cue sheet file. If you supply a separate file for each song you have to tell us if we are supposed to insert extra space between every song. We accept files in 16 or 24 bit, and sampling rates of 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96 kHz.

- a normal 12" record is about 16 to 20 minutes per side, and acoustic music can be cut with little compromise. The more extreme your music and the more you exceed 20 minutes, the more you have to be careful in your mix.

We can also accept 2-track analog reel-to-reel tape at 7.5, 15 or 30 inches per second (transport and setup fees will apply to send your reels to the mastering engineer). We can cut analog 15 and 30 ips masters without converting to digital.

Direct-Metal Mastering or Lacquer Mastering

Once we have your audio in a suitable format with clear instructions as to the spacing between songs, we're ready to cut the Direct-metal masters or lacquers. Lacquers are an aluminum plate coated with lacquer, and your audio is cut into the surface in real-time to make the "master" image which will be sent for electroplating to create the stampers. DMM uses a copper plate instead of a lacquer. Lacquers and coppers are cut on a machine called a lathe.

The primary job of the lacquer-cutting engineer is to transfer your mix with the minimum amount of compromise and with the best possible sound quality. We have partnered with mastering engineers with many years of experience who are confident in cutting sides up to and over 30 minutes, however compromises in loudness and bass must be made on very long sides. If you want audio mastering, sequencing, fades, compression, EQ... that is also available at additional cost. For best sound quality keep your album under 20 minutes per side.

With Direct-Metal Mastering we cut your audio directly into copper plates.

Stampers

Your lacquers are sent to an electroplating facility to make metal stampers. One stamper is required for each side of your record, and each stamper is good for about 1000 to 1200 regular-weight vinyl records. If you want to make 2000 records, you must buy 2 stampers per side. For heavy-weight 180-gram records, each stamper is only good for about 500 to 600 records. Stampers are only guaranteed for the first run. Our standard packages include the 2-step stamper process so we can make several stampers from one lacquer. If you anticipate sales of up to 6000 units you can opt for 3-step plating.

Test Pressing

Once the stampers are ready, it is customary to make test pressings. You can skip this step at your risk (you benefit by saving time and money). The main risks are that there is a skip in the record or some excessive distortion. The louder the record, the greater the risk of distortion or skipping. But if the level is too low, the surface noise will be more apparent. The cutting engineer is trying to find the sweet spot where the record is as loud and good-sounding as possible without the needle jumping out of the groove. In practice there is only a problem with skipping in around 1 out of 1000 cuts, and if the engineer knows there is no test pressing he can hold back the level by 1 or 2 db to reduce the risk.

Ticks and pops

We wish our vinyl could be perfect, but that just isn't realistic. There will be some minor surface noise.

Paper Labels

Paper labels are required for each side of your record. You supply the artwork. Please advise if you want 1 colour, 2 colour, or full colour labels. We can also supply plain white labels, and on small runs it may be cost-effective to put printed adhesive labels over the white labels.

Inner Sleeves

Plain white paper sleeves are included with your records. You can upgrade to poly-lined sleeves, poly sleeves, or custom-printed inner sleeves.

Jackets

We also print full-colour cardboard jackets with your artwork. Our jackets are printed in Canada.

Pressing

Once you have approved your test pressing the machines are started to press your records.

Packaging and shrinkwrap

Your records and jackets are then inspected, assembled, and shrinkwrapped.

Boxing and shipping

Finally your records are packed into shipping cartons and shipped to you or your distributor.

Prices

Don't hesitate to contact us for a custom quote on record pressing!

Toronto 647.478.4273 / Montreal 514.878.8273 / Toll-free North America 800-777-1927

* NB: Turntimes are only estimates and targets. The turntime is not guaranteed and we are not liable for any "lost sales" or other expenses due to missing your release date. If lacquers or stampers have to be redone this adds some time to the process.