CD & DVD Products
There are a lot of choices when it comes to your CD needs. As musicians, we know that all too well. You're looking to get the best quality product, but you also want to be able to know what else is out there in an effort to deliver your music to your audience. Music releases are coming with a variety of different types of media, and it can be overwhelming...
We offer virtually everything that comes in the form of a digital disc, from CDs to DVDs. This includes standard Audio CDs and CD-ROMs, to Enhanced CDs, DVD-5, DVD-9, DVD-10, Dual Disc, and Blu-Ray DVDs. It's competitive out there and artists are increasingly looking for innovative ways to showcase themselves. We pride ourselves on being one of the premier companies in the industry at bringing those ideas to your product.
Ever considered incorporating a DVD into your recording? How about releasing a live concert footage video? What about having a web-link and media presentation on your audio CDs? Let us help! You'll find the answers here for all the questions you have about the large variety of different optical media products that exist.
What is CD Audio?
What is CD Audio? Simply put, standard CDs. Any standard music release today is done on CD Audio. Audio CDs were a revolution in the music industry when they were introduced in the early eighties, as they provide the best fidelity. The CD, available on the market in late 1982, remains the standard physical medium for commercial and independent audio recordings as of 2007. An audio CD consists of one or more stereo tracks stored using 16-bit PCM coding at a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz. Standard CDs have a diameter of 120 mm and hold approximately 74 minutes of audio.
We produce quality CD Audio, and as a result, we employ a relentless production standard of every single piece we manufacture. This includes data integrity checks and spot inspections as discs come off of our lines. As well, we adhere strictly to the "Red Book Standard" (the internationally homogenous set of standards for producing high fidelity CD Audio). Our critical practice of checks and balances ensures compatibility as we manufacture the disc and move it through the various steps of production. This quality control process produces the most accurate duplication of the client's master disc as it goes into Glass cutting, eventually emerging as a superior quality product.
What is an Enhanced CD?
An enhanced CD is a music CD that contains extra information which is accessed when your Audio CD is placed into your computer's CD-ROM drive.
Do enhanced CDs work in my regular CD player?
Absolutely! Enhanced CDs work the same as any other music CD in a regular CD player.
What's the difference?
The difference is that you can bring much more than just your music to your audience. How about a "Making of the album" video or interviews with your band?
Does it cost more to make?
No. Whether you're manufacturing a regular music CD or an enhanced CD, the cost is the same. The only extra cost is producing the "added information" you wish to include on your CD. If you supply us with your finished, ready-to-go enhanced CD master, we'll just send it into production and manufacture it "as is"... no extra charge to you at all.
Why would I NOT want an enhanced CD?
We can't think of any reason! Here's the deal: an average CD holds about 74 minutes of audio information, that's equivalent to about 650MB... That means that for every minute of music you are using about 8.7MB of space. Now, if your average CD holds 12 songs at about 3.5 minutes per song... then your average CD is only using about 365MB of space... that leaves about 285MB of unused space... that's a lot of space!
What can you do with that extra space?
Whatever you want! Think about how much you can put on there...
Basic stuff like HTML documents that link to your website
Better stuff like band pictures and bios
Even better stuff like video clips of your band playing live
Way better stuff like an interactive environment that allows the user to click on buttons and pull up menus and... well, you get the idea.
REMEMBER: Don't waste that digital space!
What is DVD?
DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) is an optical disc storage format that can be used for data storage. It is a medium that can store data with very high video and sound quality. DVDs resemble compact discs. Their diameter is the same (120 mm (4.72 inches) or occasionally 80 mm (3.15 inches) in diameter), but they are encoded in a different format and at a much higher data density. They can store any sort of digital data.
DVDs have become the standard in the entertainment industry, and it's unusual that you'll walk into a movie rental or music store, and see anything else sitting on shelves. The applications of DVD are endless for musicians. Increasingly, artists are using the medium as a method to create live concert releases and bonus extras. Animation studios, film houses, independent film makers, and television studios are all using DVD as the standard for product releases to providing entire seasons of popular television shows.
There are a few different types of DVD media.
DVD-5 is the standard DVD that you'll find on a retail store shelf. The storage capacity is 4.7 GB. They are single sided, and have a single layer.
DVD-9 is becoming increasingly popular as a format, especially for seasons of a television series. They have a storage capacity of 8.5 GB. They are single sided and double layered.
DVD-10 is a high capacity DVD. They hold upwards of 9.4 GB of information, and are double sided and double layered.
Blu-Ray DVD is the newest format, and is quickly becoming the choice of major movie studios and independent film makers who are working within the High Definition environment. Blu-Ray DVDs can holds upwards of 25 GB for a single sided, single layered disc, and 50 GB for a double sided, double layered disc.
What is Dual Disc?
DualDisc™ is both a CD and DVD in one - allowing an artist to deliver audio, video, and computer content all on a single two-sided disc. One side of the DualDisc™ is a full-length CD audio album, while the other side offers DVD content - including enhanced album audio and features such as 5.1 surround sound, music videos, artist interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, documentary films, photo galleries, lyrics, computer-ready digital song files, and Web links.
Wondering what kind of material you should plan on having for the DVD side? You can have a variety of special content on the DVD side, including LPCM audio, surround audio, video clips, photos and lyrics.
Dual Disc is a great way to maximize value for your fans. They can purchase a full length version of your album, with a series of bonuses and extras on the DVD side. Concert footage, videos clips, and photos are all added extras to making your record that much better.
