R-16 Mastering

[DRD]

If I run my tracks through Mastering, will all tracks be available to re-master or are they pulled off of the original recorded tracks and transferred to the master forever? I'm assuming that the tracks stay intact so I can listen to a few mastering programs to decide which mastering I want to use?

Also: Does the mastering programs eat up more record time? If I have 2.5 hours of live recorded songs onto 8 tracks on an 8gb card, is there still enough time left to master 12 songs? 8gb is supposed to give me approximately 3 recording hours with 8 tracks? I bought a 32gb card for future recordings. So, I should have plenty of recording and mastering time available with 32gb?
Thanks!

[mikethebass]

Hello DRD and welcome,

The good news about mastering / mixing is that you can make as many masters of a project as your sanity and SD card space will allow. They appear as Master 000 Master 001 etc. All Master tracks are stereo. A new master track is created each time you record onto the master.

As far as card space goes yes each master will take up space on your SD card.

A typical 3 to 4 minute stereo file is approx 40Mb so 5 mixes will take up approx 200Mb.

[Ignatius]

And DRD, your original tracks are not lost when you master. They are still there for tweaking if you like after you make "as many masters as your sanity and SD card space will allow." mikethebass's comment is germane, and recognizable to all those who have sequestered themselves, done without meals and rest, absorbed in perfecting a track, tweaking, and tweaking and tweaking (They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-ha to the funny farm, where life is beautiful all the time . . .")

[DRD]

Thanks for the replies. I'm just getting into the R-16. I've mixed a 3 hour band set, but haven't tried mastering yet. So far, the band is impressed with what they're hearing on a quick mix. I'm going to record again this Saturday with a 32gb card. I'm sure I'll have more questions as I work with the it. I'm looking forward to trying a few different mastering programs before I settle on one that I like. I'm mixing through AKG K240 Studio headphones. They're supposed to reproduce a flat frequency for mixing. So far, it's pretty accurate. When I copy to a CD and play it through a big stereo system it has clarity and punch.

[selbalicious]

Don't forget to try out the "Boost16" preset instrucs for a decent mastering configuration that pumps up your overall loudness, but doesn't introduce other weirdness (like too much bass/mid/treble whatever, and/or too much noise reduction (which sounds like it cuts off the reverb tails sometimes)).

You can read all about it at: viewtopic.php?f=17&t=16794

K