Customer Reviews
Audio Bible 
2008-09-29
This is a must-have book for anyone interested in best practices when it come to digital audio. Its quite similar to the first edition but its clearly had a thorough revision with loads of extra stuff. Don't think about it, just buy it. How many other authors can be bothered to go into so much detail on the subject and even answer questions on Gearslutz dot com?
Great help in Mastering Audio 2008-07-30
Just what I needed, specific information and guidance in Mastering Audio. I found it a great help and well worth the money. I would recommend the book to others for sure.
Some excellent opinions and hopefully trend changing. 
2008-06-29
After reading (no, devouring) Mastering Audio I had mostly good feelings and it is difficult for me to describe why it wasn't great. Bob Katz is absolutely spot on about the state of mastering in the past decade and that over compressing audio has ruined music. It is without a doubt required reading on the subject. But being that I do not have a state of the art mastering facility (lets be honest, how many of you do?) this book takes a high end view on a subject that has increasingly become a do-it-yourself reality. All in all this is very good book. If I were building a mastering studio it would be essential. If you are mastering your own stuff (for many valid reasons, some being: making sure it turns out right, cost effectiveness, furthering your own creativity) this book may leave you guessing or often times searching the internet for acronym definitions. This could be a good thing, it leaves us to make our own critical decisions based on a foundation. Time will tell if this edition becomes a 5-star classic. Or has it already?
Amazing book 2008-05-02
As a college student who has gone through an intense recording program, and is now going into mastering as an internship, this book is amazing. Not only did it give me an idea of what I'm getting into at most mastering houses, but it gave me a head start in knowing what I might be doing there. Bob Katz's book is great for any student who has gone through at least three years of experience in an intense audio program. Less than that and you won't understand the book to it's full potential.
The best book on mastering, and why recordings sound like they do 2008-03-03
I've seen no better book on how mastering works, all the elements, what they mean and what they do.
Moreover, anyone involved with recorded music should read this. The insights into why things sound as they do, how all the steps, processes, tools (plugins and hardware) work are invaluable. Engineers of any skill level will benefit. Musicians, home studio operators will benefit as well understanding how to prepare you projects for best chance of success, and how to best work with any engineering professional you choose to involve in your production process.
Highly recommended!
Good level of detail. 2008-02-16
Written by an award winning, highly respected professional, Mastering Audio gives you a thorough introduction to the unique procedures and technical issues involved in mastering.
Suitable for all levels of students and professionals, it is ideal for anyone who wants to increase their mastery of digital and analog audio: musicians, producers, A&R, mastering, recording and mixing engineers.
Fully updated to cover the latest technologies, Mastering Audio discusses audio philosophy and art: sequencing, leveling, processing; how to make a record album radio-ready; mixing as it reltes to mstering. Divided into 5 parts, the book begins with the basics - monitoring, mastering techniques, useful tutorials and the fundamentals of dithering and decibels and moves on to more advanced concepts - jitter and clocking, monitor collaboration as well as multi channel audio, miking and acoustics. Leading-edge audio concepts are explained in an easy-to-grasp holistic style.
Including practical tips and real world experiences, Bob Katz explains the technical detail of the subject in his informative and humorous style.
* Written by a well respected engineer who has engineered albums which have won the Grammy
* Provides you with information on the latest techniques and processes used in mastering
* Covers equipment, training and the business of mastering and answers all the frequently asked questions
Mastering Audio 2008-01-07
This was a gift for my son-in-law, who works in the computer sound industry and he was thrilled.
Mastering Audio Is Appropriately Titled 2007-12-07
If you want to know what these mastering folks do and how to record
to prepare your efforts for mastering, this is the book. I have
read others and they do not provide the detail or the information
needed to see the big picture from both the technical and artistic
sides. This is a great read.
A must have for everyone 2007-11-21
This book is amazing!!!, it's full of information that let me understand a lot of new sides of my career, I been into this bussiness 17 years and I still learning every day , much of that knowledge come from books like this, many thanks to Mr Katz.
In this book you will find practical information and also teorical information both written in a very clear way.
Nerio Gutierrez Ross
Madrid Spain
Very useful - but not gospel truth. 2007-06-14
Bob Katz knows his stuff. I thought I was an experienced engineer and knew quite a bit already, but Bob goes into details here that I have hitherto not explored. However, Bob is a little on the snobby side when it comes to his opinions (which are never stated as such) on certain technologies. So take what he says with a grain of salt. Also, be advised that Bob is well-known in the industry for mastering audiophile recordings - a very small segment of the market that doesn't quite represent the typical approach to mastering that others use. Having said that, Bob can teach any mastering engineer a thing or two when it comes to cleaning up either analog or digital signal paths.
I think this book is meant for advanced engineers, and will likely confuse those who are amateurs or just getting started in the audio engineering field. It's chapter order is somewhat random, and he doesn't quite seem to know just who his audience is. He assumes different levels of prerequisite knowledge on different subjects... The man is obviously more an engineer and less an educator and writer.
It contains very valuable knowledge - just be prepared to tread water occasionally. :-) For those looking for a more entry level treatment of mastering, check out Bobby Owinski's "The Mastering Engineer's Handbook." While the title is a bit ostentatious, it gives a much broader and well-written overview of the Mastering profession than Mr. Katz does. Then, you'll probably be better able to glean useful information from "Mastering Audio."
