mike_mccue
And now ladies and gentlemen the really good news:
 
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/01/06/vinyl_lp_sales_hit_22_year_record_in_2013_digital_music_sales_down_chart.html

I went thru my album collection just recently and checked on some other albums and what they are CURRENTLY getting online in places like Ebay, etc.  Obviously collector records that are still wrapped and never played get premium amounts, but even good condition used records bring some worth.  It was actually kind of eye opening.  So...I wouldn't just ditch your old albums, even if you don't play them.  Got that old "Quarryman" album...pre Beatles?...  you'd be shocked at the value.  Also those old mono 33.3 records.  An original Led Zep album as well, as common as they all were back in the day.

Danny (and others...)   Thanks for your lengthy post.  Lots of good, reassuring comments.  I do believe the technology to do stuff in the box is getting so good, but will always struggle with the rep that it can NEVER be as good as hardware.  If the Manley plug is even 98% of the hardware, that's pretty darn close.
 
I also like the comment that what I may think is an improvement, is just my opinion and not reflect at all what the artist or others may think.  Sometimes that's a road block to get over and convince yourself!

I don't think the rise in sales in vinyl has much to do with the sound of vinyl. I think it is more to do with nostalgic reasons. One thing though is that they can only master up to a certain level for vinyl and they cannot really create a brick wall sound. That is one of the nice things about vinyl. You can also master a CD that way and still make it quite loud and avoid the brick wall approach.
 
I read a review once where they compared the sound of the Manley Passive to the UAD plug. They had a room full of engineers and switch blindly like 20 or so times and no one could pick a thing. So that sort of pretty well shows that software is as good as hardware, dont you think! People here who rave about how so much better hardware sounds would also not do very well in such a test, I can guarantee it.
 
You don't need million dollar setups to do mastering. Just some great knowledge and common sense and a reasonable setup (recording studio standard will do fine) Sure mastering rooms are nice but there is not a lot that cannot be accomplished in any decent room with a half decent set of monitors. Especially if you use reference tracks as a guide. If you have a beautifully mastered CD (from an expensive mastering suite) and use that as a reference for your own mastering and you are good at listening and comparing and tweaking your tracks to sound very very similar then in a way you are eliminating the less than perfect aspects of your setup out of the equation. And if you are wondering where do you get the reference tracks from. Easy, the client will always have them on hand. And they won't think any less of you for asking for a lend of them. Mostly they are impressed that you are wanting to achieve the same result.
 
I have mastered albums inside expensive mastering suites and many outside that environment too and you really would not be able to pick the difference between the two very easily.
 
I have mastered many many albums this way, been paid a lot to do it and have a whole lot of very very happy customers. That says it all and in a funny way it is a trick of the trade.

"You don't need million dollar setups to do mastering. Just some great knowledge and common sense..."
whoa, Jeff, you had to go and ruin it for everyone, didn't you?

"I don't think the rise in sales in vinyl has much to do with..."
 
The report spoke of the fact that iTunes posted it's first decline in sales since it started while CDs continued to nose dive into oblivion.
 
The good news... LP sales are UP^. There were 6,000,000 LPs sold last year.
 
Now, to put that in perspective; If that was hamburgers, McDonald's wouldn't even bother sending someone out to update the sign.
 
 

Jeff Evans
I don't think the rise in sales in vinyl has much to do with the sound of vinyl. I think it is more to do with nostalgic reasons.

I of course have no facts, but I got the impression that there has been in increase of people that prefer the sound of vinyl, and that's why it is on the rise.  I mean from ipod MP3 playback.. what directions are really left for sound quality (i.e. better or worse!!).  But, I also think another large part of it, to my understanding is that there is this whole new generation of listeners that's never really delved into the music before the "disco era" and is showing an interest beyond just tuning to the local classic rock station.  I don't think it's just Dad getting his turntable out from the garage.

Just a thought...
 
What if you went at it backwards?
 
Go to them with a song you've mixed for which you're seeking someone to do the mastering, but make it a song that sounds so great they're going to be impressed.
 
Also bring along a song you "want it to sound similar to" and make that a song you mastered for a third party.
 
Perhaps this is complete madness; I don't know, but I should think if you go looking to give them business but they see they could benefit from farming stuff out to you, it'll open up a dialog faster than the "I can fix your stuff for you" approach.
 
To quote someone (can't remember who): No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.
 
And if you care enough to give them business, they'll care enough to find out what you know and can contribute.
 
Or am I just nuts?
 

rontarrant
 it'll open up a dialog faster than the "I can fix your stuff for you" approach.
 
 

no...you're not nuts, but the above, extracted from your post sinks in good.  That's something to think about and tread carefully.  I like the first part of the idea, and just skip the reference song to compare to.

LPs are back because you cannot roll a joint on an MP3,  It is possible on a CD case, but it is not as comfortable as an LP cover.
 
Also, you will hear from lots people on forums that you are not doing it right because it does not sound like dark side of the moon, unless you are re-doing DSOTM, it should not sound like DSOTM.

mike_mccue
And now ladies and gentlemen the really good news:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/01/06/vinyl_lp_sales_hit_22_year_record_in_2013_digital_music_sales_down_chart.html

That IS good news!