Turn any digital audio file - from Spoken Word to your latest Music Creation (from Audacity/Garageband/Abelton/Cubase) into a playable Vinyl Record for only $28 using our Dubplate Etching services. Our miniature 5.125" (130mm) diameter Dubplate Vinyl Masters can be set to play at 33rpm or 45rpm on your record player, hold up to 4 minutes in length per side, comes with a custom full-color slipcover jacket, and can be played on all modern record players for a quaint lo-fi nostalgia trip!
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These make great one-of-a-kind gifts for new record player owners looking to play an original composition that they alone can enjoy. In the world of mass-produced media, think of the power of one singular copy that you can give to one person in the whole world! Simply make an audio recording of friends and family's voices on your phone, and them save them for future (or past) generations. Officially, a Dubplate is an acetate disc to test recordings prior to mastering for the subsequent pressing of a vinyl record. Their main benefit is that they appear to be 'exclusive' music because they are etched individually, and not in bulk like traditional vinyl records. No two are alike!
Once the audio is submitted to our studio, our audio engineers start by applying our exclusive digital post processing that will prepare your audio for etching onto acetate. There is some EQ Loss when etching analog signals (as evidenced by the typical RIAA post-EQ applied to most record players today), and so we begin by adjusting our filter curves to meet the highest possible standards, using our custom Equalizer settings to create an audio pressing master (which sounds decidedly different than the original). We finish with any necessary speed adjustments and normalization before it's trimmed into individual audio files and etched onto both sides of a blank Dubplate.
Exclusively from Under Design, you can also send us two images (square cropped, with a minimum resolution of 1600 pixels) to be used as the front & back jacket of your new miniature album as a full-color paper jacket slipcover! We'll print it and assemble it and slip your new one-of-a-kind Vinyl Dubplate memento into it for safekeeping and storage. They also make a great bookshelf 'album' decoration.
The major issue with Dubplates is that due to the soft acetate layer, you can only get a few high quality plays with each Dubplate before the playback needle deteriorates the sound quality; even with a perfectly balanced and tuned record player. We've done the legwork, and you can click the above graphic to hear the fascinating 140 second auditory journey from the studio original through it's trek to the acetate and eventual white noise after dozens of plays.
This 100% analog audio conversion does not improve the audio quality of your audio submission; it only converts your pristine digital audio to an analog medium. It's like adding a ultra-analog lo-fi sound filter, and should only be used for novelty or charm, and not for endlessly playable perfect audio masters.
The end result is monophonic only, and will play back on stereo record players, but it will not have separate left and right separation, because our etching head can't be tilted, a requirement for stereo. Our audio engineers take time to master each audio track for best results, but be aware that bass-heavy frequencies will be extremely muted, and might recommend you request the 45rpm recording speed, known for better bass response.
We're already big fans of the United States Postal Service and it's Media Mail rate. They've recently upgraded their internal computer systems to support Package Tracking, and now we include it as a standard feature with all of our Return Shipping. After we've shipped your job back to you, we'll email you a tracking number and instructions on how to monitor it's commute back to your home.
We use PayPal to doing our billing, simply because they accept all major credit cards (MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover) and will collect your shipping address and email us once your payment is processed.
Afterwards, you can review our job submission instructions! All orders should receive an email notification from PayPal and Under Design. Just click the big PayPal button to pay us securely with your credit card!
Download and print our PDF order form, which has all of our available Audio+ conversion services (and simple flat-rate pricing) in one simple-to-use form. You can calculate return shipping costs and bulk discounts for a simple predictable estimate for your archiving project. Use our order form for:
Simply pack our completed order form along with your media and ship it to us using the U.S. Postal Service's Media Mail rate, for the lowest shipping rates! We'll notify you by email once it arrives.