What Is A Mastercut Edition?
In the traditional process of record production, music from the master tape is cut into a lacquer disc — the ‘master cut’. This lacquer is then, through electroplating, processed into a stamper and sadly gets destroyed. This begs the question: why we can’t preserve the most original copy of the music master?
A Supersense Mastercut record is a high-end, handcrafted, artisanal and analogue audiophile product which puts the listener in the audio engineer’s seat. Each and every Mastercut record is the original ‘mastercut,’ hand-cut directly in real-time from completely unedited 1:1 copies of original analog tapes of carefully selected sound recordings onto Japanese playback lacquers using premium cutting machines and patented proprietary cutting heads, bringing the listener as close as possible to the original source.
Every single Edition is handcrafted in the Viennese Supersense manufactory by a small team of experts in the fields of record cutting, traditional printing methods and packaging design. In addition to the high-quality sound carrier, the Mastercut lacquer disc, which is itself secured by the Mastercut screw, each edition is presented in packaging that is a celebration of traditional craftsmanship:
- The cover is minimal in design, printed with traditional letterpress and hot foil techniques
- The inner sleeve celebrates a photograph of the original tape, reproduced using screen printing techniques; and includes recording details, repertoire, and credits, printed with analog linotype machines.
- Rare or never-before-seen pictures, recording protocols and other documents which are reproduced with analogue printing and photography techniques to create original prints or cyanotypes, not mere copies, and are preserved in archival pergamin envelopes.
- Also included is an introduction to, and an information sheet, "How to caress," about how to care for Mastercut records, by Supersense founder Florian Doc Kaps.
