Audio Services /Dubplates or Acetates

Dubplates or Acetates

We can record your dubplates to a digital .wav or .aiff file. These file formats can then be converted to mp3 or flac. The material of an acetate/dubplate is very soft as the groove gets worn out little by little with every playback, so archival is essential to keep these rare recordings alive. After about fifty plays the loss in sound quality becomes noticeable.

If this is the only known version of the track where the master tapes have been lost, you may want to preserve it. Contact us now for a quote and directions on sending us your dubplates. If you are actually looking to cut a dubplate or vinyl mastering for your own tracks we can also help you get this done through a 3rd party, please contact us.

A dubplate is an acetate disc – usually 10 or 12 inches in diameter – used in mastering studios for quality control and test recordings before proceeding with the final master, and subsequent pressing of the record to be mass-produced on vinyl. But a dubplates can also be exclusive versions of a piece of music, usually cut at the request of a reggae, dancehall, dubstep, drum and bass, grime, bouyon, soca, chutney, hip hop or any other genre artist so that DJs can mix it into a vinyl-only set. Although CD is now the preferred format for these recordings, the use of the word dubplate (commonly abbreviated dub, particularly in the drum and bass scene) to describe them has survived.

The name originated from the Jamaican soundsystem culture. A dub was a version of a song without the vocal so that a DJ (which was actually the MC) could freestyle or "toast" over the music. In order to play these they needed to be on a disc, and one way to make this happen was to master the mix to an acetate. It then became known as the dubplate


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Why Choose Deep Signal Studios?

  • File conversion work and tape transfers can be tedious and frustrating. Your time as an artist is better spent working on your music and mixes on a platform you know.
  • All work is completed by certified engineers with over 20 years experience with DAWs, MIDI sequencers, notation software, synthesizers, samplers, and tape machines. We have comprehensive knowledge about everything that has come and gone, as well as all current and emerging platforms.
  • Services are performed by native English speakers in the recording capital of the world, Los Angeles, CA.
  • Your files are secure. All work is performed in-house and in strict confidentiality. Client files are archived for 30-days upon completion of the project, and promptly destroyed thereafter.