FAQs

Ordering & Shipping | CD & DVD Replication | Short-Run Duplication | Vinyl Pressing | Artwork

Ordering & Shipping

What do I need to place an order?
We need your completed order form (which includes the IPR form), artwork designed to our design specs and placed in our templates, your master, and your deposit. Once your order form is received, you’ll get simple instructions for uploading your master and artwork.

Do I have to fill out forms for a reorder?
No, just shoot us an email and we’ll take care of the rest.

What does 10% over/under mean?
Our manufacturing process includes several stages of quality control. We print and press extras, knowing some units may not meet our standards along the way — those are scrapped. Because of this, the exact final quantity can’t be determined ahead of time; industry-standard practice is delivery within 10% over or under your ordered quantity. You only pay for the units we actually deliver, and any overrun balance is invoiced before shipping.

Will I get my master back once my job is complete?
Unless you request its return, we keep your master on file for future reorders.

Should I keep a copy of my master and art files?
Always keep backup copies. We can’t be responsible for lost or damaged masters or art files.

Can I get part of my order faster?
Replication requires running your entire order at once — that’s the nature of press setup. But once manufacturing is complete, we can ship a portion to you via expedited service while the rest travels ground.

Can you ship my order to a second address?
Yes. Drop shipping to a second address is free.

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CD & DVD Replication

Can I order fewer than 500 discs?
The minimum for replication is 500 units. For smaller quantities, check out our Short-Run CD & DVD Duplication — orders of 100–300 with a 7–10 business day turnaround.

What’s the difference between replication and duplication?
Replication manufactures discs from scratch: your master becomes a glass master, then a metal stamper, and discs are pressed by injection molding raw polycarbonate. It requires millions of dollars of equipment, a dust-free clean room, and highly trained technicians — which is why quantities under 500 aren’t economical. Duplication records your content onto pre-manufactured CD-R/DVD-R media using a laser — the right process for short runs.

What is your turnaround time? 
Once you approve your artwork, we should be ready to ship in approximately 15 business days (weekends and holidays don’t count). Add-ons like special coatings or embossing can extend this. On a tight deadline? Talk to us — rush options are often possible, and we can express-ship a portion of your order. One piece of advice from decades of experience: don’t schedule your release party too close to your estimated delivery date. Give yourself a safety margin — and more time to promote.

Why do Groove House discs sound better?
Sound quality is our obsession. We injection mold our discs with a 6.9-second cycle — significantly longer than the industry standard — using high-quality polycarbonate. Longer molding time means more accurate pit geometry, fewer playback correction errors, and a disc that simply sounds better. Our glass masters are created with systems optimized by some of the best mastering engineers in the business.

What is a glass master? Isn’t that what my engineer gave me?
No — what your mastering engineer delivers is a production master (DDP or PMCD). Glass mastering is a manufacturing step: in a clean-room facility, your master’s data is transferred to a metalized glass substrate, from which the metal stamper is made. The stamper is what presses your discs.

What happens to my glass master afterward?
The glass is actually recycled — it’s the metal stamper that matters. 

Do I need professional mastering?
We always recommend it. A mastering engineer unifies your album with EQ, compression, and dynamics processing for a consistent sound track to track; sweetens the audio with warmth, punch, and fullness; raises overall level; and addresses pops, phase issues, and noise. It’s the difference between a homemade recording and a major-label release.

Can you master my CD for me?
We don’t master in-house, but we know excellent mastering engineers — contact us for recommendations. 

What master formats do you accept?
See our Mastering Specs for full details by format.

Should I listen to my master before submitting?
Yes — carefully, at least once. We digitally analyze every master for errors, but we don’t listen to your content; making sure the songs, order, and sound are right is on you. (Don’t listen too many times, though — every play risks dust and scratches on physical masters.)

What are Red Book and Yellow Book?
The original CD standards set by Philips and Sony in 1980, published in a red-covered book — covering physical specs, track layout, audio encoding, and more, so any disc plays in any player. Yellow Book (1983) extended the standard for CD-ROM data discs.

What’s the time limit on a CD?
Red Book standard is 74:40. Up to 79:59 is possible, but discs beyond Red Book spec may not play in all players — see Mastering Specs.

How are DVDs different from CDs?
A DVD is actually two half-thickness discs bonded together, with smaller pits and optional dual layers — holding 7 to 25 times more data than a CD: cinema-quality video, high-res audio, or large data sets.

What are DVD capacities?
DVD-5: 4.7 GB · DVD-9: 8.5 GB · DVD-10: 9.4 GB. Leave a ~6% safety margin (e.g., keep a DVD-5 under 4.46 GB).

PAL or NTSC?
Both, all regions (1–6) — we replicate to whatever spec your master is authored in. NTSC is standard for North America; format and region are decisions for you and your authoring technician.

Can you author my DVD?
Yes — full-service DVD authoring is available. 

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Short-Run Duplication

What quantities can I order?
100 to 300 units, with a 7–10 business day turnaround.

What master formats do you accept?
DDP image files or WAV files (16-bit/44.1kHz) — DDP creation from WAV available for an additional charge. No MP3s. See Mastering Specs.

Is duplication lower quality than replication?
Duplicated discs are burned onto premium CD-R/DVD-R media rather than pressed — a different process suited to smaller runs. For most listening situations the difference is inaudible; for maximum compatibility and archival-grade manufacturing at 500+ units, choose replication.

What packaging is available for short runs?
Jewel cases, CD jackets, wallets, and Digipaks (4 and 6 panel) — see the full lineup on our CD & DVD duplication page.

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Vinyl Pressing

What’s your turnaround time?
Approximately 6 weeks from the approval of your test pressing. Vinyl is a labor of love with many human steps — don’t schedule your release date until product is in hand.

What do you need for my master?
Two single-sided WAV files (Side A and Side B) with your gaps built in — full details on our Mastering Specs page.

What is a lacquer master?
An aluminum disc coated with cellulose lacquer, cut in real time by a cutting engineer from your master. It’s the physical medium that transfers your music toward metal parts and, ultimately, records.

What is plating?
Electroplating turns your delicate lacquer (usable only once) into durable metal parts: silvered, then plated to create the metal “father,” from which stampers are made for the press.

What is a test pressing?
Included with every order: once your stamper is made, 5 copies are pressed and shipped to you for approval. Listen carefully on a properly set-up turntable, confirming the mastering and checking for any noise.

My test pressing’s pitch seems off. What happened?
It’s impossible to cut a lacquer at the wrong speed — check your turntable. Make sure you’re listening on a good-quality, well-tuned deck.

My record sounds distorted on “S” sounds. Why?
That’s sibilance — vinyl can’t reproduce the hottest, most dynamic high frequencies without compression. It’s a mastering-for-vinyl consideration, and why vinyl mastering is its own craft.

Why isn’t my record as loud as my CD?
Digital and analog levels aren’t related. CD players output hot by design; phono preamps don’t. With good dynamic range in the master, a record can sound every bit as loud where it counts.

How much music fits on a 12″ record?
It’s a function of level and length — louder cuts need wider grooves. Optimal is 15–18 minutes per side; 24 minutes is the maximum. (This is why a hip-hop record runs shorter per side than a classical one.)

What vinyl colors do you offer? [CONFIRM: current color options from new plant]

Do you insert the records into sleeves?
Yes — insertion into white paper sleeves is included with every order. 

What are my jacket options?
Full color single or gatefold jackets on sturdy 350gsm stock, customizable with foil stamping, spot UV, embossing, die-cutting, matte varnish, and reverse board. Templates for single and gatefold  jackets are available.

Can you do inserts and stickers? 
Yes. Please ask for a special quote.

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Artwork

What do I need to know when designing my project?
First and foremost: read our Design Specs. We estimate 90% of project delays come from designers not following directions. Never designed a disc or vinyl project before? We strongly recommend hiring an experienced designer.

What software should I use?
Adobe Illustrator or InDesign, with your layout placed in our templates and packaged (File → Package) before submitting.

Can you accept PDFs?
Yes — experienced designers can submit print-ready PDFs using our PDF export profile. For everyone else, native layered files are strongly preferred: they let us make small fixes quickly instead of bouncing files back and forth.

Why shouldn’t I use Photoshop for text?
Photoshop is bitmap-based — perfect for images, but text created there can rasterize jagged. Build text in a vector program (Illustrator or InDesign) for clean, professional print.

Why do I have to use your templates?
Every manufacturer has different presses and settings — files built in another company’s templates (or none) can’t run on ours. Artwork not in Groove House templates incurs an automatic $85 prep charge.

What is a bleed?
The extra area outside your final print size that gets trimmed for clean cuts — extend your design 1/8″ beyond the cut line, and keep text at least 1/4″ from the edge. On our templates, the outside line is bleed, the center line is the cut or fold. (Disc face templates have no bleed — design to the edge.)

What is text safety?
The “safe zone” for text and important design elements — at least 1/4″ inside the cut line. Cutting blades are precise, but industry-standard tolerance allows a small variation (about 1/16″) on any cut, so text placed too close to the edge risks being clipped or looking crowded. Our templates mark the bleed line (outside) and cut line (center); the text safety zone isn’t drawn — just keep your text and logos at least 1/4″ inside the cut line and you’re safe.

Can I just change my 72 dpi image to 300 dpi in Photoshop?
Not really. That’s interpolation — the computer invents pixels to fill gaps, and the result is a 300 dpi image that’s still blurry. Resolution has to exist in the source; start with high-res images.

What is CMYK? What is RGB?
CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, blacK) is the color mode of printing presses — all print artwork must be CMYK or grayscale. RGB is the color mode of screens; its spectrum is broader and purer, which is why that glowing neon blue on your monitor can’t be reproduced in ink, no matter how much we all wish it could.

What do 4/1 and 4/4 mean?
Colors per side: 4/1 = full color outside, black & white inside. 4/4 = full color both sides.

What is a PMS (Pantone) color?
A proprietary spot-color matching system. View true colors in a Pantone Formula Guide (not on a screen), and apply spot swatches in Illustrator or InDesign — Photoshop’s Pantone library still saves as RGB/CMYK, which defeats the purpose.

What is silk screening?
A printing process forcing ink through fine screen mesh onto the disc — the best way to print solid Pantone colors on a disc face.

What is offset disc printing?
A plate-based process for full CMYK printing at 175 lpi — photo-quality imagery on the disc face.

What is a white flood?
A solid white ink layer printed across the disc surface first, giving other colors opacity and accurate Pantone matching. Recommended under CMYK designs so the metallic disc doesn’t show through.

What if I want silver on my disc?
We can knock out the white flood where you want the raw silver disc to show — just note on your template which color knocks out to silver.

Can you do matte printing on discs?
Yes — matte varnish over CMYK or Pantone inks. It counts as an additional ink layer, so extra charges may apply.

Do I get a proof before printing?
Yes — PDF proofs at no charge on every order. Monitors vary, so on-screen color isn’t exact (expected variances are covered in our terms and conditions). Concerned about color? Order printed proofs, calibrated to our presses, for an additional charge. Disc faces and vinyl labels are PDF-proof only — use a Pantone swatch book for spot color reference.

Are print proofs on my actual stock?
No — proofs come off a calibrated high-end printer on photo paper; setting up an offset press for a few samples isn’t feasible. Happy to send samples of our stocks separately.

I see faint horizontal lines in my proof. Will they print?
No — that’s inkjet banding from the proofing printer. If it’s not in your files, it won’t be on your product.

Why does a small change cost so much after proofing?
Any change means our art department re-rips files and generates new proofs — real time and labor. Proofread thoroughly (and recruit extra eyes) before submitting.