Rating: 
Summary: Jumps in at Expert Level
Review: This is a good book and I am sure, in time, it will be useful. The problem is, it is not written by someone who remembers the key to learning is a good foundation. I wanted a basic foundation to start with and some definitions. Then I was prepared to build up to the kind of 'by the way' discussions between pros that start this book. Terms are flung around as if anyone should know them, at the beginning, if anything turning people away. OK, maybe it is advanced, but I remember the most learning I have done is with books or instructors who start with a foundation and gradually bring in the complexity. The only impression I am getting is,
1. The guy knows his stuff
2. He can't write about it or teach it.
Sorry to be harsh but for the near expert - this could be your ticket. For me, I'll struggle through for awhile and refer back to it but it lacks fundamentals and I do not like being left out of the conversation when I just laid down good money for a learning guide.
Rating: 
Summary: A Masterful Book on Mastering from The Master
Review: Up until now, I've read books by authors who fall into one of the following categories: 1) musicians 2) traditional, primarily analog audio engineers 3) acoustic scientists or 4) audio computer applications specialists. Getting meaningful information from one of these authors requires my own extrapolation into the remaining areas--or at least taking the authors comments in those areas with a grain of salt. FINALLY I have in my hands a book written by someone who can put it all together into a meaningful whole. The book is a wonderful blend of descriptions of how things work that will take you to the next level along with some very valuable common sense advice-like how to effectively sequence songs into an album. I'll keep this book in my studio and refer back to it again and again. Probably the best (but also the most honest) thing I can say about the book is that I know I will sound better because of having read it.
Rating:
Summary: Black Art Mastered
Review: Very rarely do I find a book which stimulates my interest throughout its every page, and even more to the point, very rarely do I find a "technical" book which yields the same result. Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science, delivers.
Bob Katz has come to be known as "The Guru" regarding mastering audio. Bob has steadily carved a niche for himself in both his dual profession of mastering and writing. This book was inevitable in many ways as "keeping a lid" on one's knowledge of this calibre is almost impossible. Bob Katz comes across as a genuinely "open" guy, and naturally his generosity and openness is evident in his writing style.
So often technical writers simply miss half their audience, or rather leave them cold and baffle them with unnecessary technicalities or bore them with verbose banalities. Even worse, writers in the audio industry can often leave little room for the reader to reflect and establish their own opinions on the text. Bob Katz is one of the few writers who are able to take a complex subject, riddled with difficult concepts and present those concepts for the layman to absorb, in a non-arrogant and cheerful manner.
Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science is a paperback book of 319 pages that teaches the reader all there is to know and explore regarding mastering audio.
Mastering audio is often considered a "black-art", and a visit to any number of online audio forums will indicate that it can also be considered a highly subjective Science/Art. Bob Katz reinforces that in his text and assumes the reader has a genuine interest in the subject and will therefore experiment and train herself to hear the ideas Bob has spent a lifetime nurturing. Bob has composed catch phrases that should become mantras for "newbies" such as: "Make passive ear training a lifelong activity" and "A monitor which makes everything sound beautiful must not be accurate". Phrases such as these are "gems" for any newcomer and can open a whole new approach to the subject.
The text is presented in a friendly and playful manner with two columns per page interlaced with a fair amount of diagrams that really do paint a thousand words. Never will the reader find the book hard going or too tough, providing they are reading to learn. The book is not written to be a "10 quick tips for mastering your audio"; Bob Katz is way beyond that. What you will find is a textbook that will teach you and guide you through a complex area. This book is sure to become the "Industry Bible" on mastering audio. Highly recommended.
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