Direct Metal Mastering (DMM) is an analogue audio disc mastering technique jointly developed by two German companies, Telefunken-Decca (TelDec) and Georg Neumann GmbH, towards the end of the 20th century after having seen the same technology used by RCA Princeton Labs for their SelectaVision videodiscs in the late 70's.
Neumann was responsible for manufacturing the actual DMM cutting equipment as part of their VMS80 series lathes. Unlike conventional disc mastering, where the mechanical audio modulation is cut onto a lacquer-coated aluminum disc, DMM cuts straight into metal (copper), utilizing a high frequency carrier system and specialized diamond styli, vibrating at more than 40 kHz (i.e. 60 kHz) to facilitate the cutting.
Read more about Direct Metal Mastering: Overview, Criticisms of DMM Recordings, Digital Recordings
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