Editing Mastering (audio) (section)

===Emergence of magnetic tape===
In the late 1940s, the recording industry was revolutionized by the introduction of [[magnetic tape]]. Magnetic tape was invented for recording sound by [[Fritz Pfleumer]] in 1928 in Germany, based on the invention of [[magnetic wire recording]] by [[Valdemar Poulsen]] in 1898.  Not until the end of [[World War II]] could the technology be found outside Europe. The introduction of magnetic tape recording enabled master discs to be cut separately in time and space from the actual recording process.<ref name=Auld/>

Although tape and other technical advances dramatically improved the audio quality of commercial recordings in the post-war years, the basic constraints of the electro-mechanical mastering process remained, and the inherent physical limitations of the main commercial recording media—the 78 rpm disc and later the 7-inch 45 rpm single and 33-1/3 rpm [[Gramophone record|LP record]]—meant that the audio quality, [[dynamic range]],{{efn|Dynamic range was limited by the fact that if the mastering level was set too high, the cutting head might be damaged during the cutting process or the stylus may jump out of the groove during playback.<ref name=Auld/>}} and running time{{efn|Running times were constrained by the diameter of the disc and the density with which grooves could be inscribed on the surface without cutting into each other.}} of master discs were still limited compared to later media such as the [[compact disc]].