SH Spotlight Play the Kinks "Waterloo Sunset" in stereo, check and fix or improve your stereo playback with it!

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Steve Hoffman, Jun 15, 2013.

  1. andrewsandoval

    andrewsandoval Senior Member

    Location:
    los angeles
    The reason for all of the out-of-phase elements is that Pye were attempting to create a mono compatible stereo mix of the album (in other words, all of the mixes would fold down well when played on a mono system). However, there is a full set of in phase mixes of the Something Else album which have mostly gone unissued (Bill Small mentions "Waterloo Sunset" being used on a Pye comp in 1968). I was able to use some of the in phase originals on the new Kinks Anthology box set (alongside a few new mixes - which are also in phase). Not much good for setting up your speakers, but at last you can hear Ray's original stereo mixes from 1967.
     
  2. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Andrew, I'm totally confused by that. Anything out of phase in a stereo signal would totally disappear if collapsed to mono. I mean, vanish, poof. I doubt that's what they wanted, it's the worst thing you could do if you wanted to insure mono compatibility of a stereo mix.

    Try it and see, go L+R on stereo Waterloo Sunset.
     
    Doug Sclar likes this.
  3. andrewsandoval

    andrewsandoval Senior Member

    Location:
    los angeles
    I am not saying they were thinking correctly - or that they were successful, Steve. I am just relaying notes that were included in the tape boxes by Pye and the fact that original in phase mixes were done a step earlier in 1967.
     
    TLMusic likes this.
  4. Jerry

    Jerry Grateful Gort Staff

    Location:
    New England
    I like the sound on the KINKS KRONIKLES version for wide separation.
     
    Licorice pizza likes this.
  5. Joel1963

    Joel1963 Senior Member

    Location:
    Montreal
    Hi, Andrew, was Pye doing the same for its other artists (such as Petula Clark and others) at this time?
     
  6. Larry B

    Larry B Senior Member

    Location:
    Hollywood
    I pulled my Kenwood amp out a few years ago and no longer have the stereo/mono option. However, if I recall correctly, didn't Steve's Mama's and Papas "From the Original Master Tapes" Creeque Alley track also have vocals that cancelled out in mono? Or was it the later MCA "Greatest Hits"?
     
  7. BSC

    BSC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glasgow, Scotland
    What a clown I looked today in my local record shop trying to work out if any of the three Kinks compilations had the stereo version-as I did a web search on my phone I found a link to the this thread-the very start of the journey...:) I left it and bought the Springsteen box set making the decision to download the stereo version from iTunes and burn it to disc.
     
  8. BSC

    BSC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glasgow, Scotland
    Yes this does sound amazing-for me the vocals aren't way way to the side but really floating in the air and do not sound as if they are coming from the speakers at all......my speakers seemed to be positioned perfectly but for me that means toed in with no view of the side panels-when I adjusted them so that you could see the insides the effect was lost and it did sound like they were coming from the speakers.

    Thanks for this a very nice and unusual effect to show off a system.....
     
  9. shadowlord

    shadowlord Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austria
    Mr. Hoffman, is this the version to get ?

    [​IMG]
     
  10. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    I think so. See my post #19.

    Warning, the album sounds DREADFUL but the masters were mixed that way so what can one do?
     
  11. BSC

    BSC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glasgow, Scotland
    You might be safer just downloading the stereo version from iTunes for 99p.....the compilations can be a bit tricky if you search through them....the iTunes one demonstrates the effect-you burn it back to disc you get the full resolution.
     
  12. motionoftheocean

    motionoftheocean Senior Member

    Location:
    Circus Maximus
    does the background vocal phasing issue apply to all iterations of the stereo mix? i.e. would someone with a copy of the Deluxe Edition be able to utilize the diagnostic discussed in this thread the same as someone who's got that horrid PRT CD?
     
  13. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

    The PRT is fine, it's the master mixes that sound subpar (especially with the phase weirdness).

    There are a couple of "in-phase" 80's remixes on the PRT, right?

    "Tin Soldier Man"
    "Situation Vacant"
     
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2014
  14. Dee Zee

    Dee Zee Once Upon a Dream

    OK. Just got around to trying what Steve suggests with Waterloo Sunset. I used a Reprise stereo Something Else vinyl record as my source. Very very cool. Thank you Steve.
     
  15. bmoregnr

    bmoregnr Forum Rezident

    Location:
    1060 W. Addison
    The effect occurs for the DE but I cannot say to what degree vs. other versions. Another place one can look for this cut is the new The Essential Kinks compilation. I tried a sample of Waterloo Sunset there and the effect occurs likewise; plus its Anesini mastering is getting good reviews around here if one is interested in a compilation.
     
  16. Ellsworth

    Ellsworth Forum Resident

    Very cool. Thanks for the tip. My set-up seems pretty good as I got some great surround. However, the surround effect was much more present on my left side than on the right. Unfortunately, to the immediate right of my right speaker is an opeming to another room. I suspect that is the reason why it was less pronounced on the right but I don't think there is a whole lot I can do about it.
     
  17. Dee Zee

    Dee Zee Once Upon a Dream

    I had a similar effect, more pronounced on the left but could be the room.
    By accident delving into some vintage Kinks I swear Death of a Clown stereo has the same surround effect. Anyone else care to check?
     
  18. bmoregnr

    bmoregnr Forum Rezident

    Location:
    1060 W. Addison
    I would also say over several versions.. back and to the left.
     
  19. Ellsworth

    Ellsworth Forum Resident

    Interesting. Maybe it is more pronounced on the left and isn't just my room.
     
  20. motionoftheocean

    motionoftheocean Senior Member

    Location:
    Circus Maximus
    thanks for the recommendation
     
  21. rgutter

    rgutter Forum Resident

    So do I. And it really brings out what I always thought was an echo (not phasing) effect on the final lines of the last verse. Love it.

    It also seems that all stereo versions run 3-4% slower than the mono. Anyone else notice?
     
  22. Joel1963

    Joel1963 Senior Member

    Location:
    Montreal
    I hear it.
     
    Dee Zee likes this.
  23. Joel1963

    Joel1963 Senior Member

    Location:
    Montreal
    As I mentioned on a thread long ago, listen to the beginning of All You Zombies by the Hooters for an amazing effect.
     
    hi_watt likes this.
  24. rararabbits

    rararabbits Forum Resident

    Location:
    LA, CA, USA
    Would it be embarrassing to admit that I just wasted fifteen minutes trying to do this with the mono disc of the deluxe edition by mistake? It would? OK then.

    I suppose listening to WS six times in a row could never be construed as a waste of time, anyway. Tried with the right disc, heard it first time: Rasa shalalaing from somewhere in the region of the nape of my neck. Cool.
     
    seaisletim and moops like this.
  25. bmoregnr

    bmoregnr Forum Rezident

    Location:
    1060 W. Addison
    Well we all had to be doubly sure it did not occur on the mono so thanks for checking that. I just want to know how many inches or feet in total you moved your speakers around during those five sessions!
     

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