Katy Lied: GREAT Album, FLAWED recording. Pick your poison!!

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by SteelyNJ, Jul 8, 2018.

  1. Bill Hart

    Bill Hart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin
    I'll have to give the album a fresh listen. I was familiar with the DBX problem, but at the time of release, I wasn't nearly as focused on the band as I was when Can't Buy a Thrill and Countdown were released. (The latter album has always seemed underrated to me). I never understood why Aja is so highly regarded sonically (I'm not talking about the music or performances). That recording sounds dry and borderline antiseptic, to the point where the Cisco, which is even more "precise" sounding, has a very arid quality. That two LP Greatest Hits RL is a great sounding compilation.

    Can't Buy a Thrill is, to me, one of the best debut albums ever released- every song is different, most of it is radio friendly relatively short tracks; it is a musician's musician album- the playing is masterful despite the tuneful catchy songs. Elliot Randall's leads on "Kings" are absolutely lashing (and I believe first takes). Brilliant band -- at the time those early albums came out, nobody was even close to those guys. (Except, maybe, The Band, a different kettle of fish, and some of the early Little Feat stuff, which still gets play here when I'm in a mood).
     
  2. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Sounds like a special effect to me, what else can it be called? A manual effect?
     
  3. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    It's a special effect, or just an effect. That statement is contradictory.

    A creative dicision is what it is with an effect created.
     
  4. Yost

    Yost “It’s only impossible until it’s not”

    I’m thinking it’s was the only way to counter the effect of the rogue DBX on the original recording: trying to compensate for the phasing by hand.
     
  5. Massproductions

    Massproductions Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    How did they fix it on "Citizen"? That whole box was zapped with DNR. Most tracks sound "sucked out" and therefore the waveforms look really weird!
     
  6. Massproductions

    Massproductions Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    I have a plugin that emulates dolby A, B, and DBX 1 and 2 Noise reduction. If they can emulate now with software, I bet they could tweak it to get the original muti tracks to sound right and do a remix.
     
  7. Massproductions

    Massproductions Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    I have read the story about this album and I can't make any sense out of it. I've never heard of DBX being used on multi tracks before. If there was a problem playing them back for mixing, wouldn't they have noticed it right away on the first song? Why mix the whole album and then remix it again to Dolby A? Or was the problem with the Mix downs? If so, and the Multi track was not DBX, then the remix to Dolby A should have solved the problem. I thought I read on here that the correct Album master is DBX and the Dolby A is a cutting dub? I'm totally lost!
     
  8. libertycaps

    libertycaps Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR, USA
    What do i know? I just use my stereo system(s) and my ears.
     
    Heckto35 and Fishoutofwater like this.
  9. Plan9

    Plan9 Mastering Engineer

    Location:
    Toulouse, France
    DBX was used on the multis (like Dolby can be), but they couldn't get it to decode 100% correctly. Their first attempt at mixing with DBX on the stereo mixdown as planned was even worse-sounding, so they went back to the multis, get them to sound as good as they could, and used tried and true Dolby A on the final stereo mixdown.
    That's my take on it.
     
  10. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    For some reason those solos make me forget about the noise reduction used.
     
  11. Leonthepro

    Leonthepro Skeptically Optimistic

    Location:
    Sweden
    How is it contradictory?
     
    Bern likes this.
  12. Same here.
     
    Fishoutofwater likes this.
  13. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Because it said no special effects on vocals, and then states an effect was specially created for the vocals.

    Read it again if you missed that.
     
  14. Leonthepro

    Leonthepro Skeptically Optimistic

    Location:
    Sweden
    Oh I see, but I just interpreted it as them not doing any after effects, rather it being a live change.
    But its obvius that something was done to the vocals so the first statement doesnt seem right.
     
  15. SteelyNJ

    SteelyNJ Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    Here you go. UnZipped FLAC files of "Bad Sneakers" and "Doctor Wu" from four different vinyl masterings:

    Katy Lied Vinyl Samples

    Pick your poison! :)
     
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  16. SteelyNJ

    SteelyNJ Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    So I always thought, too. However, you might want to listen to the unmarked samples of the two tracks I uploaded from Katy Lied and see how the Greatest Hits masterings (included) compare to the others and if you actually prefer them!!
    Katy Lied Vinyl Samples
     
    Leonthepro likes this.
  17. Bill Hart

    Bill Hart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin
    Will do. Give me a bit of time-I've been in computer purgatory for days now.
     
    SteelyNJ and Leonthepro like this.
  18. Sounds fine to me too. A great album and hear no faults:wave:
     
  19. marcb

    marcb Senior Member

    Location:
    DC area
    That’s been my take on it too. Hey, we agree! :pineapple:

    If I’m not mistaken, isn’t there also a DBX stereo master out there too?
     
    Plan9 likes this.
  20. California Couple

    California Couple dislike us on facebook

    Location:
    Newport Beach
    I must be weird because I have never had a problem with the sound of the Katy Lied remastered CD.
     
    ohnothimagen likes this.
  21. RoyalScam

    RoyalScam Luckless Pedestrian

    I've often wondered if Jamie Howarth's Plangent Process might improve the sound at all, if he ever got hold of the analog master.
     
    ODShowtime likes this.
  22. Keith V

    Keith V Forum Resident

    Location:
    Secaucus, NJ
    The cymbals suffer the most on Katy Lied.
     
    SteelyNJ and Bern like this.
  23. marcb

    marcb Senior Member

    Location:
    DC area
    It might not hurt, but I don’t think wow and flutter is really the issue here.
     
  24. marcb

    marcb Senior Member

    Location:
    DC area
    The Citizen Dan version is the best version?

    :laughup:
     
    Dr. Funk and Yost like this.
  25. SteelyNJ

    SteelyNJ Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    To which "Katy Lied remastered CD" are you referring? There are more than one.
     

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