Tom Petty - "Hypnotic Eye" -- new album (and tour) this summer*

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by fourfeathers, Mar 28, 2014.

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  1. shaboo

    shaboo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bonn, Germany
    This.

    I really appreciate Ryan's input, but I yet have to see a proof for the claim that music on retail CDs(!) has to be compressed to be successful or "competitive in the market".

    If I buy a CD, I want CD quality, including good sound and reasonable dynamic range. If you think this is unreasonable, call me egoistic, I can live with that. And I'm not talking about DR 17 or DR 14, just something substantially better than DR 5, that's all.

    If you want to take care of those who "listen on shuffle on an iPhone with low powered earbuds" - and of course I understand that you have to care about them - the simple and obvious solution would be to add a multimedia part to a CD that contains the "mobile version" of the album, i.e., MP3/AAC with dynamic compression, so you'd get original CD quality and earbud compatibility at the same time. Even on an album with 65+ minutes running time there's enough free space on the disc to add all songs as 256 kbit MP3/AAC. As people who are using iTunes (importing their retail CDs to listen to them on their iPod or iPhone) are doing the conversion from uncompressed to AAC anyway, there would be absolutely ZERO difference for the mobile folks, but at the same time they (and everybody else) would be able to enjoy their music at home, too.

    But instead of offering average CD quality at an average price - at the same time adding compressed earbud crap for free and offering hires downloads for audiophiles who are willing to pay more - we'll have to pay for the "low powered earbud" crap and have to pay a higher price (and go either without a physcial medium or go back to vinyl) to get something better. This has little to do with "making music for the real world", but much more to do with making some extra money on those who are not happy with unnecessarily compressed music ...
     
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  2. DreamIsOver

    DreamIsOver Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago IL
    Why is everyone up in arms over this? This is standard operating procedure on ALMOST EVERY CD THAT IS RELEASED these days. Nobody likes it, it sucks, but it ain't gonna stop. Nothing to see here, move along.
     
    randy9700, marcb, kman and 2 others like this.
  3. Dino

    Dino Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kansas City - USA
    I think that is a very clever proposal, shaboo. I wish (but sadly doubt) that it would be adopted.
     
  4. eelkiller

    eelkiller One of the great unwashed

    Location:
    Northern Ontario
    If you read the posts not everybody is up in arms about this. Some of us are just "assisting" with the conversation. :)
     
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  5. jeffrey walsh

    jeffrey walsh Senior Member

    Location:
    Scranton, Pa. USA
    One of many discs ruined because of the mastering technique.

     
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  6. DreamIsOver

    DreamIsOver Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago IL
    Stadium Arcadium as well.... and that was 8 years ago now.
     
  7. jeffrey walsh

    jeffrey walsh Senior Member

    Location:
    Scranton, Pa. USA
    Californication and By the Way also...
     
  8. powerq

    powerq Forum Resident

    I just looked at the TP store. The blu-ray is no longer listed. Has it sold out?
     
  9. brimuchmuze

    brimuchmuze Forum Resident

    Back when Petty released Hard Promises he challenged label pricing policy and won. Maybe this is/was an opportunity to re-think other "standard operating procedures".
     
  10. serge

    serge Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arlington, VA
    I still fail to understand why people can't just increase the volume til their ears hurt.... why does it have to be brickwalled? I try to explain it to friends but even I must confess I don't get it...
     
  11. Dino

    Dino Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kansas City - USA
    I think it was the mention of being competative with the loudness of The Black Keys that kind of set me off. (I don't think I made it to "up in arms" myself, but I may have vented a bit. Maybe.) And I don't think that Ryan's comment was anything wrong. It is, or is perceived to be, a reality in today's music business.

    After several years of buying new CDs on which I like the music but cannot enjoy (or even tolerate) the sound I had kind of a "final straw" moment listening to 'The Black Keys - Turn Blue' CD. All of my frustration with all of the music ruined by modern mastering seemed to come to a head with that CD. Why that CD - why then? I really don't know.
     
  12. DesertChaos

    DesertChaos Forum Resident

    I ended up canceling my Blu-ray pre-order. After reading one of the interviews he just totally put me off and I've got better places to spend my money rather than his pockets.
     
  13. amoergosum

    amoergosum Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    My final straw was the CD "Wasting Light" (Foo Fighters, DR5). It was so brickwalled that ear fatigue set in after a couple of minutes of listening. I felt ripped off.
    Since then I do research online before purchasing CDs. So I've been purchasing a lot less CDs since then.
     
  14. amoergosum

    amoergosum Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    >>>

     
  15. analogy

    analogy Active Member

    Location:
    Holland
    Yeah but, how 'bout the music? I skipped through the tracks on Spotify this weekend and I think this albums rocks pretty good. That's how I usually roll: for casual and mobile listening I use Spotify, and for that kick-back-on-a-sunday-evening-with-a-glass-of-single-malt-in-your-hand-listening I order the LP if I like the album that much. Think I will be ordering this one.
     
  16. thestereofan

    thestereofan Senior Member

    Location:
    San Jose
    I listened to the album today, it sounded really good but all the songs also sounded pretty much the same, not one was memorable or was one that I wanted to repeat to hear again. I give it a C for Tom's amazing output but if it were another band, it would get a B+. I just expect better from the Heartbreakers. The last great Heartbreakers album to me was The Last DJ. After that, meh.
     
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  17. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    You just answered your own question.
     
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  18. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    Who do they think is the intended audience is for a Tom Petty CD in 2014?
     
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  19. monewe

    monewe Forum Resident

    Location:
    SCOTLAND
    I am with Keith on this and I wonder on how the forum changed from being a voice on the internet against compression or peak limiting into one that the majority of members seems to now think it is ok?
     
  20. kman

    kman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Indiana
    It's kind of funny how times have changed
    Back in the 80's when CD's first came out they were sold with the idea that it is higher quality sound than vinyl is. Now 30 yrs later if want high quality sound you have to buy the vinyl. Funny how things change.
     
  21. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    Some people are so sensitive to the potential sensitivity of an industry participant, that they would rather temper the discussion in order to keep him here than be honest and true to their beliefs and risk him leaving the forum. If ryan de topanga had not come here with the honest summary of the thought process behind the mastering and we, instead, had found out about the low DR of the CD once it was released a few days later (the way the information is typically communicated here), you wouldn't see such forgiving comments.
     
  22. mick_sh

    mick_sh Hackney diamond

    Location:
    Madrid, Spain
    This. Imagine any "regular" forum member posting very low DR numbers of a heavily compressed, peak limited CD and saying "Hey, it's perfectly OK, that's how music business works now. AND you can buy the DR11 or whatever blu-ray edition. Where's the problem?"

    I don't know, but we're talking about a CD. Do what you want with iTunes/MP3 (but imagine if the new Led Zep remasters were more compressed and peak limited than the CD) but please, do things right with a compact disc. If my memory serves me right, some of the best digital editions out there of our beloved albums are in CD format (not even Hybrid SACD). DCC, AF, R&T, MFSL anyone?

    Being polite with industry participants (as with any other member) should not be the same as justifying something that is harming our favorite hobby.
     
  23. mongo

    mongo Senior Member

    +1000
     
  24. matt79rome89

    matt79rome89 Forum Resident

    This is correct, but so what? What's wrong with trying to be nice to someone from the inside in the hopes that they share more with us down the road? What's frustrating to me is the piling on that happens causing these people to leave. It's a forum where you can speak your mind, sure, but what fun is a place with just conspiracy theorists and whiners who pontificate on "facts" they usually can't back up? I'd much rather hear from an actual source.

    Just something to consider: it would be great if people could limit their complaint to one post and then whoever agrees simply "like" the comment. Pages and pages of the same complaint is abusive not to mention a waste of most peoples' time.
     
  25. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    It's great to hear from the actual source, but when the source posts comments that are upsetting, it is fair to sound off. No one told ryan de topanga he was in idiot. Folks, myself included, disagreed with his position. We did so vehemently. So what? We are passionate about his hobby and disagree with Ryan's premise. If that is enough to run him off, that is sad. However, our complaints are justified. We have been awaiting a new release from Tom Petty that, from many early reviews, is very good musically. Then we had the wind taken out of our sails with the notion that the CD was squashed dynamically because it had to be. We don't have to accept it or tiptoe around it.

    Compare Ryan's comments to the general tone of recent posts by John Cuniberti in the Joe Satriani box set thread. John and Ryan have differing points of view on how CDs from a major label should be mastered. In the Satriani case, a box set of CDs and a USB drive with hi-rez files were offered. Both were mastered well. We weren't told to get the USB drive to get audiophile sound. The CDs sound great.
     
    artfromtex, zobalob and shaboo like this.
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