Sad times are these when the best sounding available copy of an album is the cassette version. Ay carumba!
In the meantime, I suppose I could try applying the vinyl EQ to the HDTracks version... I'm not happy with how Audacity only takes in 2 minutes of a song into account though. I'm trying to see if I can to the same with SoX.
In various parts of all songs, mainly when there is loud instruments and when there is loud singing (like the chorus and end of Big Generator, the end of I'm Running, etc.). I've encountered this issue on many other vinyl pressings as well - Moving Pictures (Holland pressing), Grace Under Pressure (different vinyl pressings except US), and Hold Your Fire (the last song only).
What I've done in the past is use the "change tempo" tool to change the song length to 237 seconds. You're essentially chopping out samples, but at least it's being done in a systematic way. If it's a really long song, you're results will be less accurate, of course. You could also split the long songs up into smaller parts, then average the resulting eq values.
I won Steve's 90125 CD on eBay. I'd really like to do a shootout and compare it to the WG Target and Rhino remaster, both of which I like for different reasons. I'm not including the High Vibration SACD because it's got a huge smiley-EQ profile and loads of compression. I don't know how I could sit through Kikuchi's SACDs a few months ago and not now. Maybe my ears have become slightly less accepting since January.
I call it ear fatigue. Like muscles pushed day after day, your ears are strained listening to all that compression. Would be nice to include the HDTRACKS version in the comparo also.
I'd be up for that, but my funds are going towards other things for a while . If you have the HDTracks version, then would you be willing to post a sample of City of Love?
Listing my favorite versions: The Yes Album: Gastwirt Fragile: HDtracks Close To The Edge: Diament Yessongs: Diament Tales From Topographic Oceans: HDtracks Relayer: HDtracks Going For The One: HDtracks Tormato: Diament Drama: HDTracks Yesshows: HDTracks
Mine, a bit different: The Yes Album: MoFi / Wilson remix Fragile: Gastwirt Close To The Edge: Hoffman Tales From Topographic Oceans: HDtracks Relayer: HDtracks / Wilson remix Going For The One: Hoffman 90125: Hoffman
I'm a bit surprised, you prefer the Hoffmans but not the Diaments? In terms of mastering they are very close.
You don't like the HDtracks Fragile? It's the most sucessfull remaster I've heard in the catalog. Warm, clear, present, impactful it has it all.
True, but the Hoffmans are SACD and the tapes used are probably better. I haven't done direct comparisons focusing on the state of the tapes but I prefered the Hoffmans going by memory.
Correct me if I'm wrong but the Fragile HDTracks is just a copy of the 2003 DVD-Audio mastering. Personally I find it too compressed and smiley-faced...
Below is the list of my faves so far up to Big Generator. My list is physical media only since I've never bought anything from HDTracks (yet). Yes - Original US Atlantic Time and a Word - Original US Atlantic The Yes Album - Diament (for now) Fragile - Diament (for now) Close to the Edge - AF SACD Yessongs - Original US Atlantic Tales from Topographic Oceans - Original US Atlantic Relayer - Rhino (for now) Going for the One - AF SACD Tormato - Original US Atlantic Drama - Diament Yesshows - Original US Atlantic 90125 - TBD, waiting for the AF CD to arrive so I can compare between the WG Target and Rhino 9012Live: The Solos - Original Japanese Big Generator - Secret remaster
It's different, the DVD-A is indeed smiley faced EQ'd. The HDtracks version much more tasteful, you relly can't comapre the two. It even beats the Atlantic gold edition IMO. I guess the hardcore purist might still prefer the later though for the rawer sound signature. I happened to compare the Rhino Releayer to the HDtracks today. Call it sacrilege but I now consider the Rhino to be superior overall. I honstely think this an isolated case where Rhino got it right. It adresses some issues with the tonality that preivous versions don't. The drums are more prominent and resemble more what they actully are. Yeah it's bright but most of the time it suits the recording. And let's be honest it's not a great recording to beging with. The music is excellent though and it's been rewarding to get rid of of previously held notions about the Rhino masters.
The Rhino is my favorite for Relayer because the other masterings that I have (Zal's original Atlantic and the Marino remaster) are too bright for my liking. It may be a bit muddy at times, but at least the Rhino doesn't hurt my ears while listening. In 2nd place after the Rhino, I'm giving the edge to the (de-coded) HDCD mini LP because it's not as bright as the 80's and 90's CD's. Actually, most of the Yes HDCD's that I have sound good when de- coded properly. The good ones are Tales, Relayer, and Tormato. The only exception to this is the HDCD Big Generator, which remains one of the WORST sounding releases in my collection even if it's properly de-coded.
I listened to the other Rhino releases again to make sure I wasnt loosing my mind. Relayer is the only Rhino with reasonable top-end EQ and good overall sound.
This may be a little apples-to-oranges, but do you guys who prefer the Rhino for Relayer think the SW stereo remix competes favorably?
