The 2015 40th Anniversary was mastered by Bob Ludwig, and cut by Miles Showell. It’s the same mastering as the cut that was included in the recent box set of colored vinyl. It’s heavily compressed, and has an EQ much like this... That entire box set doesn’t get very good reviews here, but people like the colored discs! Queen Vinyl Reissues For 2015 (including boxed set and turntable)* The 2005...also mastered by Bob Ludwig. Do you see where I’m going with this?
I have the original 1975 US press and I’ve always liked the sound of it, I must be in the minority here
The later circa 1976 onwards UK pressings of Queen II sound better than the 1974 UK first pressing. That isn't bad but the slightly later pressings have a bit more clarity, which helps as it's not the best recorded album.
Obviously I meant 30th anniversary. You are not impressed with Ludwigs work. Does the 1/2 speed make any difference?
1/2 speed mastering is just a different approach to cutting - with differing trade-offs. I’m amazes that people still buy into the notion that something which involves additional steps might be an appreciable improvement over real time cutting.
Obviously you don't have any half speed record and can you please explain me how is running the cutting equipment at half speed an additional step?
Robert Ludwig himself said that Half Speed cutting was originally developed to work around cutting head limitations since at high enough frequencies and dynamics it could start to overheat. Half Speed cutting reduces a lot of that energy and wear but is not really necessary for that reason anymore as we use better materials. Today its sold as an audiophile gimmick and while it may have some benefits it also comes with cons, the main one being that you also cut frequencies in half meaning you have to artificially readjust it with EQing. That is another step for the engineer to think about and depending on the quality of their gear you might get good or bad results.
I have plenty of them. Most aren’t that good. Some are. What about the other things that need to be adjusted to compensate for the fact you are cutting the playback speed in half? It’s tradeoffs. Proponents always talk about how it allows a better capture of the top end, but neglect the inverse impact on the bottom end. It’s like the one-armed economist.
I notice that even MFSL on their new Ultra vinyl pressings DOES NOT master those at half speed. Nowhere does it state "half-speed mastered" on those first 3 releases.
All good feedback. Thanks for the informations. I like this community of devoted collectors and listeners of music.
BTW...I think Robert Ludwig was one of the legends of mastering for decades. It’s just in the last 10...12 years or so, that I have really not cared for his mastering style. Not sure if he drastically changed his setup or what.
I don’t think it’s him so much as his customers. I had a friend who had Gateway master some of his stuff. He said they basically had 3 options - squashed dynamics, lighter squashing (a la Queen?), or dynamic. I think most pick a or b.
Read up on the reviews. Best sounding pressings to hit the market. Some of those are now selling for 3 to 4 times their initial $100 cost.
Depends on what you compare to. And sorry, but simply removing 2 plating steps will not increase fidelity to such a point where its leagues ahead of anything else. The recordings and mastering for the vinyl is already good so of course it will sound good.
It should be exactly the opposite way, that's one of the main advantages of half speed. A bad pressing is going to be a bad pressing even at half speed and I am not saying they don't exist as I have a few bad ones myself but can you be more specific and name the albums that don't satisfy you?
