I'll take his work on the Stones catalog vs Stephen Marcussen's, and it doesn't matter if we're talking the RL's from the 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s, or 2010s...digital or vinyl. So he's got that going for him.
They're not as bad as some of his more recent efforts but they're not that good either. See Dire Straits SBM Remasters Dire Straits - remasters question Dire Straits: Remastered CDs vs originals ?
I just checked it - the Hi-Res version of "An American Treasure" is indeed DR11 (compared to DR8 for the CD box). Kudos to Chris Bellman, he did the right thing (brickwall for the CD/iTunes/Spotify masses and more DR for Hi-Res/Vinyl). I wish all projects could be treated that way, because that will make everyone happy.
Kudos to Chris for brickwalling a CD, because CD buyers on this forum could care less about DR? C'mon, man. It sounds like it wasn't Bellman's decision anyway. That producer's comment reads as: "Q: Why is the CD so much louder? A: Because we asked the engineer to do it."
This vinyl-focused podcast’s second episode features the history of the legendary RL Led Zeppelin II. It’s entertaining and contains a lot of historical recording and mastering information for the layman. The story features Ludwig, Ahmet Ertegun, Ertegun’s daughter, and an interesting line drawn between LZ manager Peter Grant and the Monarch pressing plant. Worth a listen. The Vinyl Guide by The Vinyl Guide on Apple Podcasts
At least you do have a chance of creating a high-DR CD if you want to (buy the Hi-Res and burn it on CD). If all masters are over-compressed (like so many out there), you don't get any digital version with preserved DR at all. And I know that Chris most likely had no saying about the CD version, but at least he preserved the DR on the high-quality Hi-Res master. That is more than what people like Giles Martin and Bob Ludwig did for the audiophile community with their latest work. Therefore: I stand to my kudos to Chris!
@BarakaPDub has done excellent YT video about Bob Ludwig I have several CDs that credits Bob Ludwig's work. I like the work he has done on Boston - Third Stage CD. I never heard MFSL copy but Bob's work is very satisfying.
Sterling/Masterdisk R.Ls are the bomb? Mmmm… It is difficult to judge sometimes as an engineer's work is often subject and limited by the quality of your playback equipment. It would be fair to say detail, sound stage and balance can become compromised. As I improved my playback equipment I found I understood and enjoyed some of the engineers work a lot more. Also, everyone's ears like fingerprints are unique so will interoperate sound slightly differently. I collect different masterings of the same release from around the world for these reasons. As different engineers on different equipment in other countries can have a profound effect on the final sound of a release. On more than one occasion I have found I prefer the work of others to R.L There are many great mastering engineers that I would love to discuss in depth. That being said, I never look at a perspective album, noticing it is mastered by R.L and think I won't buy that.. I just have other engineer's work I find more palatable to my taste.
Ludwig pictured in his mastering studio in 2008. Wally Traugott Both engineers have done some incredible work.
He mastered a bunch of my records and I never met him - he always patiently put up with my idiotic notes and turned around a nice lacquer or whatever it was called that they made the stampers from. This was a long time ago in the era of records. I don't know his work in CDs as well but he is a highly respected individual and has done work on a huge number of the releases we listen to.
Speaking for myself here, for me to critique Bob Ludwig's work carries about as much weight as my expert opinion of Usain Bolt's running style.
Memory Almost Full and half of Queen 2011 remasters campaign describes his skills very well for me. I don't understand how the professional of his calibre still doesn't know how properly to compress the waveform without clipping.
Ok, I'll bite..provide a few examples of any particular album where you feel other engineers mastering were superior to Ludwig's version. A lot of us collect many different versions and reissues, etc of our favorite albums. I'm not saying it can't happen, I just want to know which comparisons you've made.
Meaning these guys are both experts at their craft, whereas I know nothing about either, so why would I proceed to tell them where they're going wrong or critique their performance.
Because when it is clear someone is not performing their craft properly in an audiophile sense (look at dynamic range as an indication of the use of compression ) it's like paying to see Usain Bolt jog the 100m.
I think if they mastered brick wall CDs it was because they were instructed to by the label and not out of choice. Ludwig has an excellent past record with vinyl. Ludwig did the digital mastering for the current EJ vinyl which sound fine. He doesn't appear to do vinyl cutting any more. Looking at his recent discography there are some well known examples of brick walled sound. I guess he does what the client wants. Can still do good work but he is not a selective 'audiophile' engineer like BG or RKS. Gateway appears to be more mass market commercial (digital) operation than specialist.
Not arguing with that only that Ludwig is happy to brickwall and does it regularly these day and defends it.