Let's Dance was analogue and is remastered by Ray Staff and Nile Rodgers. Rodgers says, "it gave me the chance to bring it back to what we actually heard together in the studio while recording it." Unfortunately mastered LOUD. Tonight was recorded on 48 track analogue according to Hugh Padgham. Never Let Me Down was recorded on two Studer A80 24-track machines at 30 ips without Dolby. So … all analogue for the studio albums. Tim
Am I right in thinking though that if they were mixed digitally remixes would have to be made to produce hi res versions?
They weren't mixed digitally according to the book; but in principle if it were mixed in 16/44 then that would be the case. I am not sure how much mixing was ever done in 16/44 but maybe some in the early days, others would know? I'd have thought it was relatively rare. Analogue mixing is lossy so you can obviously get better resolution by remixing an analogue production in modern digital. Personally I don't think hi-res has much benefit over 16/44 as a delivery format, obviously it has a lot of benefit at the mixing/mastering stage. It's just a shame that so often we don't get the benefit of what 16/44 (or hi-res) is capable of thanks to dubious mastering decisions. Tim
All these off topic digs at Visconti being 'deaf', as we get older we lose the ability to hear higher frequencies so I'm not sure how an old 'deaf' man would compensate for that problem by further boosting the bass frequencies he has no problems in hearing? Worst case would be someone flipping back and forward between the original and simply not hearing the higher frequencies and therefore missing them off a new mix thinking they have an exact match. If Visconti said the new Low was what it should have sounded like originally then he is comparing the new version with his memories of both what they wanted it to sound like and what they had to settle for in the studio, have his memories gone deaf too? I think it is far more likely that its the hearing degradation of the listener which is the problem here, than it being Visconti going deaf and presumably also not being able to see the mixing desk properly too.
I think we shouldn't repeat the whole TV discussion here, since it polarized opinions in the ANCIANT thread and that got closed (while that thread actually had an impact beyond this forum). Fact remains if you read the official press info by Warners after the volume drop was reported and compare that to what was concluded here, it was lousy at best. Do you think any producer should have the power to considerably change the sound of a classic album, by remixing and really boosting frequencies ? Making it sound different as the default now, not just an extra mix next to the usual mix. After four decades, with the artist deceased. Just because he remembers a discussion from 40 years ago how this piece of art should have sounded, had technology existed to make it so ? Now move that kind of reasoning to other sorts of classic art .. So it's a more essential discussion than just about the man's hearing capabilities. It had more to do with ego, and respect earned, people giving him carte blanche.
Yeah, I can see the argument/discussion which could be had around that and see merit in both points of view - the particular issue with that album was that Visconti claimed it was never produced as they all wanted it. It is a similar but less extreme version of the NLMD issue in this set. By all means discuss the whys and wherefores of those issues, my problem is claiming TV is a deaf old duffer because the bass is boosted on Low, presumably that also means those people don't think he is able, or should be allowed to work on Blackstar if needed when the time comes too.
I'm waiting for a torrent of a vinyl rip. To hell with crushed CDs of 30-yo records. Seriously. I won't even play the "lossless" Tidal of NLMD'18, and that's two clicks away.
Unlike himself I’ve never had a problem with Too Dizzy. Bought the vinyl on first hour of release in the UK which now resides boxed in the attic somewhere. Just wondering wouldn’t mind adding this track to my 16 bit rip of the CD box set. Is there a 16 bit version of Too Dizzy out there somewhere?
I'm lucky-dumb enough to really love the Parlophone "Diamond Dogs", one of four core RCA albums which I live for, and which have kept me hooked on buying. But it only runs 38 minutes. If it were a longer album, perhaps I'd be feeling the fatigue/pain (and attendant despair). But if Jimmy Page can put out a "Song Remains the Same" soundtrack with supplements at 24/96 that I can listen to complete through in one sitting (except Stairway, because well, Stairway), then I ain't the one with the problem.
I just listened to Too Dizzy again for the first time in many years, and can easily understand why he got rid of it. One of his worst songs, if not the worst ever. I did laugh at one of the comments though. “If this was on Aladdin Sane, it would be highly rated.”
Thanks. Oddly, the DVD uses a live version/video. Someone else pointed out the Platinum Collection, and I already haz dat, so... But I'm using the Ryko 6-minute in my home-brewed ReCall to supplement the hi-res purchase that... I'll never be making? (I'll put an honorary white jewel case on my Bowie shelf for this Miss Havisham of the Parlophone box sets.)
I admit that from what I have heard till now (Tidal) , sound is good! And aside that, it's a wonderful collection of music and period of time.
I bought the 44.1/16s from Tidal when they came out, figuring that, even if crushed, we're talking 4+4 minutes, tops.
Anyone know why the Labyrinth songs are older remasters (?) and not from 2018...was it already done recently? Noticed Amazon and streaming states they're were not done where everything else, apart from NLMD 2018, says "2018 remastered version".
I’ve got a Universal vinyl reissue of it from an HMV bargain bin. I think it came out not long after he died. I’ve listened to it, just sounds like my old CD of it, not that I really register the sound quality of that album. It’s fine for what it is but I never, or rarely listen to it all even when I’m in a big Bowie mood.