New Bruce Springsteen box, "The Album Collection Vol. 1, 1973-1984" (11/17/2014)

This is the silliest post that I have read on the Steve Hoffman Fo

You might mean re-dithered, not re-eq'ed. The eq is baked into the new remasters, they have not been re-eq'ed specifically for iTunes, they were re-dithered. Maybe you do not know how the Mastered For iTunes process works (MFIT).

 

For the price they are asking I would expect them to hire some teenager and make it his priority to put correct tags on 50 tracks - it will cost them next to nothing and will take not more than 15 minutes. I never expected the tags to be proofed by the Boss himself ))

 

CDs are inherently 16/44.1. That is the only supported format. It's called the Redbook standard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Disc_Digital_Audio#Audio_format

 

I wouldn't be so arrogant without checking my facts first. Apple does describe in quite a detail how to properly master a file specifically for AAC encoding in order to be granted the "Mastered for iTunes" tag. You are saying files are re-dithered for iTunes but here is what Apple have to say on the subject: "Our encoders then use every bit of resolution available, preserving all the dynamic range of a 24-bit source file and eliminating the need for dithering. The advantage of this is twofold. Not only does it obviate the need of adding dither noise, it also lets the encoders work more efficiently as they don’t need to waste resources encoding this unwanted and unnecessary noise."

I suggest you take a look yourself and come back to apologise to Mr. Smith.

 

I know all about the redbook standard for CD thank you. It doesn't mean the pressing plants won't take a 24/44.1 file instead of 16 bit. It may actually be a preferred resolution for best possible reproduction. I was merely throwing a possibile explanation for the 24/44.1 files out there.

 

Have you seen how teenagers are nowadays? You'd be lucky to get a couple of tracks done in 15 minutes let alone a whole album.

 

Judging from the reviews, I'd like to buy the set but I have all the albums of his I want and several more. Unlike others, my appreciation of Bruce dropped off significantly with 'The River'. 'Pink Cadillac' and 'Hungry Heart' finally put BS on heavy radio rotation and that kinda sapped my enthusiasm as I put him into the 'sell out' category and pretty much walked away. Timing had a lot to do with it as I was just getting into Springsteen when I heard he was coming to town. At that time, I hadn't heard anything from 'The River' and stood in line for hours to get tickets with great anticipation that his self-proclaimed "masterpiece" would be the culmination of his earlier rocker ballads with just a hint of jazz.

Shortly thereafter, the DJ's started playing the hits and by the time of the concert, I had become a bit disheartened. It was a good concert and I loved his energy, attitude and showmanship (yet another 3+ hour show) but the band focused on 'The River' and pretty much played it through. My bias was set when he started playing 'Hungry Heart' and the crowd jumped in and sang the song start-to-finish - he never uttered a note. He did play all his classics and several tunes from 'WIESS' so I did enjoy myself but couldn't help thinking it could've been so much better had I'd caught a him pre-River. I still enjoy his early work and listen to it quite often but to this day, I haven't been able to listen to 'The River' all the way through. I'm sure its just me though...

 

Turns out downsampling to 44.1 is part of the "Mastered for iTunes" process. It appears we are getting these masters as HD. Whether or not these are mastered in the same way (levels, EQ etc,) as the original 96/24 and vinyl masters, remains to be seen.

 

You should really give The River another try. I'd say enough time has passed for a fresh evaluation! Some filler for sure but some great tracks on that one. Funny thing is some of the best songs from that period didn't even make the album. Have you heard the Tracks box set?

 

I can.

Compared to Mastering #2 the new remaster sounds just like Mastering #3. It's really that simple. What Jamie did with transfering he tapes with the Plagent Process is amazing. It really is, and he should be commended for a job well done. But in terms of mastering the EQ is screechy just like Mastering #3.

 

Some people are saying it's better. I don't really agree. It's definitely way more compressed than any of the other CDs in the set. Maybe that's what people are liking about it.

 

Sell out? An artist finally making big money is a good thing in my book

 

I had a similar experience. I really got into Bruce with WIESS which I consider a major work but when he made the covers of Time and Newsweek he became a "sell out" and I never bought BTR or Darkness. 1984 I hear Born In the USA played in total on a jukebox in a bar. Wow. Great songs. Then went back and really got into the River which I also consider a major work.

Over the years I have made CDs of The River, BIUSA and WIESS with the bass cranked up to get some low end out of the thin CDs. I'm looking forward to hearing bass and drums on these albums in the digital realm.

Plus my $63 CD Box from Popmarket shipped. Yeah.

 

I agree with Director, you are not going to find any DR or EQ difference than the 30th Anniversary if you have any experience with that.

The Plangent process makes swallowing that DR and EQ a lot better, but you are still going to swallow the DR and EQ; assuming that is the reason why you asked how it compares to Mastering 2.

 

To these old ears, the new version of "Born In The USA" sounds virtually identical to the 2005 Japanese release (MHCP 728), although the new remaster seems to have a bit more bass.

 

D the Born To Run say 2005 remaster on the metadata

No, for everyone else reading, it wasn't from you.

 

I did actually wonder if the 24/44.1 "MFiT" masters were seperate EQd masters or not. I wasn't 100% sure, I just went along with it because I thought that was most likely. Now you've mentioned it, I can see how they can be just a dithered down copy of the 24/96 EQd master, the same as higher resolution masters are dithered down to 16/44.1 for CD release.

 

Well either am I. I guess that is something that we will have to find out. One thing, I will probably buy a couple of the 24/44.1 downloads, I do not know if I have the patience to wait for the 24/96 downloads.

 

Think what you like, believe me or not. I'm a very trusted member on this forum and I only post both my opinions and what is 100% genuine. I was 100% genuinely told from a very reliable source that 24/96 releases of the albums in the new box set are coming soon. I will not be commenting anymore on this subject.

 

There are many who love the sound of these remastered CDs, some who do not like them. Could anyone post some DRs and some waveforms of this new music? I'd love to see what the waveforms look like.

 

Therockman wasn't taking issue with the idea that 24/96 was coming so much as he was with the idea that the 24/96 when it came would have a different eq. I don't know whether MfiT requires a different EQ from the master used for other media so I can't comment.

 

Thanks for that.

 

I realize that Mr. Smith is not silly, and I thought that I had deleted that beginning of that post. My sincerest apologies to this forum for that post, but somehow the part that I thought had been deleted still came through. His ideas, and mine, are not silly, and I again apologize.

 

All sorted through a PM. Apology accepted.