Sinatra / Capitol Sound Quality and General Discussion: Come Fly with Me (recorded 1957)*

Man..the stuff one learns on this board makes your head explode......in a GOOD way.

 

I would trust Larry's mix...that old mix is wonky.

 

Matt, first, thank you once again for your efforts in attempting to thoroughly examine each Capitol Frank Sinatra album. I am always smiling when I see something new at the site you created and so passionately keep adding to and tweaking. Fun stuff.

Last night I spent a good hour going back and forth on the different stereo versions of "Lets Get Away From It All". On this comparative listen I decided to base my conclusions mainly on Mr Sinatras voice. After all, if that isnt balanced, equalized, mastered correctly; then the best sounding band sound versions will not mean much.

Here are my layman conclusions:

(Further note that this was done from my Iphone with earbuds. Good quality earbuds, but earbuds just the same. Something to consider in my conclusions. Still I think that all things being equal, I can still tell differences in eq, balance, clarity, warmth etc. with them.)

Original stereo D6 , 1966 D4-

Ive put these two together because they have the same issues with the overall sq imo. That being, a more pinched quality. This is not only apparent with Mr Sinatras vocals but a rather narrow/more tinny sound on whole. Not my favorite versions so far.

Mid 1970s yellow label-

Actually some improvement to my ears. Not bad really. Still a bit pinched and some strange eq.

1974 orange label-

Nothing horrible going on, but no great steps taken either. An overall unnaturalness to Mr Sinatras voice.

The next few I listened to a bit more than the later...

1975 Dutch lp-

This ones a bit odd in the balance department. Frank Sinatras voice sounds pushed to the left as does the band. Almost makes me want to lean when I listen. With cocking the balance maybe they were going for some swagger? . Whatever the reason for the eq and balance choices, I couldnt get passed that to really listen to the vocals much. Kind of a strange one if you ask me.

1976 German 2-fer-

Ahh the old "Veee vill git yoo with our toobie-ness" ploy. And the German mastering almost did. Im a sucker for german pressed lps. Whatever the faults are, warmth and embracing the listener with a comfy feeling are not two of them.

On many german pressings the tube sound is balanced with clarity. But, as much as I wanted to be in love with this version, I have to admit its just too slushy sounding. Its like a really great kiss that has just a bit too much lipstick smeared. You kinda enjoy the kiss but wow shes a mess afterwords.

1983 MFSL-

My go to stereo version for many years. Fully admitting I am more of a mono guy when it comes to this album (but not by a huge margin) the MFSL always seemed pretty right. The more Ive been away from this version though, the less I like it now.

Why? I think it may be the half-speed process. I know too much its characteristics. And it has that half-speed sound Im now not as fond of. Practically speaking though, I think this ones faults are strangely enough it has too much of a good thing. That is, the soundstage is just too wide and everything seems pushed forward eq wise. I can no longer say this is my favorite stereo version. There is a fuzzyness to the vocals I dont like. Too wooly. Probably the most disappointing revisit of my listen.

1984 Dutch DMM-

This ones just too tame for me. Where as the MFSL is a blownout modernization as far as staging (excuse the exaggeration), this one has the vocals too dead and recessed. Not to mention the band. Its losts its swing. My feet stopped.

And the winner for me..

1984 UK Dell-

You nailed it imo when you stated "vocal clarity". And based upon my rule of "the voice is the thing" I chose this version. By a bit of a margin too. I can hear each word Mr Sinatra says. And enunciation is such an integral part of his singing style. You have to have clarity. There are some minor eq issues I think. And I think that if these were addressed that the bit of harshness would fall away some. Put a few tubes with this and I would imagine youd get even closer. Franks Sinatra sounds real here and my feet once again tapped. Those are the qualities I look for first.

I compared this to the Walsh cd version. And surprisingly I find Larrys too wide in comparison. I liked the Dell quite a bit better. But I fully disclose that I may need to recheck this conclusion.

So, fwiw, those are my takes and conclusion of the best stereo version.

One side note...

If you feel compelled (I know that the mono version isnt your favorite) Id sure be interested in hearing a couple or three clips of the 2014/2009 etc mono lp compared maybe to earlier mono incarnations.

Thanks again for your efforts Matt!

 

I don't own any vinyl anymore but I love the Walsh and the 2014 Mastered by iTunes versions. I like the sound of both but the Walsh is my preferred version.

 

Come Fly With Me and In The Wee Small Hours were the first Sinatra albums i bought, after heaving 'discovered' him a bit through a compilation cd. This was in the 'Before' time (before discovering the SH forums and the excellent 11fifty site, that is ) and i loved both records immediately.

CFWM was the 1987 Larry Walsh cd and ITWSH was the 1991 Larry Walsh cd.

I did notice differences in sound between these two but didn't pay much attention to it since they are two completely different albums and having never even heard of 'wet tapes' and such. I just loved the sound (and especially the music) of both of them.

BUT THEN! Through your excellent comparisons and great discussions here with Bob F, MMM and all the others i discovered the Wee version on the UK 1998 box set and it just felt RIGHT! It sounded more 'authentic' and old (in a good way!), Frank was now truly next to you in the room and I fell in love with the album all over again. (also, on a side note, the discussion about 'Songs For Swingin' Lovers' made me buy my very first SACD!)

So, to conclude, i can't thank you guys enough. It has been said many times before and it's worth repeating, but these Sinatra threads are among the very best this forum has to offer, both in terms of information and lighthearted fun. I was initially shy to post here because of the overwhelming amount of knowledge and expertise of the contributing members, but i just felt like expressing my gratitude. So thanks Matt, and all the members here, for making this a great place to hang out.

 

Likewise @Centurion! I'm a long time listener of Sinatra's work, originally from the Norburg CDs and some of the original LPs. This forum's guidance has led me to the best in both the LP and Digital realms, especially @MLutthans's excellent 11fifty site.

As I believe I mentioned before, I have a soft spot in my heart for the original MONO mix, reverb and all. I still listen to my needledrop of the Dell LP often, but to my ears, you can't beat the echo of the shimmering strings on Moonlight In Vermont and Autumn in New York.

 

That's not bad at all!

 

This is one of my favorite Frank album, and have bought many versions over the years trying to get really good sounding, clean versions with guidance from the Mr. Lutthans' website. My current go-to copies are the 2009 and 2014 mono reissues with a slight edge to the 2009.

 

Youre very welcome Matt. Your site makes it so easy to do comparisons, so my pleasure to add my little tid bits. Plus, its my kinda fun!

As far as doing mono transitional clips, thatd be fantastic if you would. No hurry and thanks again for your efforts

 

I agree, there's something for everyone. I think my favorite song on this album is "Moonlight in Vermont."

During the last six months, I think I must have listened to selections from "Come Fly With Me" from most versions of the album released on both LP and CD. The version I was personally listening to was the CD from the 21 CD UK set (mainly because I had already loaded the entire 21 CD set on to my music server). I thought it was a pleasant and listenable version of the album, but I knew it certainly was not the best sounding available.

However, the other day, after searching through my entire CD collection, I finally found and got around to loading the Walsh CD onto my music server. I have to say Larry really had his "A" game when he worked on this album. He did a fantastic job, and I honestly think that this is the best sounding version of "Come Fly With Me" available on LP or CD. Yes, he did use digital machinations to quash the hum present in some songs, but the overall result is spectacular when compared to the other versions of the album (LP & CD) I have encountered. I don't think anyone could improve much on what Larry did.