Traffic mastering thread...

I have Smiling Phases, the Steve Winwood box set and the US JVC pressing of John Barleycorn and the MFSL titles. I am now strongly considering the remasters (they are cheap near where I live and on amazon).

I have done searches here and the US Traffic remasters are recommended but I didn't find posts with EAC values (I did find one for the Smiling Phases comp) and waveform comparisons. If they are here, please provide them for me as I may have just overlooked them.

There have been threads of other artists (like Rush) that have thorough analysis of each album. Could we do that here for Traffic please...

Thanks!

 

The deluxe edition of John Barleycorn is awesome. A analysis of each album would be cool.

 

The US Traffic remasters are indeed very good. They easily beat the European remasters which are full of noise reduction. Sadly it's the European ones that have the better packaging...

 

Who does the mastering on the US ones?

 

I keep thinking about picking this one up, though I was a little bummed that they didn't include the complete concert there. Were you happy with the remastering?

 

Jeff Willens is credited as mastering engineer, but Gary Moore is credited with A-D transfers.

 

Yes very good in my opinion.

 

Yes cool I have the Japan mini's of Traffic and Willens is credited with the mastering and they do sound good.

 

And I have read similar praise here in other threads. Just would like EAC values and waveforms like this thread post:

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-rush-cd-mastering-thread-part-2.290440/page-2

 

I did not like the 2001 pink faced USA Barlycorn remaster. Listened to it once or twice and went back to one of the original cds

 

They do? The USA versions have good inserts, with lots of graphics and photos, and they are in jewel cases, not paper. They also sound good. Seems like perfection. What's different, besides the NR?

 

I'm quite happy with the U.S. remasters.

 

Get the mono Heaven Is In Your Mind from Sundazed. They did a very good job of getting it onto CD, but it's the mono mix that's the most entertaining aspect. If you already have the MFSL of Mr. Fantasy, this will make a good complimentary addition to a Traffic collection.

I realize I'm still not providing the graphs and statistics you want to see, but I don't have the software to obtain that information.

...but don't miss out on the mono Heaven Is In Your Mind

 

For that I visited:

http://www.dr.loudness-war.info/details.php?id=25096

It seems to be dynamic (though, I don't know how to interpret these numbers.) The DR #'s range from a low of 10 to a high of 14:

DR11 -0.37 dB -13.11 dB 3:26 01-Paper Sun
DR10 -0.79 dB -13.60 dB 3:34 02-Dealer
DR10 -0.77 dB -12.73 dB 2:50 03-Coloured Rain
DR11 -0.12 dB -14.53 dB 2:56 04-Hole In My Shoe
DR10 -4.96 dB -16.96 dB 3:35 05-No Face, No Name, No Number
DR14 -0.11 dB -16.37 dB 4:18 06-Heaven Is In Your Mind
DR10 -1.29 dB -12.94 dB 2:06 07-House For Everyone
DR11 -1.77 dB -16.32 dB 2:56 08-Berkshire Poppies
DR10 -1.52 dB -13.12 dB 4:14 09-Giving To You
DR11 -0.59 dB -13.87 dB 2:44 10-Smiling Phases
DR12 -0.52 dB -13.55 dB 5:33 11-Dear Mr. Fantasy
DR10 -2.59 dB -15.18 dB 0:55 12-We're A Fade, You Missed This

 

I just want to see if these remasters have clipped waveforms or compression, etc...

 

The DR values look good.

 

They don't always tell the full story. Trust your ears first.

 

I agree with you....but as I mentioned I haven't as yet acquired the remasters. I do trust and respect the opinions here and the recommendations, so I probably will get them anyway. Just puzzled that there have been so many threads comparing cd pressings of the Beatles, Genesis, Rush, Jethro Tull, etc...not many stats on Traffic remastered cds when a lot of members here like them but some prefer the original cds...

 

If you don't mind me asking: what did you not like about the John Barleycorn remaster?

 

You might want to check out the deluxe edition of John Barleycorn.

 

I am keeping an eye on this thread.

 

Could not get used to hearing the album with the altered track sequencing.

And although I have not listened to the disc in ages, their was something amiss sound quality wise.

Based upon the Island 90058-2 Made In Japan for USA disc impressions. Its probably a loss of dynamics and some added compression in the remaster that put me off to liking it.

 

I have the mono Island Pink 'eye' first press of Mr Fantasy and it sounds fantastic, beats all other versions I've heard.

 

Ok, so I took a quick listen to compare. And the two cds have a very different presentation. The remaster is very clean and clear, but a bit louder and forward sounding- especially in the midrange. Drums don't sound quite right. The original cd is more balanced sounding and musical but a bit muddled as if it was sourced from a later generation tape. Neither disc is great nor bad, just sound different. Up to personal preference.

 

I have that same disc (mentioned in the OP). I found it muddy, but the first few tracks seem very bottom heavy eq-wise. Did you hear the same thing?