What do you do with the "unlistenable"

Just a thought; i was wondering what you do with your LPs or cds that have horrible SQ and just make you despair when you listen to them. For example, i hate the sound of my remaster of a night at the opera by queen. It sounds so bad i hate playing it. The same with The man who sold the world reissue, simply terrible. Do you keep them, or do you bin them. Many cds suffer from bad poor mastering, the last Stones blues album is just tooo loud!!

 

If I like the album I usually keep an eye out for a better version, and hopefully replace it. What to do with the old one, it depends. If it's in good condition I'll sell it (usually in a lot with other stuff) but if the SQ was bad because the LP was in terrible condition, I'll usually trash it.

I picked up a "Sticky Fingers" from the dollar bin with an excellent cover but unfortunately found it was too warped to play when I got it home. Recently I found a nice copy with a trashed cover (someone yanked too hard on the zipper ) so I swapped out the LP's and trashed the warped one. I also picked up Weather Report "Mysterious Traveller" and found although the LP is in great shape it does not sound good to my ears. I realized after I bought it, it's a European pressing so I'll probably keep an eye out for a US copy which hopefully will sound better. Then I'd sell the Euro one.

 

Sorry, i was not very clear, i was thinking of new albums and/or new reissues. Sorry again

 

Perhaps the proper combination of new signal, speaker, and power cables will improve things tremendously?

For example if before things sounded "thin" then adding cables that make things sound "bloated" would even things out perfectly - not?

And if the sound stage is way too wide open, then cables that compresse it might help - perhaps?

If there's not enough upper bass then "boomy" cables should set things straight - for sure?

Think about it. Just about any sound quality, good or bad, has been attributed to cables, so by taking the characteristics of those recordings that you don't like, and pairing them to known "anti-characteristics" of a given cable, or cables, then you should be able to get the final sound just right.

Just make sure to jot down the perfect cable set up for every recording - after you've found it.

Of course swapping cables to match each individual recording might become a bit onerous over time, but if you're not willing to put that kind of effort into this hobby, err obsession, then you need to find another.



Jeff

 

Delete them from the hard drive/play list. There’s too much other music that needs to be listened to

 

trade-ins at the record store, of course.

 

Assuming that the record or CD isn't damaged or defective (and that the bad sound quality is part of the recording itself), I would list it for sale on Discogs... usually at a low-enough price that guarantees a sale. The way I see it, if the buyer is specifically looking for that version of the release and I can give it them at a good price, then we're both happy.

 

If hopeless, I ditch them -- selling if possible. If they have redeeming qualities, I turn on the tone controls in my preamp and EQ away. Sometimes that's all it takes to make the unlistenable become listenable.

If you have many of these, you might give the Schiit Loki a try. From all reports, it's pretty transparent and pretty effective.

 

I'll tag the album with something derogatory. Once purchased and ripped I'm very unlikely to delete it from my library. But I will give it derogatory tags and nasty comments in the notes field.

 

I buy a lot of used LP's (therefore cheap) and any in poor enough condition or are not to my liking, I leave next to my door. When there gets to be a few, I place them near one of my building's refuse containers. Someone always snaps them up.

 

In the past I just kept them. But now, nothing that I have is unlistenable in my system. I do listen to a lot more than others though. If I see something that I don't have which is in horrible condition, I bring it home clean it, play and put it away.

M~

 

I'd just ditch them at a used record store or at the Salvation Army. Either way, it'd be best for them to serve somebody else as opposed to contributing to the existing pollution.

 

Most of the unlistenable recordings I have these days are caused by too loud mastering!

So I just turn them down and listen quietly while looking around for better issues. Or waiting for AF to come out with a remastered version. ;-)

 

fortunately i have managed to revise my system over the years to be very friendly to the bad recordings. i really can't think of a single CD, LP or digital file that I would not enjoy listening to because of its recording quality.
Bad or worn vinyl is another matter and I usually replace them with new vinyl or digital wherever possible.

 

Owning a dbx 3BX III makes finding the sweet spot in any mastering possible. That said, i have let go of a handful of CDs that were just unredeemable then and unmemorable now.

 

I recently got rid of almost all of my slightly warped records and replaced them on discogs. It's liberating. Otherwise, they'll just sit there and piss you off. The harder question is, what about when replacing it the record is cost prohibitive (a first U.S. pressing of "The Sex Pistols," for instance, which sounds like crap)?

 

I'm not a completist. If your eye offends thee, then cast it out!

 

If the music is good, I can still listen to bad remasters of it. However, I have records that were wonderfully recorded, but the music on them sucked big time.

 

youtube sounds pretty good on my set up. I take that as...it means its not broken.

 

If I like the music and it’s the only available option, I listen to it and enjoy.

I’m not going to get rid of the new stones album because it’s too loud.

 

If the quality is bad enough that I cannot get past the SQ, I sell it.

 

Why would you purchase bad music? Just taking a chance in an unknown?

 

I am hoping you are the new king of humor and sarcasm

 

obviously first step is to find a better mastering. so assuming you have the best mastering available, it depends on what’s wrong with it. sometimes all it needs is some EQ. it can be hard to undo bad EQ but you can approximate it so that it’s at least acceptable sounding.

but if the best available mastering is still compressed/clipped/no-noised, then just forget about it. nothing in the world you do can fix that because it’s damaged beyond repair. best you can do is hope for is a better remaster at some point in the future.

 

i can’t imagine any revision to a system that makes bad recordings sound better unless it involves downgrading or wonky EQ settings