The Velvet Underground "White Light/White Heat" 45th Anniversary Edition

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Marry a Carrot, Sep 28, 2013.

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  1. hallucalation

    hallucalation Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nowhere Man
    There's distortions when Lou hit some trebly earpiercing notes on I Heard Her Call My Name and when he sings simultaneously. It is especially apparent when listen it loud..
     
  2. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    How about buying an HD FLAC or mp3 download of the stuff you neeed?
     
  3. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    I can hear it on the 45th remaster. Is that what you are listening to?

    It's odd that I just put up with it. I think I always assume that it's meant to be distorted and that it's going to hurt when played loud. I will have to check it against a vinyl version.

    I notice that the mono version on the 45th set is mastered more quietly than the stereo.

    And have you heard the MFSL version? Sounds similar to the 45th remaster, but slightly less analytical and I don't think the distortion on that track is as pronounced or harsh - at least on headphones.

    I have not compared the 45th to the 1996 version, though. There was always the sense that the MFSL was the preferred version.
     
  4. hallucalation

    hallucalation Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nowhere Man
    Yep, that's what i hear too. It's also even more pronounced on alternate mix when you hear it LOUD because sound is even more flat/dull than LP mix. Check it on the chorus when guitar screams, Lou sings and band singing chorus "I heard it call my naaaaame".. Maybe i'm just sensitive to this. Anyway if it's on the tape - i'm ok with this.

    No, i haven't heard MFSL. It is OOP now and expensive.. Did 1996 standalone CD and PSAS mastering is the same?

    Also 2013 mastering have less treble than all previous versions i have/had of this album and of Banana and Velvet Underground 2012 and 14 remastering. Probably because of this earpiercing guitar shrieks
     
  5. rabarbar

    rabarbar Forum Resident

    So you say that boot sounds better than this deluxe version CD? I heard Live at Gymnasium dozen times and thought i would buy some decent remastered version of it.Bootleg sounds really bright,but what a fantastic music it is.
     
    Last edited: Oct 5, 2015
  6. hallucalation

    hallucalation Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nowhere Man
    Actually better, yes. No volume and tape drop outs (almost) and sound is more cleaner and defined. Also less distortions on vocal.
     
  7. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    I didn't realise that it has less treble - I'd have to go back and check the 1996. But there's more detail in the 2013 version?
    I thought I could hear things buried in the mix more clearly and easily than before. In some sense their is more delicacy in the 2013, but also a tendency to brightness.

    Yes, I think the MFSL is rounder, easier on the ear, but slightly less detail than the 2013.

    The 1996 and the PSAS are the same.
     
  8. Rupe33

    Rupe33 Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
    Spotted this mural on the wall at the Rough Trade store in Brooklyn this weekend. Pretty cool.
    [​IMG]
     
  9. motionoftheocean

    motionoftheocean Senior Member

    Location:
    Circus Maximus
    one positive with this set is that it's made me obsessed with "The Gift," but specifically the vocal version on the mono mix. to just hear Cale reading what's actually a pretty great short story without the aimless noodling bed track has made this one of my favorite VU moments.
     
  10. tremspeed

    tremspeed Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    They actually designed that (on the original LP) so you can just pan it out.
     
  11. Dino

    Dino Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kansas City - USA
    I always liked adjusting the balance, bringing the vocal channel up and the instrumental channel down until they were about equal on "The Gift".

    Otherwise, I felt that the instrumental channel overwhelmed the vocal.
     
  12. motionoftheocean

    motionoftheocean Senior Member

    Location:
    Circus Maximus
    regardless, I feel the music bed significantly detracts from both Cale's delivery and the quality of Reed's writing. hearing the story a capella is far more devastating than with an 8-minute vamp.
     
  13. tremspeed

    tremspeed Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    devastating? interesting, always seemed jokey to me.
     
  14. motionoftheocean

    motionoftheocean Senior Member

    Location:
    Circus Maximus
    which is my point. the story becomes comic relief when set to the vamp. heard on its own it's a completely different creature.
     
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  15. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    I love the 8m aimless noodling. I always make a version of the album without the vocals. My only quandary is whether to have the mono music track in both speakers or only on the right. It makes a great side 1 to the album which then probably becomes my favourite LP side in the whole of the VU Lp releases.

    I wish they could mix a stereo version of the original music tracks, assuming they still exist on multi.
     
    pobbard likes this.
  16. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    What is this 'vamp'. I read someone in the USA using this term the other day, talking about a DNA track, I think.
     
  17. motionoftheocean

    motionoftheocean Senior Member

    Location:
    Circus Maximus
  18. guidedbyvoices

    guidedbyvoices Old Dan's Records

    Location:
    Alpine, TX
    I love the balance of the dark groove, the black humor story, cales accent, the guitar screeches. I can tune in or out of the story as I want as different things come into play. One of my favorite VU tunes but don't like listening to it in mono or just vocal or just music. I like the hard pan and how where you are can affect the balance
     
    Dino likes this.
  19. pobbard

    pobbard Still buying CDs

    Location:
    Andover, MA
    +1
     
  20. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
  21. rnranimal

    rnranimal Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    I'll just assume they don't exist anymore. Otherwise, they missed a great opportunity in mixing a new stereo music track instead of just splitting the L/R channels into their own mono tracks (which I thought was kinda lame, we've always been able to do that ourselves - that was the point of the way it was mixed). They had plenty of room on that set, hell, let's have a vocal-only, a new stereo music track and a new mix with the music in stereo and the vocal center.
     
    pobbard likes this.
  22. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    But they has the multi-tracks for all the non-LP material, in order to remix it. Unless they managed to make it sound that way through carefully banded EQ-ing.
     
  23. rnranimal

    rnranimal Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    They do have those multis. Don't know if the album multis were stored with them or not, though. If they still have The Gift multis, that's a real shame they didn't remix the music track to stereo.
     
  24. D.H.

    D.H. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Malmö, Sweden
    Is the 2CD version worth owning if I already have the late 90's release?

    *mastering wise
     
  25. rnranimal

    rnranimal Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    I would say no. Not if you don't care about the bonus material. The late 90s is quite good. I like the '13 less the more I listen to it. It's not bad or anything, I actually liked it quite a bit when I first heard it, but something about it doesn't sound quite right to me now. Possibly the EQ, which as pointed out earlier in this thread, is light in the treble. The '96 does have a dropout right at the start of "Sister Ray". That's my only complaint of it. On the other hand, the '13 has a dropout towards the end.
     
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