Dusty Springfield "In Memphis" sound quality

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by rednoise, Oct 21, 2016.

  1. rednoise

    rednoise Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Boston
    I'm listening to "Dusty in Memphis" (Rhino Deluxe Edition) right now and I'm reminded of something that's bothered me for ages. Her vocals on many/most of the tracks has a disconcerting "telephone-like" quality. The backing tracks sound fairly wide-fidelity, but the vocals seem oddly pinched. Is this just how the tapes sound, or is it due to some processing in Rhino's part? I love the performances, but the vocal sound tries to take me out of the moment.
     
  2. Try AP's wonderful SACD. It doesn't sound like the Rhino at all.
     
    Jarleboy, Ed Hughes, tmtomh and 2 others like this.
  3. Fortune

    Fortune Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    For the RHINO REMASTER CD with bonus tracks: It's part-"the tapes sound like crap" and part "Rhin-O-Phonic sound."

    The original Rhino CD sounds marginally less sibilant.

    The AP SACD or 45 RPM LP is where it's at. Mastered by Kevin Gray, I believe. Has the best EQ. He did the best he could with the tapes.
     
    McLover, rxcory, Ed Hughes and 8 others like this.
  4. adm62

    adm62 Senior Member

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    Well, she wasn't in Memphis when she recorded them...
     
  5. johnaltman

    johnaltman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Alabama
  6. Fortune

    Fortune Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    brucej4, Trace, Steel City and 6 others like this.
  7. Stu02

    Stu02 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    funny I just finished playing my Ap - gray mastered 45 rpm version 30 minutes ago, to some the best version of this classic LP and I do agree with you even on this audiophile reissue, vocals pinched a little and a little sibilant ..the musical instruments sounds much better..
    still one of the best albums of all time for me....
     
    Jarleboy, tmtomh and FashionBoy like this.
  8. C6H12O6

    C6H12O6 Senior Member

    Location:
    My lab
    I concur. Far better than any of the etched sounding reissues by Rhino.
     
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  9. mwheelerk

    mwheelerk Sorry, I can't talk now, I'm listening to music...

    Location:
    Gilbert Arizona
    Oh, so she was on the phone.
     
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  10. DrJ

    DrJ Senior Member

    Location:
    Davis, CA, USA
    I agree - that pressing is the best it'll ever sound, but it is just an odd recording, no two ways about it - after all these years it's kind of part of the charm - and yeah, it's a masterpiece of soulful pop singing and arranging.
     
    rxcory, tmtomh, mpayan and 1 other person like this.
  11. TokenGesture

    TokenGesture Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    She sure didn't phone in her performance :tiphat:
     
  12. Alien Reg

    Alien Reg Forum Resident

    By Rhino deluxe you mean the 2 disc set with an album's worth of totally unrelated tracks, I assume. If so I totally agree. She sounds like she's in a different building. I had sold my original Rhino single disc edition before I got this. Immediately ran back to the shop and bought it again. This was back in the 90s - my first experience of "new edition not necessarily better than previous one". But all those 60s southern soul studios recordings show their shortcomings digitally. Interested to know there's a SACD.
     
  13. rednoise

    rednoise Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Boston
    No, I mean the single-disk release with several bonus tracks. So you're saying the 2-disk reissue sounds even worse?? Yikes! Actually, the backing tracks recorded in Memphis sound pretty good to me. It's just the vocal tracks that sound odd.

    I don't have a SACD player, so that choice is right out, unfortunately.
     
  14. art

    art Senior Member

    Location:
    520
    better than the hi-res dowlaos, any vinyl, anything. That SACD kills.
     
  15. rednoise

    rednoise Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Boston
    I guess it's due to the vocals being recorded in a different studio than the backing tracks. The producers seem to have not made much of an attempt to match sounds or record Dusty's voice in a flattering way. She sounds like she's singing through the dashboard speaker of the AM radio in my old '64 Ford Falcon.

    But a wonderful record despite the sound. I've never owned any other version than this Rhino CD - I gather they all sound strange so I shouldn't knock myself out looking for one that sounds normal.
     
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  16. lonelysea

    lonelysea Ban Leaf Blowers

    Location:
    The Cascades
    I like how it (the Rhino disc with bonus tracks) sounds. No complaints. But now I'm curious about the SACD and will seek it out!
     
  17. D.H.

    D.H. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Malmö, Sweden
    Yeah, the SACD is awesome!
     
  18. gss

    gss Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Most of the comments here are regarding reissues. Can any comment on the quality of the original, or early, pressings?
     
  19. J.A.W.

    J.A.W. Music Addict

    The AP is a hybrid SACD, i.e. it has a CD-layer, so it can be played in most CD-players. You don't need an SACD-player.
     
  20. Alien Reg

    Alien Reg Forum Resident

    Sorry for the misunderstanding. The one I prefer is the single disc Rhino/Atlantic from 1992. Remastered by Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch. The 2 disc edition (IIRC) sounds like they were aiming for more clarity, but all they succeeded in doing was making Dusty sound even more detached.

    A beautiful album even so. All these Southern studios made great records, but they were thinking of how they would sound on little transistor radios or dansettes.

    In addition, the power of these singers' voices couldn't be captured by microphones at the time. The number of times Wilson Pickett goes into overload is made painfully clear in any digital format. Vinyl mastering masks it to some extent. Plus listeners were less fussy in those days.

    Never heard a vinyl original of In Memphis, but expect it would sound similar to any Aretha or Elvis vinyl from that 68-69 era.

    I shall seek out the sacd.
     
    tmtomh likes this.
  21. The backing on Just A Little Lovin' sounds incredible on the SACD. The SACD does manage to include three bonus tracks, which is rare on an AP SACD.
     
    Bill Mac likes this.
  22. saturnsf

    saturnsf Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    I had the original Atlantic LP and I believe every CD issue except for the SACD. None of them sound great. Love Dusty, love the album, but you're never gonna get a sonic masterpiece out of it. I'm cool with that.
     
    sunspot42 and Alien Reg like this.
  23. Marry a Carrot

    Marry a Carrot Interesting blues gets a convincing reading.

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    There was never a 2-disc reissue on Rhino. The 1999 deluxe edition is a single disc with 25 tracks.
     
    RAZORMADE, Malina, DeeThomaz and 4 others like this.
  24. rednoise

    rednoise Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Boston
    That's the one I have... which seems to be the one with the poorest sound, from the opinions I hear here.
     
  25. bibijeebies

    bibijeebies vinyl hairline spotter

    Location:
    Amstelveen (NL)
    AnalogJ and tmtomh like this.

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