Rhino Remixes "Chicago Transit Authority" for 50th Anniversary

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by arob71, Jun 26, 2019.

  1. vegafleet

    vegafleet Forum Resident

    Listening to the SACD with the original mix for the first time ever. First impression: very smooth, smoother than any cd version I have heard, better balanced.

    What a great album.
     
  2. Laservampire

    Laservampire Down with this sort of thing

    I suspect this was remixed in Garageband, on an iPad, using the internal speaker for reference.
     
  3. lennonfan1

    lennonfan1 Senior Member

    Location:
    baltimore maryland
    I feel that way too. When the bass started I was 'ooh!' then everything else came in...awful.
     
    Tim Lookingbill likes this.
  4. Steel Woole

    Steel Woole Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    LSP2003 and Tim Lookingbill like this.
  5. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
  6. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

  7. Tim Lookingbill

    Tim Lookingbill Alfalfa Male

    Location:
    New Braunfels, TX
    So all those ads' audio was mastered by Tim Jessup? If so, then that explains quite a bit about the Chicago remixes. Below is where I had to reduce the volume and it still wasn't quite enough and I don't have an amplified headphone out port...

    [​IMG]

    Why didn't Steve Hoffman get the Chicago remix gig?!
     
    AudiophilePhil likes this.
  8. Tim Lookingbill

    Tim Lookingbill Alfalfa Male

    Location:
    New Braunfels, TX
    Since the question hasn't been asked, I'll ask it here.

    Has anyone listened to this CTA remix on a decent quality amplified speaker system? Maybe it sounds better on that with or without equidistant triangulation speaker to listener arrangement. Maybe the reverb sounds better on speakers instead of headphones.
     
  9. Steel Woole

    Steel Woole Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
  10. Tim Lookingbill

    Tim Lookingbill Alfalfa Male

    Location:
    New Braunfels, TX
    Thanks for the confirmation. So it sounds bad on amplified speakers.
     
  11. vegafleet

    vegafleet Forum Resident

    I listened on Spotify's highest setting on a Marantz DAC with Sennheiser HD 598 headphones (all Mid-Fi?). Also very easy to A-B compare inside Spotify with the original mix.

    Yeah.
    No.
     
    Tim Lookingbill likes this.
  12. Octavian

    Octavian Forum Resident

    Location:
    Louisiana
    Listened on a pair of JBL Studio towers, listening to the original vinyl afterwards was a breath of fresh air
     
    Tim Lookingbill likes this.
  13. Tim Lookingbill

    Tim Lookingbill Alfalfa Male

    Location:
    New Braunfels, TX
    Gotta' LOVE the JBL's. I installed 6in. pair in my car back in the late '80's and they had the best bass response that I didn't bother to install subs, though if I did they'ld probably be JBL's.
     
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  14. Octavian

    Octavian Forum Resident

    Location:
    Louisiana
    I'm a budgetphile, I picked up a pair of JBL S412P's for $200 on Craigslist, love 'em. Got them paired with my amp because they each have a 10" sub so I get stereo bass which is rockin'
     
  15. Tim Lookingbill

    Tim Lookingbill Alfalfa Male

    Location:
    New Braunfels, TX
    I just looked those up and some are selling for as much as $850 used on eBay. At $200 you made out like a bandit! Great find! YEAH!

    And so even those with four speakers to each tower couldn't make the Chicago remix sound better? YIKES! It's worse than I thought!
     
    longdist01 and Octavian like this.
  16. RickH

    RickH Connoisseur of deep album cuts

    Location:
    Raleigh, NC
    I heard the remix of "I'm A Man" on the car stereo and did not care for it
     
    audiomixer, Tim Lookingbill and g.z. like this.
  17. BIGGER Dave

    BIGGER Dave Forum Resident

    Okay. Looks like I was wrong. First time for everything. ;)

    I’ll stay with my original Gastwirt CD.
     
    Octavian, longdist01 and SteelyNJ like this.
  18. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    I haven't been keeping up with this, so, from what i'm reading, I can assume it's out now?
     
  19. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Amazon currently indicates September 13th.

    Looking for what day you shouldn't buy it?
     
  20. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Bull Moose has the same.
    Nobody told Danny Seraphine, who still thinks it's today.
     
  21. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    I'm not superstitious.
     
  22. noname74

    noname74 Allegedly Canadian

    Location:
    .
    Saw the CD or sale in a Canadian mall store today....glad I passed on it.
     
  23. Gardo

    Gardo Audio Epistemologist

    Location:
    Virginia
    Tim Jessup posted the message below on Facebook. I thought y’all might find it interesting. To be fair, while I am obviously not a fan of what I’ve heard on YouTube (and I’m dubious that the mix will sound different in CD), I agree that the mono horns in the left channel are not the best part of the original mix. I don’t think that putting that mono track into some kind of faux-Stereo is a good strategy, and I don’t find the original EQ bright at all, but the original mix is not ideal with regard to the horn section in mono.

    Otherwise and so far, I’ll stand by my original comments.

    Tim Jessup writes:

    What, exactly, is the Chicago Transit Authority 50th Anniversary Re-Mix?

    Yesterday, August 30th, Rhino Records released this long anticipated new version of what we long-time Chicago fans simply refer to as CTA, the 1969 debut double album that became a rallying flag for an entire generation.

    It is easiest to begin by telling you what CTA is Not! Unlike previous releases of re-mixes and re-masters of Chicago albums, the CTA 50th Anniversary re-mix is NOT an attempt to digitally re-create what has already been put forth, over and over and over again. What, exactly, would be the point of doing that? ... other than to appease the deranged zealots who religiously believe that the original 1969 version of CTA is perfect just as it is, and cannot possibly be improved upon. To those rare museum curators of rock, I must say... you really need to get a f¥€King life! Technology has changed, ever so slightly, in the past 50 years! As a studio engineer for 45 of those years, I've seen most of those changes. But I'm still decent with a razor blade and remember how to align an Ampex MM1200 tape machine.

    For those who mistakenly believe that I am far too young and inexperienced to undertake such a monumental task as re-mixing CTA (yes I've seen their grotesque ignorance on full display over at Hoff..n.com) I am in fact 62 years old, I saw Chicago live for the first time in 1971, and was inspired by their recordings to begin my studio career in 1974. (Do the math) During a lifetime of studio work, I've held staff engineer positions for some of the world's most iconic studios in Hollywood, Burbank, Nashville, New York, and Munich. When the original Chicago band members heard the new re-mix of CTA in the studio on our ATC monitors, they were moved to tears by the level of detail and the organic tonality they were hearing for the first time ever.

    In 1969, studios were extremely limited in how they could record, mix and manipulate sound. CBS was no exception. CTA was originally recorded to eight tracks. This limitation profoundly influenced the creative choices that were made and the technical decisions that influenced both the recording process and the mix. For instance, the brass were recorded extremely and unnaturally bright to compensate for the high frequency loss that would occur from bouncing multiple tape tracks together to thicken the horn parts. But the brass wound up sounding unnaturally bright and harsh on the original mix as well. I worked very closely with the Chicago horn section and with mastering engineer Bob Ludwig, a first chair symphonic trumpet player himself, to carefully sculpt the CTA horns to sound as full bodied and as natural as possible. They now have power and a richness previously not heard on any re-mix or re-master. The horns are also now in stereo, left and right, rather than grouped in mono on the left side only. This is not possible to achieve in re-mastering.

    More than any other factor, the new CTA re-mix is a brilliant and powerful homage to the genius of guitarist/vocalist Terry Kath. His formerly mono rhythm and power chord tracks are now a Wall of Guitar, presenting from left to right. His solos are now featured in a three dimensional space, with far more clarity, detail and power. His rich baratone vocals are intimate, warm and detailed like never before. Terry's "Free Form Guitar" solo now showcases his full prowess, surpassing anything Hendrix ever thought to do with the instrument. It sounds more like an extreme Tesla experiment about to level an entire city block, with extended low frequencies only playable on CD or high resolution digital formats. Longer jams, such as Liberation and South California Purples rock harder than you've ever heard them before.

    The 50th Anniversary re-mix of CTA, unapologetically uses the latest hybrid technology to overcome each of the shortcomings and limitations of the original 8 track recording, track by track. The album is far more of a restoration - than a straight forward re-mix. Each song represents about three days of intense, focused work, far more time and attention to detail than was given the original 1969 mix, and in fact, 500% more production time than the mix budget accommodated. CTA is music history and is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It should not be limited in its forensic restoration and re-mix by a short sighted budget, based solely upon its limited track count. The re-mix was given the full attention such a historical work is entitled to, without regard for budget. (You're Welcome)

    Our intention for the CTA 50th Anniversary re-mix, was to overcome all of the limitations that 1969 technology forced upon the recording process and the mix decisions originally made, and present the orignal tracks as if they had been recorded two weeks ago, with all of the detail, size, depth, stereo sound field, intimacy and punch of a modern HD recording. You will hear details you've never noticed in 50 years. Terry's guitar, Danny's drums, Peter's bass, Robert's B3, and the powerhouse horn section, all rock so much harder than ever before. This level of energy is simply impossible to achieve with the limitations of a re-master. It is only possible to attain through a painstaking, highly detailed restoration process. Never before has this process been applied to any classic Chicago re-release.

    For those who are firmly stuck in the past and believe that it is somehow sacreligious to "upgrade" the original CTA album with the latest hybrid technology, mixed and mastered at 192 kHz, using only the finest analog hardware from Neve, API, SSL, Manley, Burl Audio, ATC, digital plug-ins from Acustica Audio, Universal Audio and Fab Filter, mastered by living legend Bob Ludwig, and whole-heartedly endorsed by Robert Lamm, James Pankow and Lee Loughnane... well, what can be said of the depths of such prejudice? people will either absolutely love this album, and unfortunately some will totally hate it. But what would be the point of re-mixing any classic album from 1969 if not to transform it, to put it on a pedestal, and to present a level of detail never before heard?

    The 50th Anniversary re-mix of Chicago Transit Authority will plug you directly into the raw, unfiltered energy of this young, highly experimental jam band, and rock you harder than you've ever experienced CTA before. Anyone who has a problem with this - seriously needs to get a life.

    Enjoy the ride, with Terry Kath firmly at the wheel! Crank up the volume and hold on to something!
     
    John Bliss, supermd, JeffMo and 5 others like this.
  24. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    So many words, yet it still sounds so awful.

    I would suggest he seriously needs to get a new set of ears.
     
  25. BIGGER Dave

    BIGGER Dave Forum Resident

    Lost me at, “Terry's "Free Form Guitar" solo now showcases his full prowess, surpassing anything Hendrix ever thought to do with the instrument.“

    But seriously, I may pick this up if I see it on sale at the local Best Buy, just to decide for myself.
     
    Gardo likes this.

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