Half-Speed Mastering: What, and Why?

Great question

It was also claimed to give the amplifiers more headroom, theoretically allowing better transients, more linear bass response and less compressed peaks, I guess.
But i'm thinking the problem toughest to overcome would indeed have been the RIAA curve, as opposed to the eq of the master tape. I can see where that would give engineers fits and drive then to drinking.

 

Just listened to my Half-Speed Mastered Discovery album by ELO, and all I can say is Wow. Absolutely amazing and zero inner grove distortion!

 

Which one? The Mastersound or the original one cut by Stan Ricker (SR/2 inscribed in the dead wax on both sides). If it's the Stan version, it's great. If it's the Mastersound? Eh...

 

I imagine you are also familiar with US 1st press of ELO Out of the Blue. That's also half-speed mastered by Stan Ricker. It sounds fab!

There is a bit of inner groove distortion on side three of OOTB. That is a result of having way too much music to fit on a 12" disc, and then putting the loudest track ("Mr. Blue Sky") at the end. Stan's mastering and the half-speed process are not the culprit in that situation.

 

Huh? Where did you get this information?

 

There is an interview online where Stan the Man says it.

So there!

 

I sure like the sound of Ricker's 1/2 speed MOFI pressing of Aimee Mann's BACHELOR No. 2. Not the most pristine original recordings but that pressing makes the best of them.

 

I wasn't aware that the US press of Out of the Blue was half-speed mastered, just mastered by Stan Ricker?

JG

 

Ah yes, the "I read it on the Internet somewhere" style of reference citation. I see a lot more of it than the MLA system these days.

 

The first half-speed mastered LP I ever bought was "Sundown" by Gordon Lightfoot on MFSL about 1979 or 80. I was hooked on them after that. The first thing that I noticed that was FAR better than on the normal pressings were drums and the bass response. I always thought that because they were cut at half speed, the lathe had more time to cut that short, quick drum beat accurately. On all of the ones I bought, the drums on the MFSLs sounded way more clean, accurate and detailed than any commercial pressings.

And MFSL's UHQRs were even better than their normal pressings.

I never heard a bad MFSL LP as far as mastering and "tone." (On their original pressings, before they went bankrupt and came back) They blew the commercial pressings away. Even the Japanese Beatles pressings couldn't match the MFSL half speeds.

 

My father-in-law could use the work, so.....
if anybody wants anything 'half-speed' mastered, please contact him!
http://www.rickermaster.com/

 

Not all of the Half-Speed CBS' suck. The Billy Joel 'Innocent Man' is actually pretty terrific!
Their first few titles in the series had problems.

Nautilus and Direct Disk Labs also made 1/2 Speeds.
I've sold a few where I thought they had excessively boosted the treble above 10khz,
but otherwise these labels cut their records well. Nautilus famously pressed
'Double Fantasy' using the 12" remix of "Starting Over" in place of the lp edit,
John had some extra vocal "vamping" on the tag.

 

Vince, you have to tell "Dad" how much we all love him.
Some of the first records I ever bought were MFSL!

His cut of 'Abbey Road' is the one I stun my neighbours with to this very day!

 

I still like to have a master list of what 1/2 speed masters/ audiophile reissues to avoid.

One can debate whether something is "the best", but I find it hard to swallow that someone finds The MoFi Beatles bad (except for the fake stereo parts of MMT), but I've heard there are some duds out there in the Columbia and MoFi, I just don't know which ones they are.

 

CBS got Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here right!

 

From what I understand, The Who's Who's Next at half speed was bad and to be avoided. I guess it's a crap shoot.

 

I remember Michael Fremer saying that the Mobile Fidelity version of The Eagles Hotel California was one of the better ones.

JG

 

I do like the sound of the 1/2 Speed Always On My Mind by Willie, but then, the album sounded great to begin with and still sounds great on CD.

 

Half-speed mastering is what the engineers do before the coffee kicks in.

 

I agree. Also I have fond memories of the CBS Blow by Blow, but its been a long time since I spun that one.

There are a LOT of bad MOFI 1/2 speeds. Just off the top of my head, Sticky Fingers, Ziggy Stardust, and Meddle come to mind. For any of these their UK counterparts are quite superior.

 

I have the Nautilus Half-Speed of Little Feat's "Time Loves A Hero". It is great.

 

They also got Heart's Little Queen right - they just got the channels wrong.

 

I am no audiophile but in the late 90s when I was just getting into vinyl I bought the half speed Blood on the Tracks and American Beauty (I'm pretty sure there is a BOTT one)... anyways they blew me away...

The American Beauty blows any other version I've ever heard...it was noticeable.

 

The odd thing is that on the MFSL cassette of MMT, they had the true stereo versions, where the LP contained the fake ones. I actually phoned them about this at the time, and whoever I spoke with said it was because they made a digital master for dubbing the cassettes, but used the actual analog master for cutting the LP. The guy I talked to said I was the only one on the planet (at that time, anyway) that picked up on that.

 

That's a good one.