SH Spotlight Interview with Mr. Steve Hoffman

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by CardinalFang, Aug 18, 2005.

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  1. LeeS

    LeeS Music Fan

    Location:
    Atlanta
    Great interview Keith. :)
     
  2. John Carsell

    John Carsell Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northwest Illinois
    Real nice interview. I enjoyed reading it.

    I don't recall my original Apple LP of "McCartney" sounding as bad as Steve's copy. At any rate the DCC is still the king.

    Thanks Keith.
     
  3. Evan L

    Evan L Beatologist

    Location:
    Vermont
    Steve's "McCartney" remains the definitive version.....certainly the best sounding version I have ever heard.


    Great interview!


    Evan
     
  4. CardinalFang

    CardinalFang New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    ....
    I forgot to mention in my original post that this interview was conducted two years ago. Hence, we couldn't talk about Steve's recent work, including the AF gold discs.
     
  5. strick77

    strick77 Member

    Location:
    Montgomery AL
    Thank you for that :)
     
  6. JohnT

    JohnT Senior Member

    Location:
    PA & FL gulf coast
    Enjoyable reading, it sure is fun reading behind the scenes info on historical music we grew up with. We're very lucky Steve and his unique skills survived in a tough business. Let's hope he get the rights & the master tapes to many more Albums!
     
  7. Leif

    Leif Member

    Location:
    Sweden
    Excellent! That interview should be affixed to the walls of every mastering studio in the world. :D
     
  8. Good stuff, Keith.

    I hang around here a lot, but am truly deficient in SH knowledge and history.

    His comments about "Hotel California" really peaked my interest. I have this on DVD-A, and that one, particularly the title track, seems ridiculously bass heavy. I like bass, but its way over the top.

    Perhaps the reason for that is revealed in Steve's comments about the gear used for the mix?

    Cheers,

    BGL
     
  9. Veech

    Veech Space In Sounds

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    "everyone's stereo"

    A quote from Steve's comments regarding Hotel California:

    "I had one or two choices at that point. Either sell a pair of JBL studio monitors with every gold CD, or master the thing the way it should be sounding on everyone's stereo, like it sounds on those JBLs. So that's what I ended up doing."

    Steve, I assume you mean "average system" when you refer to "everyone's stereo"? Or perhaps you're referring to an audiophile system, since that's the target market for your work?

    This isn't intended to be a loaded question (or trolling), but approximately what specs/system do you assume your target market owns? i.e. how would you define "everyone's stereo"?

    thanks :)
     
  10. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Thanks Keith, Good work!

    I have been trying something along the lines of what Steve talks about. Rather than EQ something, Steve may switch out various tubes to utilize "their" characteristics depending on the tapes and what Steve senses is right for the project or track.

    When doing needle drops, some of them are coming out a bit bright, while others are coming out imho pure perfection. So rather than using EQ, I have 3 different cartridges for vinyl capture to HD depending on the LP's sound. I might do a sample capture with each of the three cartridges, and record to CD-RW, and listen to which sounds closest to what I want to hear.

    Anything I can do to avoid the signal flowing through an additional device. I try to capture the sound right going in.
     
  11. trumpetplayer

    trumpetplayer Senior Member

    Location:
    michigan
    Great interview!!
     
  12. Joe Koz

    Joe Koz Prodigal Bone Brotherâ„¢ In Memoriam

    Location:
    Chicagoland
    Great interview, Keith! :thumbsup:
     
  13. Dr Faustus

    Dr Faustus A younger man now getting old

    The interview inspired me to look out for the Buddy Holly CD, which I just scored off ebay for £1.99. The postage is almost that much!

    Thanks!

    Dave
     
  14. MikeP5877

    MikeP5877 V/VIII/MCMLXXVII

    Location:
    OH
    I had three copies of "McCartney" on Apple and they were horribly noisy. In fact, I could say that about every one of my US Apple records....
     
  15. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Mine sounded like it was pressed on stale Oreos.
     
  16. Jack White

    Jack White Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada
    Thanks for posting that interview. I have been particularly interested in the amount of time SH spends on a project and your interview mentioned that aspect of his work in a couple of examples. It also provided a great insight into the 'Aqualung' DCC project. I very much enjoyed reading it. Thanks again!
     
  17. stereoptic

    stereoptic Anaglyphic GORT Staff

    Location:
    NY
    Great intervew, Keith. I just got around to reading it. You may have said that it is Mastering 101, but I did learn a few things!

    For years I just took it for granted that the CD was the epitomy of great sound. If something soundy crummy to me on CD, i just assumed that it was either my stereo or that the artist intended it to sound that way.
     
  18. JonUrban

    JonUrban SHF Member #497

    Location:
    Connecticut
    Very Cool! Thanks for posting that.
     
  19. David P. Hill

    David P. Hill Forum Resident

    Location:
    Irving, Tx
    What would really be neat if Steve or CardinalFang would organize a paperback book on mastering anecdotes of each DCC gold release, maybe some his other special re-mastering projects like Steely Dan, The Who, and some of his favorites. Then in turn sell it on the forum to aid in the forum maintence. Just an idea :idea:
     
  20. RickH

    RickH Connoisseur of deep album cuts

    Location:
    Raleigh, NC
    Excellent article! I liked Steve's comments about home recordists learning to keep their hands off the EQ so much. I have a little digital 8-track by Fostex that has NO EQ at all so I'm learning to get the best possible sound through natural acoustics, mic placement, etc. so I have no EQ to tempt me, a great learning experience.
     
  21. CardinalFang

    CardinalFang New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    ....
    Hey, I'm in if Steve's into it! :D I'll just have to wait until I'm finished with school. ;)
     
  22. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    That might take a while. :)
     
  23. macready

    macready New Member

    Location:
    Oregon, USA
    That is great idea, however Steve has already shared anecdotes on many of the DCC gold releases on this forum and in interviews.

    Superb interview Keith, well done. I wish it was longer. Great answers as well, thanks Steve. It is always interesting to read about the details of projects like PET SOUNDS.
     
  24. GT40sc

    GT40sc Senior Member

    Location:
    Eugene, Oregon
    :righton: :righton: :wave:

    Good work, Keith.

    Thanks so much, Steve.

    Now if we can just get Larry Crane over at TapeOp to run it...

    peace to all,
     
  25. John Perry

    John Perry New Member

    Location:
    Screven, GA, USA
    Steve (if I may presume), I've been reading your posts on this thread as carefully as I can, and I am not just impressed, I am in wonder.

    You describe quite effectively what you do, and I like it. I guess 'nough said for the moment!
     
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