Folks who's advice on audio sound quality do you want to take; the above poster's nasty little potshot regarding your hearing or a professional's ? It's all opinion of course, but I place infinity more value, and cred, with the below post.
That said...there's some weirdness on some of the 1987 The Beatles. Revolution 9 in particular, but I think other tracks as well. Both the 1987/8 and 2009 discs have various amounts of unnecessary tweaking, unfortunately*. Exactly what and to what degree depends on the song. *The 1983 Abbey Road and Canadian CDs of Help!, Rubber Soul, and Revolver notably do *not*.
Flying Burrito Bros "Gilded Palace of Sin" and "Burrito Deluxe" on Intervention. I can't speak for the SACD's as I don't have them but these two on vinyl might be the best reissues I've ever heard.
I've been really interested in this, but the fact that the original album mix of "Big Sky" (I think) is missing, along with some others. I realize KB preferred the single mix, but I wish the originals had been included as bonus tracks.
Very impressed with Steve Jordan's recent remaster of Keith Richards' 'Talk is Cheap'. Not that the original was bad at all, however the remaster brings out some real added flavour. It's the mutt's nutts.
What kind of tweaking occurred on the non-Canadian 1987/8 CD of Revolver that isn't found on the Canadian disc?
It was not nasty in the slightest. Hence I used the wording 'politely advise'. Last chance or I will report you to the mods.
Yeah, that's the first Beatles track that comes to mind, when comparing sound quality...err... But...how about the later remasters? They did completely new masters, even mixes (although purist frown upon that probably) later on, with Pepper, White Album and Abbey Road. I don't know about anyone else, but to me they sparkle, especially the lossless stereo and surround versions.
I dont think the remixes are as good as the original mixes, they are somewhat knteresting, but the White Album remix in particular Loses something intangible. They made me respect George Martin a lot more.
So, you can't really describe what that is. Probably most of us can't. It is mostly about the feel, one could say. And that's always personal. Since I'm not familiar with every note and mix, especially with this album, I still find the latest version very intimate and powerful.
Steve's DCC CDs of The Doors albums all sound amazing and the best I've heard (and yes, I've heard the SACDs (even Steve's AF Best Of) and I don't think they sound as good)
Report him for what? Pointing out that you’re rude for insinuating that other posters (including our host) are deaf for preferring some of the 1987 Beatles CDs? Saying “politely advise” doesn’t absolve you from acting like a dick about it.
I love the Abbey Road and Sgt Pepper remasters. The Kiss Alive! remaster is a huge improvement over the original.
There's one remastered album I own that sounds a lot better than the original release, although the original was already regarded as an audiophile masterpiece: "Famous Blue Raincoat" by Jennifer Warnes. Interestingly I found the standard 20th Anniversary Edition a bit underwhelming, as the sibilance of the vocals was a bit much and the overall sound still had a bit of the harshness that is associated with digital sound. The 24k gold edition though is a true revelation. Of course that is due to an improved mix, better EQ settings and sibilance filtering and not due to the gold. As far as I remember the gold edition was released some time after the standard silver one, so they had fixed the issues of the standard edition in the meantime. By the way: there's also a liquid solution you can buy and rub on your gold CD - and that is said to improve the sound even more! I also bought the 24k gold edition of "The Well" after the positive experience with "Famous Blue Raincoat", but that one wasn't that much of an improvement to my ears. Jennifer Warnes is very dedicated to the audiophile market and as she owns the master tapes and takes good care of them one can be sure that there won't be any crap released when it comes to her albums since "Raincoat". Her choice of formats and particularly the pricing of some vinyl editions leaves room for debate though. She sticks to physical media and hi-res downloads don't seem to be planned.
the White Album one was a game changer for me. Of course Martin was one of the greatest producers of all time, but the ‘68 stereo mix is still very much in that awkward era of mixing, where everyone knew stereo was now the primary medium, but few had figured out how to make it sound good in the rock world yet. Then factor in the band tensions and general dysfunction during those sessions, the last-minute mixing/assembly session to get the album turned in on time, and the overall chaos of making 30 Beatles songs at once in such a disjointed fashion, and there was almost no way you were going to get a great, powerful mix. The music was (mostly) good enough to where it didn’t matter, of course. It’s one of the most famous albums in history. But the new mix was made without egos, drugs, or deadlines, and with 50 years of life experience listening to and mixing rock music in stereo. If you played both versions to someone who’d never heard that music before, I can almost guarantee they’d think the 2018 mix is better. I guess there’s sort of a lo-fi quality to the original mixes, and of course for a lot of you it’s just nostalgia, and you want to hear the same stuff in exactly the same way, I get that (sorta?). But that one in particular for me is...not quite black and white to color, but more like seeing a movie on VHS on an old 1990’s TV and then seeing it in HD. It’s the same content, but it’s just more alive, more defined and cohesive.
Loved the massive Wishbone Ash vintage years Box Set. Couldn’t believe how good the sound is. Especially when compared to the original releases. Having to commit to such a massive box blind is always a risk and will openly admit a deep sense of unease when playing the first CD. If you are a Ash fan this box is an absolute must in my opinion.
It isn’t simply a matter of wanting things to be exactly the same. It’s changes to the mix that are arbitrary and often distracting. Making things “stereo” that weren’t before, either via ADT or using similar parts from elsewhere in the song. Balances that are noticeably different, but are in no way objectively better. Etc.
Rockpile - Seconds of Pleasure. The Sony CD blows away the original LP. Janis Ian - Between the Lines (Boxstar) Esther Ofarim - Esther (First Impression Music) Queen - Queen II (Universal) Spooky Tooth - Spooky Two (Universal) Rod Stewart - Atlantic Crossing (Rhino) Pat Travers - Makin‘ Magic (Universal Japan) Steven Wilson - Insurgentes (K Scope) Neil Young - First four albums (Warner) Frank Zappa - Zoot Allures (Universal)
Haha, how does one "politely" tell someone to get a hearing test? Hi good sir, would you mind terribly falling off this lovely cliff over here?
