How unfortunate, this whole idea of pulling out a couple of bars from a song is silly. I got caught in a prof's witch hunt at MIT when a friend thought my names for variables were funny and used them in his own take home final.
You remember Fortran J,K,L words were automatically integer. I loved to use KOINT as a pointer variable due to its ever so slightly obscene sound (college humor after all).
from personal experience ---- re compression --
Try to record an electric bass guitar direct from its pickups without compression or at least gain riding. One problem is the musician does not hit each string exactly the same twice on playing the same song. Many are just not that consistant.... especially get sloppy from playing a lot of live performances. A particular string note can be higher or lower in level from each song retake .... not much different musically but you do hear it. In the context of the whole music it isnt a big deal.... but the recording level meters will show the hotter level right away and over-driving the system is common. So you back down on the overall level to cover the playing variations which lead to level changes. Eventually, you put it thru a limiter/compressor to do this level control for you and concentrate on other parts of the music.
It takes a recording system with very high over load capability and very low noise to capture the whole performance without compression. And, when time is money... it is practical to run the direct bass lines thru a compressor. And, this is just to get a 'clean' recording with minimal compression.
THx-RNMarsh
Try to record an electric bass guitar direct from its pickups without compression or at least gain riding. One problem is the musician does not hit each string exactly the same twice on playing the same song. Many are just not that consistant.... especially get sloppy from playing a lot of live performances. A particular string note can be higher or lower in level from each song retake .... not much different musically but you do hear it. In the context of the whole music it isnt a big deal.... but the recording level meters will show the hotter level right away and over-driving the system is common. So you back down on the overall level to cover the playing variations which lead to level changes. Eventually, you put it thru a limiter/compressor to do this level control for you and concentrate on other parts of the music.
It takes a recording system with very high over load capability and very low noise to capture the whole performance without compression. And, when time is money... it is practical to run the direct bass lines thru a compressor. And, this is just to get a 'clean' recording with minimal compression.
THx-RNMarsh
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Analog playback is full of jitter, we just call it "wow and flutter".
We recorded a single vocalist with un-amplified acoustic guitar in Austin and it worked out. I suspect Kavi Alexander's "Meeting at the River" which won a Grammy benefited from the same lack of need for compression. I your case you are correct.
Most people have never heard vinyl done right. The quality of the vast majority of vinyl play back systems ever sold is horrific. Flimsy plastic plinths, noisy motors and bearings, flimsy tonearms, auto-return mechanisms that impede tonearm movement, cheap cartridges, lousy phono preamps... And all that before getting to the cheap amps and speakers, which may very well all be in the same box. Not to even mention the horrible quality of the vast majority of pressings and recordings ever sold (the ones in the $1.99 bin at the department store).
I think there are far more decent CD playback systems in existence than decent LP playback systems. I further think that when CD came out, a lot of people bought their first decent stereo. The CD made it possible and easier to get something good sounding at an affordable price.
Do keep us, me at least, informed, would you John, I am really interested in how it all works out and NOBODY can evaluate it like you can. Anyone can decide for himself whether it's musical overall, but unless they have the original at home, they cannot compare it with what it's SUPPOSED to be like you can.
I don't mind spending the money, but I'd like how close it gest to the original before paying for it.
There are plenty of issues to deal with on both LP and CD. So, that is why removing both makes such a big and noticable improvement in clarity, dynamics, noise and distortion.
I did a lot of recording at one time. Another time and story. But, my wife produced one of Kavi's LP's. I was at the recording and know what it sounded like live and what it sounded like... minutes later ...on playback from the master recorder. Then I got to hear it as an LP.
IMO..... going from unmolested master to your DAC (via HD downloads) is the best we have ever done so far.
THx-RNMarsh
I did a lot of recording at one time. Another time and story. But, my wife produced one of Kavi's LP's. I was at the recording and know what it sounded like live and what it sounded like... minutes later ...on playback from the master recorder. Then I got to hear it as an LP.
IMO..... going from unmolested master to your DAC (via HD downloads) is the best we have ever done so far.
THx-RNMarsh
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Does anyone actually offer an unmolested master? If you have any examples I would be interested to know.
Completely agreed, Blue nose. It is all that much more hilarious when such people start talking about the advantages of vinyl over CD.
To be fair, getting it right on a turntable wasn't particularly easy, either. I remember I exchnaged quite a few letters (1977 or '78, no Internet) with Dual, who had an excellent support service, on the matter of the cartridge I should use. I got my CS 604 with a Dual rebadged Audio Technica. I wanted an Ortofon, and they did take the time and trouble to inform me of everything I asked them, including specifcally which Ortofon cartidge would be best for my model of TT. This turned out to be LM 20, with a possible later on upgrade to LM 30 (all LM series cartridges had the same body and magnet assembly, only the tip strated from spherical for LM10, biradial for LM20 and Fine Line for LM30). They told what to watch for, what was right and what was wrong, etc, German companies in those days typically had excellent after sales services. So I ended up with the LM20 cartridge, upgraded since by a new LM30 Fine Line stylus tip.
As I said before, that TT will play the LM30 like few others in its price class ever will, and frankly, I rarely hear the LM30 play as well on another TT/arm combo.
But it took several changes of the RIAA eq/amp to REALLY get there. I am not complaining, but it's a fact few owners of any TT bothered to or even knew how to walk the whole 9 yards to get to where I am. Nobody told them much and they never bothered to ask.
The only thing I need to think about is that Ortofon cartridges generally (the mm models, that is) like to see no less than 47k impedance and the overall capacitance should be 300-400 pF, meaning I usually had to add a 100 pF or so cap to get there for maximum linearity. And my speakers made sure I heard the difference.
But here, we are back on Frank's turf, one needs to get his entire system right if one wants top flight results, and in case of TTs and cartridges, one often needs to do a bit of work on it.
I don't want to THINK, I want to know, and who better to ask than John?
And I've done enough mods anyway, I am not looking for more. I still have a back log.
yes.
It is a different matter, the "technical" compression some can use on the whole musical program to upper the average level of a tune (for FM radios etc..) , protect groove from excessive excursion etc.. and the ones we use in studios to 'build' specific sounds .
As in your example, we can even use compressors to... add attack to a bass, using a delay before the compressor begin to reduce the level of a note. Or how to use a compressor to... expanse subjective dynamic ;-)
Some very conventional guitar sounds cannot be obtained without. I don't know the exact word for "cocotes" in English for the funk guitar strumming patterns..."Palm muting" ? Guitar sounds like #3 & #4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jluafBnwIik
LP commercial records issued by serious companies are of very good quality and I would say that vast majority of records ever sold are in fact decent but equipment is not suitable.Some commercial LP reissue labels like SeeFor Miles,Edsel,BGO etc. had outstanding products. Philips classical LP up CD arrival were fantastic.
I have bought recently cheaply at the flea market a mint copy of Ray Charles '' Together Again'' LP commercial 1965 issue. Ray Charles at the peak and fantastic sound quality, better than anything modern ,including 180gr.reissues.
Did recording and mastering technology improve in the meantime?
Please feel free to do so. I on the other hand know what my commitments are for the rest of the year, and that forces me to ecomize with my time. Surely my income generatring obligations come before playing with several models of the same, trying to second guess the Chinese manufacturer, who second guessed JC.
And if you're so confident, why isn't it you doing the legwork?
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