Jimi Hendrix / Electric Ladyland is one of my favorite records! It does not sound "audiophile" in any way, but it sounds the way he wanted it to sound. It's how this 70's rock is supposed to sound I think, where everything is saturated (compressed and limited) in the analog domain - in guitar amps, tube compressors, analog tape and vinyl playback. It's a good thing they did not have brickwall limiters back then....
'it sounds the way he wanted it to sound'.
Not quite: Jimi said in an interview after its release that he 'mixed and mixed it and got such a beautiful sound' but the cutting screwed it up. He said his mix had a 3D sound which wasn't there on the final product. The interview's on film somewhere, too.
I don't have the equipment, but apparently the new 5.1 mix goes some way to meeting that '3D' requirement.
However, Electric Ladyland is easily one of the best three pop/rock albums ever and I love it. More imagination and creativity in that album than some famous bands' entire output.
Geoff
Not quite: Jimi said in an interview after its release that he 'mixed and mixed it and got such a beautiful sound' but the cutting screwed it up. He said his mix had a 3D sound which wasn't there on the final product. The interview's on film somewhere, too.
I don't have the equipment, but apparently the new 5.1 mix goes some way to meeting that '3D' requirement.
However, Electric Ladyland is easily one of the best three pop/rock albums ever and I love it. More imagination and creativity in that album than some famous bands' entire output.
Geoff
So do I, in the 3CD and DVD set, but I can't play it - what do you think of it compared to the stereo?
Of the three CD issues and two LP sets we have, the latest 50th Anniversary is my favourite; least played and kept only for the cover is a 197? Australian pressing whose sound quality is very thin. The UK LP pressing is nice but I prefer the latest issue.
Actually, it doesn't really matter as it's still a great album whatever the format.
Geoff
Of the three CD issues and two LP sets we have, the latest 50th Anniversary is my favourite; least played and kept only for the cover is a 197? Australian pressing whose sound quality is very thin. The UK LP pressing is nice but I prefer the latest issue.
Actually, it doesn't really matter as it's still a great album whatever the format.
Geoff
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"primitive production" is the best way to describe a lot of Hendrix's stuff. I don't
listen to his very often for this reason. Great productions of his would have been nice.
I have a Galt MacDermot reissue CD that contains two of his earlier albums; Shapes of Rhythm and Woman is Sweeter. Some aspects of some of the tracks are pretty good. The midrange tends to be brittle as hell with some kind of splatter on some peaks. Good music though.
Never heard of the guy but there was a Lexus commercial that used Coffee Cold as the music (new performance by someone unknown) and I just loved it. Used Shazam (that’s old😂) to figure out what it was.
Never heard of the guy but there was a Lexus commercial that used Coffee Cold as the music (new performance by someone unknown) and I just loved it. Used Shazam (that’s old😂) to figure out what it was.
The live posthumous albums Hendrix in the West, Live at Berkeley and Live at Winterland sound pretty good by the standards of the time. Of course, overdubs weren't possible as Jimi passed away before they were issued, so what you're hearing is what was recorded. To my ears, those albums have fuller sound than you'll hear on the live Cream or Who records.
'Are You Experienced' is no worse production wise than, say, the early Beatles albums, and has better recorded drums than were provided for Ringo.
Geoff
There is actually a lot of bootleg & dodgy Bob Marley albums & material.
It really is a case of creative content vs sound quality.
"Mr Brown" is such a good track - but not really well recorded. (bit of a shame)
When I first listened to 90125 LP, I asked myself "what is this?". It was unlistenable, shrill, painful. I quickly got rid of it. It is a pity because YES is one of my favourites, I listened to Yessongs a million times. I had the same experience with Wakeman's Journey to the Centre of the Earth, also on LP.
Which one is it? Would love to give it a listen on my main system to see what's wrong with it.
I never found that to be the case with JttCE. That was back in the late 70’s. I only had Canadian pressings though. Maybe that’s a factor. Have only been listening to the MFSL CD of late. Also have a sealed LP MFSL that I might one day open 🤔.
Oh well ... classical recordings do use a lot of microphones. But there is less manipulation of the sound with various effects, compression/limiting or EQ. An no Autotune! 
Just an example:
https://www.parmarecordings.com/par.../12/Zagreb-Festival-Large-Group-03-scaled.jpg
Just an example:
https://www.parmarecordings.com/par.../12/Zagreb-Festival-Large-Group-03-scaled.jpg
Back in the day I was briefly involved with the management of a couple of bands.
This was at the time when record companies were rushing to transfer their back catalogues to
CD format. One bands record company asked me to take a 32 track analogue recording tape
to a digitalisation studio.
I was beyond belief when the proprietor gave me a tour...it was one room overlooking a major flght
path to Heathrow Airport, and planes were landing at a rate of one per minute. The "studio" was a normal office room
double glazed panorama window which visibly and audibly vibrated with the passage of each airliner.
The monitors were a pair of domestic grade Spendors sitting on each end of a large cheap and flimsy office desk.
The amplification was Quad 33/303.
The 32 track tape had to go to another company in the same building and be reduced to 8 track as the digitalisation
studio was using a very cheap 8 track oriental mixing board and a/d converter was 2 track.
The resultant CD was dreadful in every way possible.
THAT - and similar set-ups - are the main reason why so many very poor early transfer CDs were made.
On the other hand I have many excellent CDs of transfers from analogue - these are almost exclusively of classical music
managed throughout the whole process both analogue and digital by the usual top-line companies.
This was at the time when record companies were rushing to transfer their back catalogues to
CD format. One bands record company asked me to take a 32 track analogue recording tape
to a digitalisation studio.
I was beyond belief when the proprietor gave me a tour...it was one room overlooking a major flght
path to Heathrow Airport, and planes were landing at a rate of one per minute. The "studio" was a normal office room
double glazed panorama window which visibly and audibly vibrated with the passage of each airliner.
The monitors were a pair of domestic grade Spendors sitting on each end of a large cheap and flimsy office desk.
The amplification was Quad 33/303.
The 32 track tape had to go to another company in the same building and be reduced to 8 track as the digitalisation
studio was using a very cheap 8 track oriental mixing board and a/d converter was 2 track.
The resultant CD was dreadful in every way possible.
THAT - and similar set-ups - are the main reason why so many very poor early transfer CDs were made.
On the other hand I have many excellent CDs of transfers from analogue - these are almost exclusively of classical music
managed throughout the whole process both analogue and digital by the usual top-line companies.
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Most of the classical recordings that I own sound like they were made with two microphones. The usual practice is to suspend two microphones from the ceiling. These are visible in Youtube videos.
Some classical recordings add "sweetener" microphones. The results are jarring - a solo instrument will be as loud as the entire orchestra.
Ed
Some classical recordings add "sweetener" microphones. The results are jarring - a solo instrument will be as loud as the entire orchestra.
Ed
You mean the whole 'Cry of Love' album?
If you like Jimi's music, it has much to like: heavy rock like In From the Storm and Ezy Ryder; , blues and softer songs like 'Angel', 'Drifting', 'Belly Button Window'. It has a few weaker tracks - Astro Man in particular - but I like it. Of course, it wasn't really his 'last album' as it's incomplete and some of tracks lack a final polish.
Geoff
It drives me crazy how many Blue Note jazz recordings are being reissued in hi-res and SACD remasters with Loudness Wars-type mastering limiter abuse. Why does a jazz recording need to sound louder than anything else? In many cases, the 1980s and '90s CDs have 5dB or more dynamic range than these 'hi-res' 24bit/192kHz remasters. It's just stupid. It makes buying these new hi-res remasters a complete waste of money.