modern pop/rock records

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The other day a local record store was going out of buisness, so i thought that id buy a few records. I bought a smashing pumpkins record and brought it home to listen to it. Maby its just me, but it really sounds like they just took the digital recording (maby even strait from the cd???) and put it on a record producing machine. Now a days, do record companies just record digitaly then transfer over to records for the limited production runs that most rock records see? Compared to some of my dads much older and way over played records from the 60s/70s, the old overplayed ones sound much better.
 
I would say some records are good and some bad. I bought some records recently also. "Welcome to the Monkey House" by Dandy Warhols sounds great. The White Stripes "Elephant" is good also (apart from a bass-heavy track my record player doesn't like - it skips). Green Day "Warning" on the other hand doesn't sound very good - the older Green Day records are fine.

Best regards,

Mikkel C. Simonsen
 
Matador Records

Matador records had the following to say about the new Mission of Burma album:

"Said double vinyl version will be mastered in true all-analog from the 2-inch master tape at Sterling Sound - guaranteed no digital stages - and will be pressed in 180-gram vinyl at RTI in California. "

Somebody still cares...

Cody
 
This bit is written on the inner sleave of disc 2:

"All songs on this album recorded to eight track reel-to-reel at Toe-Rack Studios, Hackney London, England by Gentleman Liam Watson in April 2002 except track 4 recorded at the BBC Maida Vale Studios by Miti

No computers were used during the writing, recording, mixing or mastering of this record"

Best regards,

Mikkel C. Simonsen
 
I also find that it's pot luck with any recording, not just LP. Generally I much prefer the sound of my modified Planar 3 over stock Marantz CD6000KI but all the Beck CDs I own sound great. However, the best sound overall comes from Lambchop LPs - perfectly clear, smooth and detailed; it's a good job they are a great band too :)

BTW, it's Toe Rag studios ;)
 
We need something new

I'm looking forward to sacd and dvd audio. I hope they put an end to the cd once and for all. Those mediums are analog like it should be, not the digital **** like cds. I still prefer the lp to the cd, the sound of the lp ain't that sterile
 
pumpkins

The answer to the question about the Smashing Pumpkin's albums might depend on the album. If you purchased 'Ava Adore' then it was a completely digital recording in the first place, if it was one of their others, I'm pretty sure they use a bag of tricks approach to the studio. I'm not sure how this would affect the final transfer to records. I can't help you if you bought Machina and the Machines of God-damn thing just sounds compressed as all hell to my ears. Let me know what one you have, i'm curious...


Dan
 
I bought the album by Daft Punk 'Discovery' (LP) and the pressing quality was horrible, (one of the discs was nearly as dished as a breakfast plate) and that song "One More Time" sounds so compressed it is difficult to listen to. (though everyone knows that 'one more time' is a very squashed song, it seemed more so than the times I have heard it on the radio. (Hmmm... My mate Matt set up the dynamics at the radio station that I heard it on, so I wonder what he will have to say about it)

do record companies just record digitaly then transfer over to records for the limited production runs that most rock records see?

A guy I know who ran a medium sized independant record label in the 80's just sends the pressing plant cd's as a master these days. Though his operation is very small now.

Look on the websites of vinyl pressing plants. A lot of them just recommend that you send them a CD master (it shouldn't be that way!), though the larger ones also accept 1/4" tape and possibly other formats.

I could see dance music labels using CD's instead of master tapes, as the only reason they are pressing 12" is so that DJ's will play it.
 
Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I just noticed this exact same thing. I've built myself a nice phono amp. I got a bunch of great old records and nothing sounds better. So, I decided to buy a bunch of records from modern bands I like, and most are so obviously taken from a bad, compressed digital source. I was quite disappointed!! Not even so much in the few hundred I blew ordering the records, but in the fact that it's not possible for this music to sound any better.
 
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