http://soundkeeperrecordings.com/mp3/sr001-01.mp3 = 320 kbps ! according to iTunes playback ! = about as good as it gets unless direct off of DVD-A (which they refer to as DVD-R).
This is not "disappointing" at all ...
" ... The common practice of multi-tracking involves placing one or more microphones close to each instrument, recording each to its own track on a multi-track recorder and often, separating the players with barriers. ..."
Wow, just like George Martin did for the Beatles analog recordings early on, thus pioneering the use of 16 track then 32 track studio mixing boards, etc. (Led Zeppelin later made Robert Plant stand and record multi-microphone vocals out in the hallway, away from the rest of the band, to get that kind of separation.)
Believe me, I don't mean to belittle any of this very sound engineering practice to accomplish the best possible separation and optimum sound quality. (It still makes one wonder why they would cram that 10 pounds of really great recording engineering into the 5 pound bag of 16-bit / 44kbps CD.)
" From the hundreds of microphones available and all the competing philosophies on recording in stereo, we have chosen to use a stereo array comprised of only two microphones where each mic feeds its own channel of the stereo pair. ..."
Now That's Different ... somewhat. And that is exactly the reason for those funky looking multiple, dual channel microphones the Grateful Dead used to use on stage in the mid '70's. Too cool by twice! (Two vocal mics, plus two guitar mics is also the technic I used decades ago for a couple of Mimi Farina stage performances, but then I was copying The Dead ... This works great for background noise cancelation as well. Now folks who care use these: http://www.zzounds.com/cat--Stereo-Microphones--2845 )
This is not "disappointing" at all ...
" ... The common practice of multi-tracking involves placing one or more microphones close to each instrument, recording each to its own track on a multi-track recorder and often, separating the players with barriers. ..."
Wow, just like George Martin did for the Beatles analog recordings early on, thus pioneering the use of 16 track then 32 track studio mixing boards, etc. (Led Zeppelin later made Robert Plant stand and record multi-microphone vocals out in the hallway, away from the rest of the band, to get that kind of separation.)
Believe me, I don't mean to belittle any of this very sound engineering practice to accomplish the best possible separation and optimum sound quality. (It still makes one wonder why they would cram that 10 pounds of really great recording engineering into the 5 pound bag of 16-bit / 44kbps CD.)
" From the hundreds of microphones available and all the competing philosophies on recording in stereo, we have chosen to use a stereo array comprised of only two microphones where each mic feeds its own channel of the stereo pair. ..."
Now That's Different ... somewhat. And that is exactly the reason for those funky looking multiple, dual channel microphones the Grateful Dead used to use on stage in the mid '70's. Too cool by twice!
(Two vocal mics, plus two guitar mics is also the technic I used decades ago for a couple of Mimi Farina stage performances, but then I was copying The Dead ... This works great for background noise cancelation as well. Now folks who care use these: http://www.zzounds.com/cat--Stereo-Microphones--2845 )
Some good, some great.
Steve Miller "Fly Like An Eagle - 30th Anniversary" - 24bit DVD & 16bit CD
A bit of a disappointment, the audio is OK, but since Steve is rusty, whatever, and the sound man is "old school", the end result is that the DVD is pretty good, but the CD suffers from both an unpracticed performance and a bit of over compression.
Steve Miller Band "Live From Chicago" - 24bit DVD & 16bit CD
After several sessions on the road, Steve and the band have it all back! = together, sharp, on top ... and the sound guy is in step. The only distortion here is deliberate and is exactly where the musicians intend. The resulting CD is as good as it gets, straight red book, fat but not compressed at all. G'dam, de Man and His Band are still goooood
Both above have pretty much the same song list. Definitely worth listening to both for the comparison, then put the "30th Anniversary" away and play the "Live From Chicago" until dawn. My wife liked the "Live ..." CD so much she has parked it in her car and plays it almost everyday going to work. "Old Steve Miller, He is wonderful!"
Steve Miller "Fly Like An Eagle - 30th Anniversary" - 24bit DVD & 16bit CD
A bit of a disappointment, the audio is OK, but since Steve is rusty, whatever, and the sound man is "old school", the end result is that the DVD is pretty good, but the CD suffers from both an unpracticed performance and a bit of over compression.
Steve Miller Band "Live From Chicago" - 24bit DVD & 16bit CD
After several sessions on the road, Steve and the band have it all back! = together, sharp, on top ... and the sound guy is in step. The only distortion here is deliberate and is exactly where the musicians intend. The resulting CD is as good as it gets, straight red book, fat but not compressed at all. G'dam, de Man and His Band are still goooood
Both above have pretty much the same song list. Definitely worth listening to both for the comparison, then put the "30th Anniversary" away and play the "Live From Chicago" until dawn. My wife liked the "Live ..." CD so much she has parked it in her car and plays it almost everyday going to work. "Old Steve Miller, He is wonderful!"
Some more good, some more really great:
Fleetwood Mac - "The Dance" - 24bit DVD
Rumors are that Fleetwood Mac will tour again this year. If Christine is absent, don't bother. If She is there, beg, borrow or steal or kill for your ticket. "The Dance" on DVD is superior in almost every way to any recent 'Mac works.
Fleetwood Mac - "Live in Boston" - 24bit DVD X 2
Christi McVie is absent from the band and it shows: mediocre stage performance and the band is over the top, distortion wise. Difficult to tell if the problem is distortion from the musicians, over compression from the mix down or just that without Christi, the whole production goes into the dumper ...
===
Both above have similar song lists, but "The Dance" shines with more of Christine Perfect McVie's good to great to fantastic songs plus Her direction and Her leadership. The sound system is tops, the mix down is just fine. The result is so far superior to "Line in ..." DVD or CD that there is question as which one you will give away and which one you play on special occasions.
Fleetwood Mac - "The Dance" - 24bit DVD
Rumors are that Fleetwood Mac will tour again this year. If Christine is absent, don't bother. If She is there, beg, borrow or steal or kill for your ticket. "The Dance" on DVD is superior in almost every way to any recent 'Mac works.
Fleetwood Mac - "Live in Boston" - 24bit DVD X 2
Christi McVie is absent from the band and it shows: mediocre stage performance and the band is over the top, distortion wise. Difficult to tell if the problem is distortion from the musicians, over compression from the mix down or just that without Christi, the whole production goes into the dumper ...
===
Both above have similar song lists, but "The Dance" shines with more of Christine Perfect McVie's good to great to fantastic songs plus Her direction and Her leadership. The sound system is tops, the mix down is just fine. The result is so far superior to "Line in ..." DVD or CD that there is question as which one you will give away and which one you play on special occasions.
I think what's happening in the studios today is they are trying to pump out as many bands and albums as possible, so quality is missed. and i think the goal for quality is dying.
I listen to a lot of death metal, and quality is a big issue because of speed and tuning. A lot of metal drummers are skimping out and instead of recording acoustic drums, they use triggers. With triggers recording and fixing errors is a lot easier at the expense of quality.
GOOD TO BAD:
On the note of compression and quality, one of my favorite bands, Hate Eternal, made the best death metal recording ever IMO on their album I Monarch. The drummer, Derek Roddy (my fav drummer), spent a lot of time micing his set and for the bass drum did a mix of acoustic 75% and triggers 25% on the mix. Then he left and they got a new guy. When their new album came out (Fury and Flames) I was excited. When I heard the very first song I was disappointed. The drums were all triggered and everything was compressed to it's limit. I don't even listen to it.
If you really want to hear a drastic difference in recording I suggest you compare these albums on itunes or something
I listen to a lot of death metal, and quality is a big issue because of speed and tuning. A lot of metal drummers are skimping out and instead of recording acoustic drums, they use triggers. With triggers recording and fixing errors is a lot easier at the expense of quality.
GOOD TO BAD:
On the note of compression and quality, one of my favorite bands, Hate Eternal, made the best death metal recording ever IMO on their album I Monarch. The drummer, Derek Roddy (my fav drummer), spent a lot of time micing his set and for the bass drum did a mix of acoustic 75% and triggers 25% on the mix. Then he left and they got a new guy. When their new album came out (Fury and Flames) I was excited. When I heard the very first song I was disappointed. The drums were all triggered and everything was compressed to it's limit. I don't even listen to it.
If you really want to hear a drastic difference in recording I suggest you compare these albums on itunes or something
Can you name a specific part? My wife has the album. I never noticed clipping, but the vocals can be overly present, which makes it shout-y when played on gear with a strong mid range presence. I've never listened to the whole album though.
I actually use track 1 when tuning my gear. I aim for a presence that makes Regina almost-slightly shout. I find that this is the point that will give a good amount of presence to well balanced recordings, but keep the ones with a hot mid tolerable. The amount of shout from this track was intolerable with some configurations I have tried.
Jeb-D. said:
i can find it almost everywhere, but i would name the song 20 years of snow seconds 38-42 as an example.
Some songs in the soundtrack of the game silent hill 2 has the ability to clip any system but it's not clipped by itself (i belive that a bit of compression there would help) and i was wondering if this was the case with "Begin to Hope" or if it was clipped by itself. I think that being shouty is the intention anyways, but clipped is a very nasty thing for a professional studio.
Just bought the Bob Dylan album "Together Through Life", the one with three discs = the newest music, his satellite radio show replays and a DVD interview. That CD of His radio shows is terrible, sound track / audio wise. It makes one wonder why anyone would subscribe to satellite radio. I mean 32k bandwidth just does not do it, even on very old music reproduction = its not just the distortion and background noise, it just doesn't sound anything at all like the old vinyl.
Dylan's newest CD is worth the trouble, and the engineer kept the clipping to a minimum (He probably sat on the boards Himself). The music itself is well worth the price of all three discs, even if you only listen to the radio shows once, just to reassure yourself that you are not missing anything by not subscribing to satellite radio.
Dylan's newest CD is worth the trouble, and the engineer kept the clipping to a minimum (He probably sat on the boards Himself). The music itself is well worth the price of all three discs, even if you only listen to the radio shows once, just to reassure yourself that you are not missing anything by not subscribing to satellite radio.
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.