Jefferson Airplane "Surrealistic Pillow" tidbit

Just what the name says.
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dudelsack
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Postby dudelsack » Wed Oct 12, 2005 12:23 pm

I gotta hear this gold mono/stereo disc, now.

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MK
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Postby MK » Wed Oct 12, 2005 12:53 pm

If I get a copy, I will. They don't seem particularly rare, amazon.com's got a ton, but I'm gonna wait for a good price.
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Postby Ess Ay Cee Dee » Wed Oct 12, 2005 2:12 pm

If you're interested, I can upload mine to Pedro's later this week.

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MK
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Postby MK » Wed Oct 12, 2005 3:38 pm

That would be cool! Then I can compare it with my aluminum CD - even though "Hunte"'s analysis seems pretty solid.
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Postby Ess Ay Cee Dee » Wed Oct 12, 2005 3:58 pm


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MK
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Postby MK » Thu Oct 13, 2005 8:45 pm

Thanks for posting Surrealistic Pillow, you totally da man, but I've got some bad news for mono lovers, there's definitely noise reduction, or some kind of processing.

So far I've only snagged the mono mixes for this gold disc. I compared it to the aluminum CD tracks, and to be honest, I don't hear much of a difference in the mastering, if any. These are definitely not bit-for-bit clones, the volume is slightly different and the length of the individual tracks vary a little, but the mastering sounds the same. This is painfully obvious when compared to Irwin/Anesini's mastering of those two mono mixes included on their reissue. Again, only mono mixes of "White Rabbit" and "Somebody To Love" were included on the Irwin reissue, and though they're identified as 'mono single versions', I can only assume the same masters are involved - the mixes sound the same on cursory listen.

Again, match the levels on all tracks, and when you play the opening of "White Rabbit," crank it up: the NR on Paul Williams's reissues (either on the gold disc or aluminum) is VERY obvious. Some people complained Irwin's mastering is too bright, so just for the hell of it, I reduced Irwin's mastering by 3 db at 10k and 2 db at 6k, most likely WAY too much but I figure it should cover any possible boost as well as any possibly amplification of tape hiss. The NR on Williams's reissues is STILL obvious, in comparison, it still sounds wiped clean.

This shouldn't be a big surprise, go to Williams's website, House of Hits, or whatever the hell it's called, and he mentions 'restoration' a lot, including some discussion about 'cleaning' up noise, hiss, etc. That can only translate to NoNoise/CEDAR/etc., and I'm pretty sure that's the case here.

Haven't looked at the stereo mixes yet, but this totally sucks. Dammit Irwin, you couldn't include BOTH sets of mixes? Eh, whatever...
"When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war." – Dwight D. Eisenhower



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JWB
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Postby JWB » Thu Oct 13, 2005 9:11 pm

Irwin put out the mono Airplane LP's on vinyl.

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Postby lukpac » Thu Oct 13, 2005 9:54 pm

MK wrote:Thanks for posting Surrealistic Pillow, you totally da man, but I've got some bad news for mono lovers, there's definitely noise reduction, or some kind of processing.

So far I've only snagged the mono mixes for this gold disc. I compared it to the aluminum CD tracks, and to be honest, I don't hear much of a difference in the mastering, if any. These are definitely not bit-for-bit clones, the volume is slightly different and the length of the individual tracks vary a little, but the mastering sounds the same. This is painfully obvious when compared to Irwin/Anesini's mastering of those two mono mixes included on their reissue. Again, only mono mixes of "White Rabbit" and "Somebody To Love" were included on the Irwin reissue, and though they're identified as 'mono single versions', I can only assume the same masters are involved - the mixes sound the same on cursory listen.


Interesting. I haven't compared the mono mixes, but the mastering on the stereo mix is *certainly* different. I'll have to listen again to remind myself of the details, but there wasn't any question, per Mr. Hunte's post.

This shouldn't be a big surprise, go to Williams's website, House of Hits, or whatever the hell it's called, and he mentions 'restoration' a lot, including some discussion about 'cleaning' up noise, hiss, etc. That can only translate to NoNoise/CEDAR/etc., and I'm pretty sure that's the case here.


His Sam Cooke stuff sucks next to the ABKCO mixes, even if those are sometimes narrowed.
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Postby Andreas » Fri Oct 14, 2005 2:47 am

So you hear noise reduction on the Gold CD (mono mixes)? Interesting...I thought it was a good deal better than on the aluminum stereo/mono CD. Maybe I concentrated too much on the differences of the stereo mix.

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Postby MK » Fri Oct 14, 2005 10:59 am

Do you have Irwin's CD reissue? When you compare it to the gold CD and the aluminum mono/stereo edition, it's REALLY obvious that NR was used on both the gold CD and aluminum disc.

BTW, I should add the aluminum CD I have was purchased through Columbia House and has the CRC imprint on the tray card. I doubt there's any pressing differences, but just throwing that out there.
"When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war." – Dwight D. Eisenhower



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Postby lukpac » Fri Oct 14, 2005 12:27 pm

MK wrote:Do you have Irwin's CD reissue? When you compare it to the gold CD and the aluminum mono/stereo edition, it's REALLY obvious that NR was used on both the gold CD and aluminum disc.


Like I said, I only compared the stereo mix, but yeah, Irwin's disc was one of them.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Postby lukpac » Fri Oct 14, 2005 12:48 pm

I just listened to my samples again. If they are in the order I think they are, the Irwin disc doesn't sound too different from the original CD, other than being a bit louder. The aluminum twofer has a *lot* of NR. The gold disc seems like it might indeed have some NR, but there's certainly more high end than on the aluminum twofer. Not sure if that's less NR or better EQ (or both), but the gold disc does sound quite a bit better.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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MK
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Postby MK » Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:25 pm

Are you talking about the stereo mix or mono mix, and when you say the 'original' CD, is that the old RCA CD?

If you want, I can splice together a small wav file of the mono "White Rabbit" from Irwin's disc, the gold CD, and the aluminum CD and post that, but I'd need to find a place to host it.
"When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war." – Dwight D. Eisenhower



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lukpac
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Postby lukpac » Fri Oct 14, 2005 2:40 pm

Stereo and yes. I believe.

You can e-mail it to me if you wish.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Postby David R. Modny » Fri Oct 14, 2005 9:54 pm

Hunte's a crackpot. Ever since he took that blow to the head with his Etch-A-Sketch...his hearing's been for shit.