Crosby, Stills & Nash (Expanded & Remastered) 1/24

Andreas · Postby **Andreas** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 1:54 am

Conclusions.

No apparent noise reduction on the 2006 release, but considerably more drop outs than on my 1980s CD. Other than that, the mastering is surprisingly close to the 1980s CD, which is a good thing.

Which leads to the question: Did they have the master tape for the 2006 release? Did the master tape develop those drop outs in the last ~15 years?

Both the Gastwirt CD and the box set have some (occasional?) noise reduction, apparently in different spots, and in those instances, they sound terrible. I guess I preferred "judy c" because of the better bass presence. Let me speculate: The intro of Judy on the Gastwirt (which you left out in your clip) shows some noise reduction...?

A last comment: The clip "judy b" from the LP sounded processed and unnatural. Artefacts from declicking/dehissing?

PS: Did anyone listen to my clips and compare them to Luke's?

Postby **lukpac** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 8:33 am

I don't believe there was any NR in the intro to Judy. I left it out because the difference with the LP was much more obvious there - the separation wasn't nearly as good on the LP.

I did a little declicking to the LP clip, but no dehissing. The sound you hear is just an LP that doesn't sound very good.

I sampled your clips briefly, but I haven't yet level matched them. They seem to be at a much lower level than the others.

Andreas · Postby **Andreas** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 9:16 am

lukpac wrote:I sampled your clips briefly, but I haven't yet level matched them. They seem to be at a much lower level than the others.

Yes, I wanted to ask....did you match the levels for the entire song, and then edit, or vice versa? Because, for the three tracks I extracted, the maximum volume was around or over 90% in each case, so I figured, no normalizing was necessary.

The 1980s CD was not mastered at a low level:
96.0 % (Suite: Judy Blue Eyes)
94.3 % (Marrakesh Express)
62.8 %
69.4 %
100.0 %
96.5 % (Wooden Ships)
79.6 %
74.0 %
94.2 %
88.9 %

Postby **lukpac** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 9:35 am

I believe I tryed to match the levels based on the clips used, not the whole songs.

Andreas · Postby **Andreas** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:06 am

This topic deserves a bump. Come on, this is a classic album, and no CD version is an automatic winner. What do you think?

Chris M · Postby **Chris M** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 12:23 am

Andreas wrote:This topic deserves a bump. Come on, this is a classic album, and no CD version is an automatic winner. What do you think?

Based on the Judy clips Luke posted I like the '06 remaster but the Gastwrit is a close second. I like the bass on the new remaster a bit more than the Gastwrit. The You Send It file expired on the clip Andreas posted..

Andreas · Postby **Andreas** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:50 am

Chris M wrote:The You Send It file expired on the clip Andreas posted..

Why should I post clips if nobody listens to them?

Chris M · Postby **Chris M** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:55 am

Andreas wrote:
Chris M wrote:The You Send It file expired on the clip Andreas posted..

Why should I post clips if nobody listens to them?

Sorry. I was out of town when you posted them.

Andreas · Postby **Andreas** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 3:23 am

Clips are useless.

Instead, I will write an "Andreas' recommended CD masterings" list, and follow up with an "Andreas' non-recommended CD masterings" list. It will also clear up once and for all time in a definitive way which CDs used the master tape, which CDs were flat transfers. I will listen for you and you will all learn from me. You can trust me. I have listened to the DCC Pet Sounds CD 200 times, I can hear what good mastering is.

Postby **lukpac** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:39 am

Andreas wrote:Clips are useless.

If I get some time I can upload them.

Instead, I will write a "Andreas' recommended CD masterings" list, and follow up with a "Andreas's non-recommended CD masterings" list. It will also clear up once and for all time in a definitive way which CDs used the master tape, which CDs were flat transfers. I will listen for you and you will all learn from me. You can trust me. I have listened to the DCC Pet Sounds CD 200 times, I can hear what good mastering is.

Heh.

Can you also tell me what CDs have terrible EQ and mid-range suck out without ever having heard another CD or LP of the same material (not to mention the master tape)?

Andreas · Postby **Andreas** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 9:11 am

lukpac wrote:If I get some time I can upload them.

That would be great.

Can you also tell me what CDs have terrible EQ and mid-range suck out without ever having heard another CD or LP of the same material (not to mention the master tape)?

Aja, mastered by Roger Nichols. I know that without even having heard the CD. I can also tell which of the all-bit-identical Aja CDs have Nichols' mastering, without ever hearing them.

Postby **lukpac** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 9:31 am

Andreas wrote:Aja, mastered by Roger Nichols. I know that without even having heard the CD. I can also tell which of the all-bit-identical Aja CDs have Nichols' mastering, without ever hearing them.

The sound you are hearing is the metal particulate on the tape shattering.

Andreas · Postby **Andreas** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 9:51 am

On top of that I have had myself recorded in Columbia Recording Arts studio on a Neve console to 2" analog tape that actually belongs to David Hasselhoff.

Rspaight · Postby **Rspaight** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 10:56 am

What I want to know is if the *console* belonged to Bryan Adams or the *tape* belonged to Bryan Adams. Which brings to mind a great image of someone rummaging around in a trash bin outside a recording studio scavenging Bryan Adams' rejected demos.

Ryan

Xenu · Postby **Xenu** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 2:19 pm

What you seem to be ignoring is that Bryan Adams records demos on sweet, Virginia ham.

Some people have to eat, you know.