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Audio Fidelity - Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 2:30 pm
by Andreas
http://stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=203582

I have written on the other board that I wanted to try to reproduce Jamie Tate's results about the Audio Fidelity CD "Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme". I have the AF remaster and the 1980s CD (CBS label, CDCBS 32031, matrix CDCBS-62825 21 A, Mastered By DADC Austria). Unfortunately that thread is now closed so I can't post my results. A new thread has been removed immediately.

My findings are: I can NOT reproduce his results. The files for the two songs I have tested thoroughly (Scarborogh Fair and Homeward Bound) do not stay in synch, they drift slowly apart. The waveforms appear similar and stay almost in synch for quite some time, but they are not in perfect sample-per-sample synch.

I would conclude that the Audio Fidelity CD is not sourced from the same digital transfer as my 1980s CD.

It is of course possible that Jamie has a different mastering than I have. Hopefully he or somebody else with the 1980s US CD will contribute here.

Re: Audio Fidelity - Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 10:25 pm
by lukpac
I don't have either CD, but at this point it seems clear the original CD (or the digital transfer/master used to create it) was used for the AF.

Also, apparently Bob Irwin didn't find the masters for Sundazed, but rather good sounding copy tapes that hadn't been used much. It isn't clear why those weren't used for the AF.

Re: Audio Fidelity - Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 11:41 pm
by Andreas
lukpac wrote:I don't have either CD, but at this point it seems clear the original CD (or the digital transfer/master used to create it) was used for the AF.
How was this concluded in your opinion? Have you compared samples or was it confirmed by AF?

Re: Audio Fidelity - Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme

Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 7:10 am
by lukpac
Andreas wrote:How was this concluded in your opinion? Have you compared samples or was it confirmed by AF?


Both listening to Jamie's clips and some other scuttlebutt.

Re: Audio Fidelity - Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme

Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:06 pm
by Andreas
Ok, I found that from Jamie's samples, they do stay in synch.

Re: Audio Fidelity - Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme

Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 8:11 pm
by czeskleba
Can you guys point me to what software I would need to conduct such comparisons? Given what we know about the AF Parsley Sage CD, I'm curious to compare their version of the Band's second album to the original CD.

Re: Audio Fidelity - Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme

Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 10:53 pm
by lukpac
czeskleba wrote:Can you guys point me to what software I would need to conduct such comparisons? Given what we know about the AF Parsley Sage CD, I'm curious to compare their version of the Band's second album to the original CD.


I generally use ProTools Free, which sadly requires either MacOS 9 or Win 98.

I would think one could do it in Audacity, but I've never tried.

As far as PSR&T goes, I'm comparing the CD to one of my LPs, and I have to say I prefer the sound of the LP, at least tonally. The CD has too much "AM midrange" that makes it sound dated. Unfortunately my LP is less than pristine.

Re: Audio Fidelity - Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme

Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 4:17 pm
by Andreas
If anyone is curious, "12 Songs" is not derived from the 1980s digital transfer.

Re: Audio Fidelity - Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme

Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 4:02 pm
by Andreas
From the Machine Head AF thread over there:
There's a guy posted a comment on the customer review of this on Amazon.com says that AF used 'digital tapes!'
A pity the Gorts have no authority over amazon.com
What a pity indeed. :)

Re: Audio Fidelity - Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 3:12 pm
by Yesman
Andreas wrote:http://stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=203582

I have written on the other board that I wanted to try to reproduce Jamie Tate's results about the Audio Fidelity CD "Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme". I have the AF remaster and the 1980s CD (CBS label, CDCBS 32031, matrix CDCBS-62825 21 A, Mastered By DADC Austria). Unfortunately that thread is now closed so I can't post my results. A new thread has been removed immediately.

My findings are: I can NOT reproduce his results. The files for the two songs I have tested thoroughly (Scarborogh Fair and Homeward Bound) do not stay in synch, they drift slowly apart. The waveforms appear similar and stay almost in synch for quite some time, but they are not in perfect sample-per-sample synch.

I would conclude that the Audio Fidelity CD is not sourced from the same digital transfer as my 1980s CD.

It is of course possible that Jamie has a different mastering than I have. Hopefully he or somebody else with the 1980s US CD will contribute here.

Hey Andreas,

Someone sent me an email and pointed me here. Here's a link for the Columbia and AF Scarborough Fair. Load them into your computer, set both to start at 0:00, add +3.0dB to the Columbia and flip the polarity of either clip. They'll stay in perfect sync throughout the whole song.

The European CD is obviously from a different source than the US CD.

Columbia:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/2b5g17

AF:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/r7046y