AF Doobie Brothers Minute By Minute
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 5:16 pm
This is the first AF gold CD I've heard, and it is a huge disappointment.
One of the reasons I picked this release is that I have an old Japan CD (probably the initial US release) which sounds pretty good and I was curious to compare the mastering (or lack thereof) with the latest "tonmeister" chef d'oeuvre.
Starting with the packaging (which is the only category where I can complement the AF at all)...the AF has the full album sleeve pictures, front and back, whereas on the Japan the rear photo is truncated. Also, the AF has the song lyrics printed in the running order.
However, the Japan booklet resembles the vinyl release (IIRC) more -- it has the front photo on a buff colored background, and the song lyrics have the same font. The AF booklet is stark black and white, with a generic font for the lyrics. The AF does (additionally) have a photo of the lyrics from the vinyl paper sleeve, which would be a nice touch if it wasn't tiny, washed-out and illegible. And I would be remiss if I didn't point out the de rigeur AF typo: "Write to: THE DOOBIE BROTHERS INTERNATION FAN CLUB."
The sound of the Japan CD is rather bright, but the overall tonality is smooth. It sounds as if a slight treble cut would set things right. The AF, however, is hollow and dull. Switching from the Japan to the AF resulted in a noticeable collapse of the soundstage, and the AF sounds far more processed. If it was anyone but SH at the mastering console, I'd guess it was substantially noise reduced. Vocals and percussion have poor presence and have an odd tonality.
I'd guess that the AF suffers from (primarily) a treble cut that is too wide and deep. Is this partially due to the use of an analog EQ, which doesn't give as much control as a digital EQ? Such are the pitfalls of stubbornly refusing to use a DAW.
I hope the others in the AF series are *much* better.
One of the reasons I picked this release is that I have an old Japan CD (probably the initial US release) which sounds pretty good and I was curious to compare the mastering (or lack thereof) with the latest "tonmeister" chef d'oeuvre.
Starting with the packaging (which is the only category where I can complement the AF at all)...the AF has the full album sleeve pictures, front and back, whereas on the Japan the rear photo is truncated. Also, the AF has the song lyrics printed in the running order.
However, the Japan booklet resembles the vinyl release (IIRC) more -- it has the front photo on a buff colored background, and the song lyrics have the same font. The AF booklet is stark black and white, with a generic font for the lyrics. The AF does (additionally) have a photo of the lyrics from the vinyl paper sleeve, which would be a nice touch if it wasn't tiny, washed-out and illegible. And I would be remiss if I didn't point out the de rigeur AF typo: "Write to: THE DOOBIE BROTHERS INTERNATION FAN CLUB."
The sound of the Japan CD is rather bright, but the overall tonality is smooth. It sounds as if a slight treble cut would set things right. The AF, however, is hollow and dull. Switching from the Japan to the AF resulted in a noticeable collapse of the soundstage, and the AF sounds far more processed. If it was anyone but SH at the mastering console, I'd guess it was substantially noise reduced. Vocals and percussion have poor presence and have an odd tonality.
I'd guess that the AF suffers from (primarily) a treble cut that is too wide and deep. Is this partially due to the use of an analog EQ, which doesn't give as much control as a digital EQ? Such are the pitfalls of stubbornly refusing to use a DAW.
I hope the others in the AF series are *much* better.