rock
New Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 24
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Post by rock on Jul 14, 2018 22:03:51 GMT
Hi guys,
Here's one for the audio heads amongst us!
I'm just wondering which, sonically, are the higher quality... in terms of dynamics and clarity... the 2015 Mini LPs or the Deluxe Editions?
Maybe someone could explain the difference between the two, as I'd rather not buy both versions of Blue For You for example.
Cheers!
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Post by frozenhero on Jul 25, 2018 13:49:30 GMT
I know somebody on here praised the Culture Factory remasters (are those the ones you're referring to?) but from what I've heard elsewhere and guessing from the DR numbers, they seem to employ lots of compression.
The deluxe editions mastered by Andy Pearce have excellent clarity IMO, dynamics are intact on all but three - OTL, IYCSTH and WYW. Those three still sound good (better than the 2005 Tim Turan remasters), but you can't turn them up as much as the other Pearce remasters. Strangely enough, the 5-CD "classics" set seems to include a more dynamic master of OTL...
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rock
New Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 24
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Post by rock on Jul 26, 2018 15:42:13 GMT
I know somebody on here praised the Culture Factory remasters (are those the ones you're referring to?) but from what I've heard elsewhere and guessing from the DR numbers, they seem to employ lots of compression. The deluxe editions mastered by Andy Pearce have excellent clarity IMO, dynamics are intact on all but three - OTL, IYCSTH and WYW. Those three still sound good (better than the 2005 Tim Turan remasters), but you can't turn them up as much as the other Pearce remasters. Strangely enough, the 5-CD "classics" set seems to include a more dynamic master of OTL... Cheers for the reply mate! Yes mate, it's the Culture Factory remasters that I was referring to. I had suspected that compression might be a bit heavy-handed on these, shame really, as I think Culture Factory's hearts were in the right place with this release, with regards to the packaging, presentation and approach to remastering (with the unfortunate exception of the compression, or too much compression in this case) It's a shame that we've never been able to get a great release of On The Level with intact DR. It's strange that Pearce didn't maintain consistency, so far,throughout the releases. |
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dth1
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 58 
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Post by dth1 on Jul 27, 2018 14:51:09 GMT
I agree the 'Culture Factory' reissues sound brilliant.
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Post by lazypokerblues on Jul 30, 2018 8:36:45 GMT
I was raving about the Culture Factory editions at the time. However these days I am more inclined to listen to the Deluxe versions.
I don't really understand compression, but if I tell you how I would describe their sound, perhaps we are talking about the same thing?
The CF versions sound 'louder', they have more 'attack' and they jump out of the speakers. They sound, initially, very exciting and that was the reason why I praised them so much. However, after listening to them for some time, they get a bit irritating - is this what audiophiles refer to as 'listening fatigue'? And is this what compression does to music? If I understand correctly, it is designed to make music sound 'better' on mp3 files? But when you play it straight from a CD or stream it through decent speakers, it sounds a bit artificial.
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Post by Quoincidence on Jul 30, 2018 19:11:50 GMT
From what I know, I think they use master limiters on the Deluxe Editions.
Does a better job than compression, and boosts the volume without ruining the quality and stops the track from clipping (being too loud)
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Post by bagofrats on Aug 5, 2018 16:58:22 GMT
I’m no expert and don’t look at dr ratings but the culture factory cds are really loud. It sounds like they’ve turned everything up to 11. Way too much bass and cymbals especially just sound wrong. Best example, slow train after the drum solo, one my favourite parts on any album is a noisy mess and unlistenable. The better your system the more apparent this will be.
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sincity
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 367
Favourite Quo Album: Hello
Favourite other bands.: Blackberry Smoke, AC/DC, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Iron Maiden
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Post by sincity on Aug 5, 2018 18:58:18 GMT
The Japanese mini albums sound fantastic - they not cheap but the sound is amazing
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Post by frozenhero on Aug 8, 2018 9:19:52 GMT
I was raving about the Culture Factory editions at the time. However these days I am more inclined to listen to the Deluxe versions. I don't really understand compression, but if I tell you how I would describe their sound, perhaps we are talking about the same thing? The CF versions sound 'louder', they have more 'attack' and they jump out of the speakers. They sound, initially, very exciting and that was the reason why I praised them so much. However, after listening to them for some time, they get a bit irritating - is this what audiophiles refer to as 'listening fatigue'? And is this what compression does to music? If I understand correctly, it is designed to make music sound 'better' on mp3 files? But when you play it straight from a CD or stream it through decent speakers, it sounds a bit artificial. (Dynamic) compression is just the word that's colloquially used to describe all kinds of messing with dynamics, even if there is actually a difference between compression, limiting and clipping. And yes, the loudness war works that way - it's a problem with CDs because they're not meant to sound loud. Any digital format loses its possibilities for dynamic range once you start bringing the average volume closer to the maximum volume. If you want to make it sound louder, you can't do that unless you reduce dynamics. Basically, you're left with maybe 10% of what CD is actually capable of, and transients (such as drum hits) start to get flattened to the point when they don't sound natural anymore. And the way our aural system works, something that never changes its level is perceived as noise instead of music. That is indeed what "listening fatigue" refers to - after a while you either turn it down and wander off or get irritated. As for mp3s, they employ data compression, i.e. leaving out bits of the music so the files can be smaller. There's no real connection other than, if you're listening to music on the go with earbuds, dynamic compression actually helps. I experienced this myself when I was still using an mp3 player, and albums that wore me out on proper speakers at home were the only ones that didn't have half of the music getting lost in between all the surrounding noises! (But it would make a lot more sense to master albums with intact dynamics and integrate user-regulated compression into the playback device...) To sum this all up: In order to properly compare different masterings of the same tracks, it's essential to alwas adjust the volume level so that they play back at the same loudness. Only when you do that, you can actually hear the differences. (It's possible that a CD can be "too quiet" - when it still has headroom, i.e. even the loudest parts aren't at the max - but this has become extremely rare in the last two decades.) There are other factors that influence good sound too, obviously. I heard someone say that some of the Japanese mini-LPs sound a bit dull. Can't comment personally, but it shows that DR values aren't everything. Another case in point: I once compared some of the tracks off the old 12 Gold Bars CD to Andy Pearce's new remasterings, and in almost all cases I preferred the new versions even though the 12GB has identical or higher DR values. There's something about how the new mastering opens up the soundstage and makes the details more audible, that I generally like about Pearce's mastering style (not just Quo, also Deep Purple, ELP, Uriah Heep & some others of his I've heard). |
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