The Philadelphia 1977 show is one of my favourites. The News of the World album was just released, and this is the first recording that documents songs from that album, along with Love of my Life. The band as well as the audience are enthusiastic and the show is much more dynamic than those from the previous tours.
It's such a pity that the sound quality is rather bad. It's very muffled and lacks the high frequencies. It sounds very narrow and distorted. There's lots of hiss and at the end of each song there's a big gap.
So I tried to improve the sound by several measures. At first I removed the gaps (sadly there's always a second of the song/speech missing) and removed a few clicks. Then I worked out an equalizing curve to give some shape to the instruments (esp. the piano) and the voices. I had to turn down the bass a bit and tried to remove parts of the hiss by "sculpting" the high frequencies. The top frequencies of the instruments aren't there anyway. AT last I restored the dynamic range that got lost by the EQing.
I applied those measures to the first 5 songs and I think, it's working. Now it sounds much clearer and has more punch. I'm not sure if I went too far with the high mids, but I tried to compensate for the absolute lack of high frequencies.
To all who have the original recording of the show and are interested in improved sound quality: please take some time to compare my "remaster" to the original. I would be glad to hear any kind of feedback. If you think it's worth continuing, I'd be glad to work on the remaining files, too.
Here's the link to the files: link
Thanks in advance!
Very interesting. I like your remaster! Freddie's voice is way better audible and it's easier to hear the various instruments. Listening to the original needs quite a bit of effort.Your remaster is easier on the ears. So, great job if you ask me. Much more enjoyable!thanks
Nummer2 wrote: sadly there's always a second of the song/speech missing
Unfortunately this is a big problem, as it won't be the definitive version.
What you've done is great... the sound is much, much better... but I can only suggest you begin with a complete version, as 1 second missing from each track is clearly a human error, and can be bettered.
I have a copy from a third generation tape, and I'd be happy to send it to you so you can work on that.. !
Here's a sample... let me know what you think: link
Hey Bob, your version is definitely clearer than my source! It has a lot of distortion, too, but it sounds as if there's more of the high frequencies left. I'd bet, that the less "loud" songs, where the distortion is generally lower, sound even better in comparison to my source, than your example does. If you would like to upload your files, I will gladly try my best to improve it further. I guess, the same corrections will apply, but to a lower grade (I hope you can understand my English).
But take your time, I won't get back to my computer till Monday.
I removed the gaps manually with Audacity 1.3.5. To get the best sounding EQ curve, it was a combination: first, the analysis of different recordings to find out the frequency allocation of the instruments and voices, and second, trial-and-error ;-)
I tried to eliminate frequency drops/peaks that weren't supposed to be there and then I bended the general curve to compensate the recording's shortcomings.
The result isn't High Fidelity by any means, I just wanted to make the show listenable. Let's convince Bob to share his (better) recording, and I'll do my best to get you a fantastic show in listenable quality!
Nummer2 wrote: I removed the gaps manually with Audacity 1.3.5. To get the best sounding EQ curve, it was a combination: first, the analysis of different recordings to find out the frequency allocation of the instruments and voices, and second, trial-and-error ;-)
I tried to eliminate frequency drops/peaks that weren't supposed to be there and then I bended the general curve to compensate the recording's shortcomings.
The result isn't High Fidelity by any means, I just wanted to make the show listenable. Let's convince Bob to share his (better) recording, and I'll do my best to get you a fantastic show in listenable quality!
This is really exciting! I'm looking forward to the development of this all. thanks again
This recording can be remastered, I've done it myself already with a couple of songs. EDIT: With no great results, so no point in asking for it, because I'm sure some people will do it much better, including the person who created this post
This reminds of Cleveland 77 show which I tried to remaster with no great results. However, I tried and it is definitely easier to remaster this than Cleveland.
Good luck to you, I will hear the sample later (maybe I will download it tonight)