Hi, I think some of the songs sound fantastic. My favourite by far is WWTLF, which is strange after what i said about the song in the recent thread.
It sounds like a new song to me. The vocals are more powerful, yet lighter sounding if you can understand what I mean... this is where Seb and Adam B and Co are useful.
Quite a few tracks surprised me to how good they now sound. Under Pressure (to me) brings Bowie out better IMO too. Somebody To Love has a more equal feel to it (vocals and instruments). All in all, most tracks are far sharper and far more easy listening.
Again, be nice to hear our music scholars to lend their opinion... and of course everyone else whose had a listen.
I'm still waiting for my pre-ordered book version to arrive, but I am interested to see what the differences in mastering are from previous versions, so will report back.
I'm hoping for good, if subtle, improvements when hearing that Bob Ludwig (one of teh most experienced mastering engineers) was doing it; far better than some of the QPL guys ike Justin Shirley Smith getting his hands (and dreadful ears) on it
cmsdrums wrote:
I'm still waiting for my pre-ordered book version to arrive, but I am interested to see what the differences in mastering are from previous versions, so will report back.
I'm hoping for good, if subtle, improvements when hearing that Bob Ludwig (one of teh most experienced mastering engineers) was doing it; far better than some of the QPL guys ike Justin Shirley Smith getting his hands (and dreadful ears) on it
Thanks for that Chris, I'm just wondering what makes you think I have been mastering anything. Am I credited as mastering engineer anywhere? Best wishes, Justin Shirley-Smith.
Actually, this is a common mistake here on QZ. Justin is credited of production and remixing of the audio of recent Queen releases, not mastering, which is a different thing...
Anyway, for as much as I am with the Queenzoner's about the shameful redudancy of recent QP releases, I wouldn't trust their ears. There is a also a general consensus here on QZ that the 1st CD releases of the Queen albums (the UK CDP's and Japan CP32's) are terrible and that the 1993 Digital Remasters are good and the 2001 Toshiba remasters even better... Since the 1993 CD's feature Noise Reduction filters and the 2001 CD's feature high compression techniques, this "consensus" always puzzled me... but hey, if it sounds good to you, fine.
As for this "Absolute Greatest" faux pas, at least I've been told that it is well mastered...
My vinyl box set arrived yesterday, but I'm still waiting for the CD.
I actually broke my own rule about not playing Queen Vinyls (I have an entire set of original LP releases that are unplayed), and I played one of the sides.
They sound amazing. I've never heard so much life in TATDOOL :)
When the CD comes, I'll be ripping it and looking at the wav forms.
What I hope to see are the songs mastered properly with lots of peaks and troughs rather than everything whacked up full like the Japanese remasters.
If this is the case, then I hope Queen have actually payed Bob Ludwig to remaster EVERY album from scratch as I'd quite happily pay them my brass all over again just to get the definitve remasters.
cmsdrums wrote:
I'm still waiting for my pre-ordered book version to arrive, but I am interested to see what the differences in mastering are from previous versions, so will report back.
I'm hoping for good, if subtle, improvements when hearing that Bob Ludwig (one of teh most experienced mastering engineers) was doing it; far better than some of the QPL guys ike Justin Shirley Smith getting his hands (and dreadful ears) on it
Thanks for that Chris, I'm just wondering what makes you think I have been mastering anything. Am I credited as mastering engineer anywhere? Best wishes, Justin Shirley-Smith.
SIncere apologies Justin - I am aware that you are repsonsible for mixes, but not mastering, but in my eagerness to comment I got myself mixed up - I am sorry.
Unfortunately I am not a fan of the sound on a lot of the more recent Queen stuff of the last few years - mainly the recorded live mixes - and my impression is that the parts I don't like are down to the mix, and not any subsequent mastering. Return of the Champions (to me and a lot of posters here) is a particular example of a very 'muddy'/'woolly' mix, lacking a lot of clarity and definition, especially where the drums are concerned.
Having said that, I am not slating you personally as a matter of course or habit, but will comment either way if something drives me to - I think the sound on the Montreal CD/DVD is stunning, and certainly the best sound on any live Queen product so far. (I don't know if you are involved with the Hammersmith 75 audio, but I did post last wek that the snippet aired recently sounds very promising and a great improvement on the original).
Thanks for your comment - pleased to see you here and taking an active and mature part in our discussions (unlike some other people associated with QPL like GB!!)
Bo rhap has hisses and saturation all over as it becomes a victim of the loudness war. This master has nothing to offer but ridiculous loudness and ear piercing levels of treble. Shameful work,Mr Ludwig
Fone Bone wrote:
Bo rhap has hisses and saturation all over as it becomes a victim of the loudness war. This master has nothing to offer but ridiculous loudness and ear piercing levels of treble. Shameful work,Mr Ludwig
Yeah... after a few listens some songs do stand out better than others. Bo Rap is one of the worst sounding on the album... but again there are a peaches. I still say that WWTLF is the best remaster I've personally heard and has given the song so much more depth. I think my girlfriend reckons I've got depression issues right now!
Looking for the loudness war between AG and Singles Collection I put Bohemian Rhapsody from both sources into Audacity, the first I noticed was the difference in length. On AG it is about 63 CD frames longer. That is almost a second for the whole song and a speed difference of approx. 0.2%. Assuming most of the remastering was done digital, is that an acceptable tolerance for modern master tape players or does this difference occur in another remastering step ? Did anyone notice the Singles Collection version being slightly higher ? (The speed difference between SC 1 and 12" Collection version is even approx. 0.4%)