Midnight Oil

Subject: Re: : Re: [powderworks] Midnight Oil Remastered CDs
From: Chris
Date: 14/06/2014, 1:03 am
To: Powderworks

I don't disagree with your analysis of what they've done - scooped EQ and rather too much compression is indeed the order of the day.

I do disagree that it sounds worse on the whole. The old masters needed a boost at both ends, and they received it. PWAP's original master is ridiculously bass-shy and the remaster sounds much better to my ears. Does it sound better than the original master with EQ dialed in to taste? No, it's been whacked with too much compression. Can I be bothered to individually EQ every album I listen to? No, that'd be crazy. But by and large I think Hercules and Brave Faces benefit more for the extra bass than they suffer for the compression.

(There are cases where the EQ work is sloppy, though. As I noted in my previous email, there are cases where I can hear what I'm sure is digital noise reduction, and boosting the high frequencies of those artefacts has done nobody any favours)

That they messed up with the heavy handed compression is...unfortunate. Personally I think that the reduced dynamic range has much more effect on listener fatigue than the altered frequency response, and there are songs where the compression has done terrible things. The statement "they've scooped the eq aggressively, which obliterates any kind of subtle dynamic response" simply makes no sense - EQ has no effect on dynamics whatsoever - but you're right that the compression has ruined the dynamics in some songs. Only The Strong is a good example, but frankly the album version of that song is inferior to pretty much every other extant recording anyway (is that a controversial statement? Curious to see if anyone reads far enough for me to find out)

I think we're coming at this from different angles, though. If I guess rightly, you want an album that sounds exactly like the brand-new vinyl did in 1980-whatever. I want an album that sounds like a well-mastered sample from this decade. Neither of us are getting what we really want, but the result offends your ears more than mine.

I'm prepared to stand by this, keeping in mind that it's all subjective: Midnight Oil, Head Injuries, Bird Noises and PWAP sound better to my ears. Parts of Species and Red Sails sound better to my ears, but it's a mixed bag. 10-1 and D&D sound different, but I couldn't say "better". I haven't heard the new version of Blue Sky Mining yet, but I expect the results to be similar to Diesel. 

- Chris


On 14 June 2014 00:28, suncrush01@yahoo.com [powderworks] <powderworks@yahoogroups.com.au> wrote:
 

I think Hercules is one of the worst remasters I've ever heard. In addition to the compression problems, they've scooped the eq aggressively, which obliterates any kind of subtle dynamic response, and turns the guitars to mud. Scooping also increases ear fatigue. 

I checked out PWAP and Countdown, and it seems compress and scoop was the order of the day. Only the Strong was an absolute atrocity, but these remasters all suck. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 12, 2014, at 9:18 AM, "Chris seeker42@gmail.com [powderworks]" <powderworks@yahoogroups.com.au> wrote:

 

Very hard to double-blind this - you would need to perfectly match volumes or you'll tend to subconsciously prefer the louder one. Given that they've played with the compression, matching volume isn't really possible even if you had the gear to do it.

Of all the remasters, I'm most torn on Species - the remastered version is clearly overcompressed, and there are artefacts which sound like digital noise reduction to me. But the original master isn't very good either.
(To break it down further: Original version of Progress is better, new version of Hercules is better, I've no strong opinion on Blossom and Blood because it's always sounded like a b-side to me anyway, and I flip-flop on Pictures)

Of all the albums, Place Without A Postcard benefits most from the remaster. I didn't like it much before, I do like it now, that's a win!

- Chris


On 12 June 2014 23:03, Stuart Fenech stuart.fenech@gmail.com [powderworks] <powderworks@yahoogroups.com.au> wrote:
 

Brian - In what way did it suck?

I'm curious about all of these things; good remasters versus bad remasters generally. Some recent ones I've found fairly awful (eg. Latest Cold Chisel - East remaster) but I lack the finer technical understanding to pinpoint everything (in the Chisel example, I think they upped the higher frequencies too much, weakened the lower frequencies and reduced the dynamic range a bit... but I dunno...).

I'll probably pick up 10 to 1 and do a double blind test on it with a good setup.

Me

On 12/06/2014 10:57 PM, "Brian Jacobs suncrush01@yahoo.com [powderworks]" <powderworks@yahoogroups.com.au> wrote:


That's unfortunate.  I downloaded Species, and it sucked.

Sent from my iPad

On Jun 12, 2014, at 8:29 AM, "Chris seeker42@gmail.com [powderworks]" <powderworks@yahoogroups.com.au> wrote:

 

It's not 100% clear, but I think these are the same remasters as have
been available on iTunes since 2011.

On 12/06/2014, z_kevino@hotmail.com [powderworks]
<powderworks@yahoogroups.com.au> wrote:
> Sorry for being out of it, but will these be released in iTunes too?