T-BoneBurnett says CD's lack sound quality

I agree with him but what's happening is that the most (if not
virtually all) music consumers doesn't have the gear to play it back
the way it sounds in the studio so it really doesn't make any
difference. Phil Spector used to preview his mixes on a AM Radio
speaker because that's the way most people were going to hear his
music. Really, who can appreciate the dynamic range of an LP when
people are compressing the life out it at the mastering stage.

Thomas
www.yourhomestudio.com

Free Home Studio Newsletter - [email protected]

On 6/11/08 11:26 AM, in article
[email protected],
"YourHomeStudioDotCom" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Really, who can appreciate the dynamic range of an LP when
> people are compressing the life out it at the mastering stage.


The clients that want that super-squashed sound almost always come in with
the mixes already super-squashed. Don't blindly blame the Mastering
engineer.


Allen
--
Allen Corneau
Mastering Engineer
Essential Sound Mastering
www.esmastering.com

Allen Corneau <[email protected]> wrote:

> On 6/11/08 11:26 AM, in article
> [email protected],
> "YourHomeStudioDotCom" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Really, who can appreciate the dynamic range of an LP when
> > people are compressing the life out it at the mastering stage.
>
>
> The clients that want that super-squashed sound almost always come in with
> the mixes already super-squashed. Don't blindly blame the Mastering
> engineer.
>
>
> Allen

I assume Mr, Burnett is referencing the heavily colored sound of the
Kraus-Plant project he just produced. In that case he is right; his
"retro" effect or whatever the hell that sonic mask is is completely
unnecessary and detracts from the music, IMO. And it certainly impairs
the "sound quality" enough to render any alleged shortcomings of the CD
medium irrelevant.

At this point there are enough fine sounding CD's out there that folks
really should be looking at the problems of current practice rather than
blaming a medium. It's easier to blame the tools than it is learn how to
hold the hammer.

--
ha
Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam

"hank alrich" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:1iidkrg.oqsr886z0d4eN%walkinay@nv.net...
> Allen Corneau <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> On 6/11/08 11:26 AM, in article
>> [email protected],
>> "YourHomeStudioDotCom" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> > Really, who can appreciate the dynamic range of an LP when
>> > people are compressing the life out it at the mastering stage.
>>
>>
>> The clients that want that super-squashed sound almost always come in
>> with
>> the mixes already super-squashed. Don't blindly blame the Mastering
>> engineer.
>>
>>
>> Allen
>
> I assume Mr, Burnett is referencing the heavily colored sound of the
> Kraus-Plant project he just produced. In that case he is right; his
> "retro" effect or whatever the hell that sonic mask is is completely
> unnecessary and detracts from the music, IMO. And it certainly impairs
> the "sound quality" enough to render any alleged shortcomings of the CD
> medium irrelevant.
>
> At this point there are enough fine sounding CD's out there that folks
> really should be looking at the problems of current practice rather than
> blaming a medium. It's easier to blame the tools than it is learn how to
> hold the hammer.
>
Well said.

Bob Morein
(310) 237-6511

On Jun 11, 3:57 pm, [email protected] (hank alrich) wrote:

> At this point there are enough fine sounding CD's out there that folks
> really should be looking at the problems of current practice rather than
> blaming a medium. It's easier to blame the tools than it is learn how to
> hold the hammer.

ouch my thumb hurts
its all Vaughan's fault!! < http://tinyurl.com/45posu >

In article <1iidkrg.oqsr886z0d4eN%walkinay@nv.net>,
[email protected] (hank alrich) wrote:
>
> At this point there are enough fine sounding CD's out there that folks
> really should be looking at the problems of current practice rather than
> blaming a medium. It's easier to blame the tools than it is learn how to
> hold the hammer.

This is key. If there are any great-sounding CDs, and I have found many
examples, then it isn't the medium that's at fault.

-Jay

--
x------- Jay Kadis ------- x ---- Jay's Attic Studio ----x
x Lecturer, Audio Engineer x Dexter Records x
x CCRMA, Stanford University x http://www.offbeats.com/ x
x---------- http://ccrma.stanford.edu/~jay/ ------------x

Jay Kadis wrote:
> In article <1iidkrg.oqsr886z0d4eN%walkinay@nv.net>,
> [email protected] (hank alrich) wrote:
>>
>> At this point there are enough fine sounding CD's out there that
>> folks really should be looking at the problems of current practice
>> rather than blaming a medium. It's easier to blame the tools than it
>> is learn how to hold the hammer.
>
> This is key. If there are any great-sounding CDs, and I have found
> many examples, then it isn't the medium that's at fault.

Says more about T-Bone Burnett's than anything ....


geoff

"geoff" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]
> Jay Kadis wrote:
>> In article <1iidkrg.oqsr886z0d4eN%walkinay@nv.net>,
>> [email protected] (hank alrich) wrote:
>>>
>>> At this point there are enough fine sounding CD's out
>>> there that folks really should be looking at the
>>> problems of current practice rather than blaming a
>>> medium. It's easier to blame the tools than it is learn
>>> how to hold the hammer.
>>
>> This is key. If there are any great-sounding CDs, and I
>> have found many examples, then it isn't the medium
>> that's at fault.
>
> Says more about T-Bone Burnett's than anything ....
>

It's simple. He wants to sell recordings, and he is desperate enough to try
a tired, lame, old, trick like this.

Remember that several record companies bet tens of millions on the "CD
format isn't good enough" ploy via SACD and DVD-A, and lost it.

> "geoff" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> > Says more about T-Bone Burnett's than anything ....

On Jun 12, 8:45 pm, "Arny Krueger" <[email protected]> wrote:

> It's simple. He wants to sell recordings, and he is desperate enough to try
> a tired, lame, old, trick like this.
>
> Remember that several record companies bet tens of millions on the "CD
> format isn't good enough" ploy via SACD and DVD-A, and lost it.

I don't doubt that there was incredible pressure in making this
record.
Crossover, comeback, collaboration.
It continues to be heavily hyped around Nashville.

What we need is some high profile producer/artists release like the
Krause/Plant project to be Mastered for quality and promoted as
such to get the ball rolling back in the right direction.

I don't care what anyone says, the CD format is not being utilized
to anywhere near it's potential in 99.44% of releases since 1995.

rd

On Jun 12, 9:04 pm, RD Jones <[email protected]> wrote:

> I don't care what anyone says, the CD format is not being utilized
> to anywhere near it's potential in 99.44% of releases since 1995.

Just so. The CD format has the potential for a _much_ wider dynamic
range than a vinyl LP, yet today's producers and engineers are using
far more compression and limiting than was typically used in LP
releases... when they sometimes _needed_ those tools simply to fit
within the limitations of the technology.

Why? Myself, I think it's just one of those things that developed
unintentionally. Engineers brought up in analog left headroom in
their CD releases, because that's the way they were trained. Younger
engineers - say... those who were finding themselves behind the
consoles in the mid 90s, as Mr. Jones suggests - saw no reason not to
push it to the top of the scale. So even if their recordings weren't
compressed as much, they came out louder, which was perceived by non-
engineers (that is, record company executives) as a competitive edge.
That created a situation where "louder" was perceived as "better"...
and suddenly, the race was on.

Unlike with vinyl, where the absolute highest level was affected by
non-audio factors such as the specific cutting head being used, the
length of the side, etc. - not to mention the skill, training and
taste of the mastering engineer - suddenly the CD format created an
absolute maximum level that was the same for everybody. So the only
way to get louder than the other guy - to attain the competitive edge
the suits were after - was to compress the hell out of everything.

And here we are.