0TheRadioFlyer97

ever since transitioning to the 320kbps (or better) recording quality, i've been looking for cleaner and cleaner recordings which sorry to say don't seem to be most of the classic rock music i listen to.

I heard about some kind of label or group that certified certain recordings as excellent quality.

I might just be imagining things but has anyone heard of this?

Knob Jockey

Sheffield Lab, perhaps.

Their direct-to-vinyl recordings were unsurpassed and I believe they have digital recordings available now.

Artist selection may be a bit esoteric, though.

I need to check with some of the golden ears I work with....

Louie Detroit

What do you mean by 320kbps - MP3?

Lossy compression usually isn't mentioned in the same sentence as audiophile.

Please expand on your recording process.

0TheRadioFlyer97

these aren't my recordings. Most of the Mp3 titles available for download ate 128kbps or worse. In addition, crappy recording engineering can make even a .flac file sound like poo. (no depth or power or clarity)

Louie Detroit

What is the source of music you are working with?

Silver commercial CD's? Someone's elses rips of CD's? MP3?

0TheRadioFlyer97

pretty much everything. My old music archive was ripping files off friend's CDs using WMP at 128kbps.....cause i was stupid

fej

Well you can take your collection into the Itunes world, and upgrade to their "lossless" format, which is generally between about 740 and 1100kpbs.

Other options are to purchase the source material in FLAC or similar lossless formats instead of working with/from CD's or other rips.

Your other problem is that most music is really poorly mastered and recorded, even from respected people like Rick Rubin. Tuned for the IPOD headphone generation while played under "bass boost". No transients, no detail, one large mass of similar decibels for all frequencies.

Fej

Kale

And even a fantastic car audio system will add so much distortion to any recording...

0TheRadioFlyer97

exactly. let not forget the trunk-rattle now included free with every rhyme

Lancejoker

This thread really makes you think about the music world. A little depressing.

0TheRadioFlyer97

word

Knob Jockey

You should hear these hacks perform live.

Even on state-of-the-art Sound Reinforcement Systems in Venues with excellent acoustics, the combination of marginal talent on stage and Mixing Engineers that are completely clueless, the end result is remarkable only in it's absurd loudness.

Digital clipping driving into heavy digital compression is pretty hard to miss, but apparently the morons creating this sonic onslaught are oblivious. Posting pics of a digital Mixing Console in full clip on your Facebook page should not be a positive career highlight.

Sorry, rant over.

Lancejoker

Nothing to be sorry about,I'm sure we all agree

markcz

Ten years ago when I converted all of my 300+ CD's to MP3's the only way I could fit them all on my hard drive was to convert at 128k. Now that I have over 3000 GB of memory in my house I've been seriously considering re-converting them all at 320k. One of these days I'll just have to start throwing them in my computer a few at a shot

The standards for what can pass as "quality" have definitely changed

Grzldvt1

WOW, good thread!!!! I think Fej has it nailed. Todays productions are pretty pathetic. Take an early Doors Vinyl(You know one of those big black CD's ) and the production/engineering is absolutely incredible. Great detail, a real soundstage, an MP3 offers very little, even at 320K+

On the other hand, according to one guy in the C6 section, there is no such thing as a car audiophile, they are just a bunch of phonies

Unfortunately today's music is not engineered for detail and soundstage, and on top of that the sound engineers for the auto manufacturers are clueless on how to setup a system. The C6 is a great example of completely missing the boat. A center mono speaker that screws up the soundstage, and the rear speakers are mono... WTF is that?

markcz

I'll never claim to be an audiophile, I'm just good at making things work, but he's one of the many reasons I rarely go over there any more

fej

I agree Grz, late 70's and 80's engineering is far superior to what we have now. Vinyl allows a larger spectrum of playback as well (beyond the 20hz to 20khz CD's have). Telarc and Sheffield labs have some great CD's, and if you can find the Focal "listening" discs they are really well recorded also.

Modern day tracks are somewhat few and far between, but The Eagles "Hell Freezes Over" disc, and that version of Hotel California has been one of my reference tracks for tuning basically since it came out. Great transients and detail, without all of the BS distortion from today's engineers.

Fej

Kale

ER, don't most adults hear between 30-16khz anyway?

Modern recordings don't even scratch the dynamic range available on CDs. Drives me crazy.

Lancejoker

So while we're at it,anyone have any thoughts on the recent re-release of The Beatles catalog? Pretty much all I've been listening to for the last couple weeks.

fej

Somewhat true Kale. Most females hear a slightly higher range than males, and the older we get, the more it deteriorates. There have been a few studies showing the "perception" of material above the normal hearing threshold that is contained on vinyl vs the same recording on CD. I don't know how much weight I put behind that, but IMO if the engineer and artist thought the information should be there, I think it should be

As for the bottom end, most people hear down into the high 20's to low 30's (much easier with test tones), but we can "feel" information far below that. I think it is 12 or 13hz that can make someone throw up after prolonged exposure. There were rumors of that being used as a torture aid. Check out WoW when the robots are out walking around, I think there is 14-15hz info on the Blu Ray.

Fej