So What Do You Think About The Remastered And Repacked Skylarking? Options

[Lenin McCarthy]

For a mo there, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I chose to laugh.......

It seems so absurd that something that, to the untrained (or unbothered) ear, doesn't sound hugely different can only have 1/125th, I said a 125th of the material of the superior experience. Ah well, the discussion killed some time and ultimately proved informative (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I know no-one will care, but I'm fascinated by the concept of the parallel song you're hearing on a hot mastered CD played at volume in a low-background noise environment: basically, there's an overlay of random harmonics introduced by each digital audio clip over the -0 db level that each create their own unnatural random harmonics, that in turn create more random harmonics. I've seen modern CD's offer up four minute songs with upwards of 3,000 of these spikes. If you're wondering why a modern 80 minute CD can seem like an interminable slog, it's probably due to the ear suffering fatigue from the lack of dynamics these constant harmonics introduces. I also suspect it's why nothing seems particularly involving as a listener.

If you've abandoned rock for Jazz and Classical listening - both genres where dynamic mastering is still required in the digital format - that's probably the reason why it excites you where rock no longer does.

[donavan]

I listened to most of my early XTc stuff on an Amstrad music centre through one speaker so I'm easily pleased these days. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Bimble]

I listened to most of my early XTc stuff on an Amstrad music centre through one speaker

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what pop music is about.

[Duck Soup]

Never mind Bimbsy...reply to this post quickly and you can have the 125th post in this thread to really rub it in... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Bimble]

 Mr_Collins.jpg ( 23.89K ) Number of downloads: 12


Episode 125, in which Rev Duck Soup wonders how he may thrust his tongue a little further between Lord Partridge's rosy buttocks....

This post has been edited by Bimble: Jan 18 2011, 03:17 PM

[Bimble]

This post has been edited by Bimble: Jan 18 2011, 03:17 PM

[Duck Soup]

Episode 125, in which Rev Duck Soup wonders how he may thrust his tongue a little further between Lord Partridge's rosy buttocks....

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I find it a decent way to get my daily almond intake... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)




Edited to delete 'chicken' after Bimbsys edit to delete duplicate post...

This post has been edited by Duck Soup: Jan 18 2011, 03:34 PM

[Bimble]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I find it a decent way to get my daily almond intake... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)


Chicken... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Edited to add chicken after Bimbsys edit...

It was edited to delete duplicate post: how does one import a full size photo onto here?

This post has been edited by Bimble: Jan 18 2011, 03:40 PM

[favoritething]

Here's what someone else thinks:

http://www.hometechtell.com/hometechnology...-new-turntable/

[Per Aronsson]

John Dent, that remastered Skylarking, explains the polarity thing:

"Correct absolute polarity is fundamental to the listening experience, I have no problem in my studio determining which is correct. For those that think it doesn't matter or have no idea what its about, here's a very simple explanation.

recording a bass drum..microphone infront of drum.....drummer strikes drumskin....1st motion of skin it moves forward.....microphone diaphragm moves back into
microphone....this produces a positve peak on pin 2 of the XLR .... if this was then connected to your loudspeaker....the bass cone 1st pulse should move forwards towards you., ... and that's it

it does matter.....

summary
Very few sounds are equal in both polarities, primarily electronic keyboards.. if you can't hear polarity differences either your source has been ruined, by over compressing , confused multitrack recording or general lack of resolution...
or your monitoring system is hopeless at resolving what's really there...

I don't get involved with chat threads, but I'm happy for you to print my notes above..

my summary may sound harsh, but the reality is there are a lot of people out there both recording and listening that don't actually understand recorded sound."

[donavan]

Interesting but there are probably even more people out there that don't really mind that they don't understand the process of recorded sound. They like what they hear even if it's sometimes not what it should be. Harsh again, but true. But you would think that the people responsible for recording sound would be clued up about these things.

This post has been edited by donavan: Jun 6 2011, 02:07 PM

[Andy Partridge]

John Dent told me that something like a quarter of all mixes he has to master are out of polarity,so it's a common problem. And not one that the smart arses out there say can be fixed by "simply changing over the positive and negative speaker cables". That would only make the problem a LOT worse.

The vinyl 'Larking sounds truly miles better than ever before in any format. Simple as that.

[rockpants]

I just got mine the other day and finally got a chance to see the sleeve notes and artwork this evening. Gorgeous design; every time I turned the page I smiled at what greeted me. I couldn't even put it down when I had to, um, go, so it became the the Most Prestigious of all Texts: Bathroom Reading. I was so engrossed in it that I sat on the pot for a few minutes more than necessary. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy.gif) I didn't want to sully the cover by putting it on the ashamedly, atrociously, unkempt counter, so I ended up doing this shuffley waddle back to the bedroom with my undies and pyjama pants 'round my ankles. (Washed & dried my hands one at a time; it would've taken 2 hands to get myself properly dressed, see.)

I won't be able to play it until the weekend, but the crappy old computer speakers on my "custom-built recycled refurb" record player won't do it justice. I'm sure I'll notice the difference, just not with decent enough sound or clarity. Been thinking about getting a new player soon-ish, and wanting to hear the difference might just get me to commit to doing so. Honestly thought it was a bit odd that a lot of you older kids didn't/don't have a record player.

I'm thankful Colin decided to contribute his recollections and photos. It's unfortunate that Dave opted to pass. I enjoyed Lord Cornelius Plum's gear lowdown in the Dukes' reissues, despite most of the technical jargon not being something I really understand all too well - I can get the gist of it and appreciate the dedication it takes for musicians to go apeshit trying to get that right sound for what they want to do. Of course, Andy's stories are always a treat ... I must say I prefer the title Skylarking over that I Can't Believe it's not Butter! Sun Field Magic thingie.

Indeed, a point of pride in my small but awesome record collection (if I do say so myself!)