Rock - what are you listening to?

[Rob]

In the 70s I bought a lot of Mobile Fidelity LPs but was never really gone on the sound of them. The more I read about half-speed mastering I could see why I didn't like them. I have compared about a dozen originals to the MoFi equivalents and it is night and day, some of them are really bad. If you play an original copy of Little Feat's Waiting for Columbus (mastered by Doug Sax at The Mastering Lab) to the MoFi version (which is supposed to be the holy grail), I think your jaw would drop. Half-speed mastering just does something odd to the bass, you know when your speakers aren't in phase and the bass disappears, that is what it is like.

Miles Showell (Abbey Road Mastering) is doing a lot of half-speed mastering lately and he 'claims' that half-speed mastering works betters when high-res files are used rather than tape and he goes on about how it just doesn't sound right with tape but that he can correct the anomalies using high-res files.

I read some comments about problems with half-speed mastering as well by a respected mastering engineer who claimed that two-thirds speed mastering addressed the issue. Wonder has anyone on here tried releases with that process?

[Cyndale]

I don't know about two-thirds mastering but the latest craze is one-step mastering by Mobile Fidelity. The cost of this 'hidden' pleasure is around €150! I don't think I will rock to that tune.

Last weekend I picked up a 12'' single of Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer for €1, boy does the bass shake the house.

[Rob]

I don't know about two-thirds mastering but the latest craze is one-step mastering by Mobile Fidelity. The cost of this 'hidden' pleasure is around €150! I don't think I will rock to that tune.

Last weekend I picked up a 12'' single of Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer for €1, boy does the bass shake the house.

I tried to search for the interview which mentioned two-thirds speed but couldn't find it - interesting remark here however by the famous Bob Ludwig http://tapeop.com/interviews/105/bob-ludwig/

Half-speed cutting was a technique apparently developed in Europe to get better high-frequency response, back when cutter heads were not able to withstand the heat that high frequencies create on the coils. The problem is that the RIAA cutting and playback curve [which radically changes the frequency response to work on vinyl] is not a simple curve. When cutting at half-speed, one has to re-adjust the RIAA curve to make it play back correctly at full speed. Halving it involves adding extra, strong, equalization in the chain, which adds ringing and all the other bad things equalizers can do, especially in the analog world. Also, if a cutter head was mechanically flat down to 25 Hz at normal speed, at half-speed it effectively is only good to 50 Hz when played back at normal speed, so it is definitely a trade-off. In 1968, when I worked at A&R Recording Studios with Phil Ramone we did half-speed cutting on some projects where the trade-off was worth it. The Neumann SX 15 cutter head wasn't very linear. After the invention of the Neumann SX 68 cutter head, which was so much better in every way, there seemed to be no more big advantages to half-speed cutting; certainly no longer a clear advantage. There were several places in the USA that cut using the JVC system. When quad collapsed and was no longer used I figured they promoted it as an audiophile product. They had to do something with those lathes! Again, half-speed cutting is simply another engineering tool. Do an A/B test of half-speed and normal cuts, and decide which sounds better!

[Cyndale]

Thanks for the link to the Bob Ludwig Interview, will have a good read of it later.

Just stuck on The Gin Blossoms New Miserable Experience LP, used to have it on tape and played it to death in the car. Just loved all the US bands from around that period.

Also played Jackson Browne's I'm Alive LP (very rare German-only release) which I also had on tape.

[cybot]

Born: November 27, 1942, Seattle, Washington, United States
Died: September 18, 1970, Kensington, London, United Kingdom

[Rob]

Found a weird studio version of Red House on the dodgy Hendrix/Lonnie Youngblood 'Gold' album but no idea from the notes when it is from - basically it uses the lyrics of Bleeding Heart and the opening riff of Crossroads but is pretty good overall - must be a contender for oddest version of Red House.

[cybot]

Found a weird studio version of Red House on the dodgy Hendrix/Lonnie Youngblood 'Gold' album but no idea from the notes when it is from - basically it uses the lyrics of Bleeding Heart and the opening riff of Crossroads but is pretty good overall - must be a contender for oddest version of Red House.

That sounds weird alright :)

[cybot]

Second vinyl edition with three instead of two albums. Proof that 'ol George could more than do that guitar thing. One of my favourite Beatles album.....

[tweber]

Born: November 27, 1942, Seattle, Washington, United States
Died: September 18, 1970, Kensington, London, United Kingdom

You always remember Dermot. Cheers!

[cybot]

Nice one Shane :) Wonder what he's doing now?