ak2112 Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 I bought the Sector 1 Boxset and borrowed the other 2 from a friend of mine for comparison. I pretty much got Sector 1 for the Fly By Night DVD-A, but was curious to see if they had done a better job of remastering than the god-awful 97 remasters. All I can say is that I'm tremendously let down by this whole effort. While not as quite as loud as the 97 remasters, most of the Sector CD's are brickwalled trainwrecks and the packaging is cheap and not befitting the legacy of such a great band. I have heard that the band had direct input on this boxset so I am mystified why they've allowed such a piss poor mastering and packaging mess to come to the market. Every one of the albums in the Sector 1 boxset has sections of clipping and there is almost zero dynamic range. I need to do a more detailed run through with Exact Audio Copy to see what all the levels are, but I can tell you that if you're looking for the best sounding versions of Rush's catalog, the Sector CD's are most certainly NOT the ones to get. The Japanese 1st release 25.8P or 32.8P versions blow the Sector CD's out of the water as do the MFSL Gold CD's. I'm convinced that Rush has thrown in their lot with Rich Chycki and if this is the case, nooone should expect any audiophile quality releases from our favorite band. The 5.1 mixes are interesting and are fun at times to listen to, but again, there seems to be an almost complete lack of attention to dynamic range and envolping mixing on the surround sound albums. And why the hell they decided to only release three albums on DVD-A 5.1 is beyond my understanding. If you want to hear what a proper 5.1 surround mix in high-rez sounds like, check out the new Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here SACD. That album will blow you away! These Sector sets will most certainly not and this reality fills me with sadness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perchance to Dream Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 I was under the impression that the band didn't have anything to do with this box set? I thought I heard Alex say that in a recent radio interview. Maybe I misheard him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ak2112 Posted December 24, 2011 Author Share Posted December 24, 2011 QUOTE (Perchance to Dream @ Dec 24 2011, 05:47 PM) I was under the impression that the band didn't have anything to do with this box set? I thought I heard Alex say that in a recent radio interview. Maybe I misheard him. Huh, I'd be interested to hear that interview since I could have sworn I saw a quote from Geddy where he mentioned they were involved in all phases of this release. For sure Rich Chycki was involved in the remastering/remixing process and he's the bands right hand man these days along with their producer. I would actually love to hear that I was wrong about them being involved as that would mean they didnt sign off on this sonic disaster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perchance to Dream Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 QUOTE (ak2112 @ Dec 24 2011, 03:56 PM) QUOTE (Perchance to Dream @ Dec 24 2011, 05:47 PM) I was under the impression that the band didn't have anything to do with this box set? I thought I heard Alex say that in a recent radio interview. Maybe I misheard him. Huh, I'd be interested to hear that interview since I could have sworn I saw a quote from Geddy where he mentioned they were involved in all phases of this release. For sure Rich Chycki was involved in the remastering/remixing process and he's the bands right hand man these days along with their producer. I would actually love to hear that I was wrong about them being involved as that would mean they didnt sign off on this sonic disaster! It was posted here a while back. I'll try to find it and link it up for you. Like I said, I could be wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ak2112 Posted December 24, 2011 Author Share Posted December 24, 2011 Man, I hope you ARE right! I've never wanted to be proven wrong so badly in my life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perchance to Dream Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Well, I misunderstood what he said in the interview. So, unfortunately, it looks like you're correct. When Alex mentioned that "the powers that be" were working on it and their hearts were into making the new record, I took that as they weren't involved. I blame the booze. Could have been the weed, though. Not sure. Here's the interview: Planet Rock Interview Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zanadoo Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Alex definitely said in an interview he had no idea what was going on with it and that they should ask Neil or something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tas7 Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Son bought me Sector3. Not sure about Signals, but Power Windows sounds better. Will need more time to digest but expected more from the dynamic range. As a musician I would like to hear what Signals sounds like mixed but unmastered because whenever my bands music has been mastered I have often preferred listening to the raw mixes,too much compression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielmclark Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 The most interesting thing about Sectors isn't the music, the remastering, the packaging or anything else to do with the sets. It's that there are a few people that come in here claiming that they are a travesty, that the band sucks for going along with them, that the producers and engineers suck, that they are brickwalled so badly that you can barely hear certain instruments or that it's just garbage... ...and yet there are tons of people reporting exactly the opposite. That it's not brickwalled. That individual instruments have never been clearer. That they sound better than almost any previous release (except for certain foreign pressings, depending on who you ask). Yep... sure is interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drbirdsong Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 QUOTE (danielmclark @ Dec 24 2011, 09:39 PM) The most interesting thing about Sectors isn't the music, the remastering, the packaging or anything else to do with the sets. It's that there are a few people that come in here claiming that they are a travesty, that the band sucks for going along with them, that the producers and engineers suck, that they are brickwalled so badly that you can barely hear certain instruments or that it's just garbage... ...and yet there are tons of people reporting exactly the opposite. That it's not brickwalled. That individual instruments have never been clearer. That they sound better than almost any previous release (except for certain foreign pressings, depending on who you ask). Yep... sure is interesting. This. They sound better than anything Mercury has put out before. You can make the argument that the vinyl records sound better, but Geddy's bass rules on these remasters and all of them sound better to me than any version I have ever owned except for the gold discs. Try investing in good stereo system and quit listening on your computer or, God forbid, iPod. Yeah, I know that last sentance will get me yelled at, but really, steal the master tapes and listen to those. Maybe that will satisfy some folks or maybe they will demand that the band fix those too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tas7 Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Just finished listening to Signals,the guitar and keyboard appear to have been pushed further right and left in the mix. I've done that with our music as it gives more clarity to the highs and lows but loses some of the guts in the middle. It sounds more like The Police, I think Alex had way too much flanger/phaser on his guitar,I've done this, sounds good at the time but ends up muffling the sound. In fact I can get Alex's sound using distortion mixed with stereo chorus, flanger and delay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tas7 Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Grace Under Pressure seems to be slower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tas7 Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Signals DVD is awesome but the sound signal from the disc is low so have to crank my amp up loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todem Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 (edited) I love the Sector's. I think most of them are the best sounding versions of these classic albums. MFSL Signals is still my fav as is the MFSL of Permanent Waves. However I prefer the Sectors 2112 and MP over the MFSL. Signals 5.1 is a load of fun to listen to. It is like a brand new album. Hearing Alex's guitars front and center is wild and at the same time really weird. Then I listen to the Hi Res DVD in stereo of Signals and wow it does rival the MFSL. Hold Your Fire and Power Windows sound amazing, Big bottom end now and you can really feel Geddy's bass and moog/bass pedals. They rumble on my bose in the car and my high end home set up. I don't get the hate. Edited December 25, 2011 by Todem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tas7 Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Listening to ASOH and the live versions of the Hold Your Fire songs are miles better than the studio album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tas7 Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Power Windows is gargantuan, now there's a word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ak2112 Posted December 26, 2011 Author Share Posted December 26, 2011 QUOTE (drbirdsong @ Dec 24 2011, 09:52 PM) QUOTE (danielmclark @ Dec 24 2011, 09:39 PM) The most interesting thing about Sectors isn't the music, the remastering, the packaging or anything else to do with the sets. It's that there are a few people that come in here claiming that they are a travesty, that the band sucks for going along with them, that the producers and engineers suck, that they are brickwalled so badly that you can barely hear certain instruments or that it's just garbage... ...and yet there are tons of people reporting exactly the opposite. That it's not brickwalled. That individual instruments have never been clearer. That they sound better than almost any previous release (except for certain foreign pressings, depending on who you ask). Yep... sure is interesting. This. They sound better than anything Mercury has put out before. You can make the argument that the vinyl records sound better, but Geddy's bass rules on these remasters and all of them sound better to me than any version I have ever owned except for the gold discs. Try investing in good stereo system and quit listening on your computer or, God forbid, iPod. Yeah, I know that last sentance will get me yelled at, but really, steal the master tapes and listen to those. Maybe that will satisfy some folks or maybe they will demand that the band fix those too. I listen to my music on a $20K system so I dont think that the statements I made about the audio quality of this boxset are related to my equipment. These recordings ARE brickwalled. Run any one of them through some wavform software and it will be obvious. There's no hate in my comments, I'm just disappointed with the quality. They could have done MUCH better and I just dont understand the lack of quality control with such a great musical legacy. All of this is just my opinion though. If you like them, then thats all that matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordgt99 Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 (edited) QUOTE (danielmclark @ Dec 24 2011, 09:39 PM) The most interesting thing about Sectors isn't the music, the remastering, the packaging or anything else to do with the sets. It's that there are a few people that come in here claiming that they are a travesty, that the band sucks for going along with them, that the producers and engineers suck, that they are brickwalled so badly that you can barely hear certain instruments or that it's just garbage... ...and yet there are tons of people reporting exactly the opposite. That it's not brickwalled. That individual instruments have never been clearer. That they sound better than almost any previous release (except for certain foreign pressings, depending on who you ask). Yep... sure is interesting. There seems to be a very small group that are pro-original cd/anti-remasters cds. Read the same crap over on a Kiss forum that I hole up at. You'd have to be a little insane to think the original batch of Kiss cds sounded better than the remasters. Their catalog wasn't given the best care on the first batch of cd. Both Alive cds had spots of what I can best describe as a terrible screeching sound. But then you also have some who think a vinyl rip by someone who knows what they're doing can't sound better than a cd. Got a few rips that to me say otherwise. I just get tired of reading that the 97 Rush remasters are the worst as if it's fact. Edited December 26, 2011 by fordgt99 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ak2112 Posted December 26, 2011 Author Share Posted December 26, 2011 QUOTE (fordgt99 @ Dec 25 2011, 09:48 PM) QUOTE (danielmclark @ Dec 24 2011, 09:39 PM) The most interesting thing about Sectors isn't the music, the remastering, the packaging or anything else to do with the sets. It's that there are a few people that come in here claiming that they are a travesty, that the band sucks for going along with them, that the producers and engineers suck, that they are brickwalled so badly that you can barely hear certain instruments or that it's just garbage... ...and yet there are tons of people reporting exactly the opposite. That it's not brickwalled. That individual instruments have never been clearer. That they sound better than almost any previous release (except for certain foreign pressings, depending on who you ask). Yep... sure is interesting. There seems to be a very small group that are pro-original cd/anti-remasters cds. Read the same crap over on a Kiss forum that I hole up at. You'd have to be a little insane to think the original batch of Kiss cds sounded better than the remasters. Their catalog wasn't given the best care on the first batch of cd. Both Alive cds had spots of what I can best describe as a terrible screeching sound. But then you also have some who think a vinyl rip by someone who knows what they're doing can't sound better than a cd. Got a few rips that to me say otherwise. I just get tired of reading that the 97 Rush remasters are the worst as if it's fact. I havent heard the original Kiss CD's, although I do have the remastered Destroyer CD and the new Japanese SHM-SACD of Destroyer as well. I think both sound pretty good, especially the SACD. However, I've spent a LOT of time listening to all of the Rush remasters (both the 97's and the new Sector CD's). I'm not going to sit and state that its FACT that the originals sound better as that is a matter of personal taste. What I can say is that to my ears and on my system, they sound a world better than the remasters, especially the Japanese 1st pressings and the MFSL. Also, one thing that IS fact, is that the remasters are louder and have much less dynamic range than the original CD's. To me, that is a flaw of the remasters that cannot be overcome. You cannot crank the remasters like you can the original and MFSL CD's without creating distortion. The 97 remasters especially are brickwalled and are just too damn loud for me. They might sound great coming out of an ipod, but I do most of my listening on my home stereo system and the remasters sound like absolute crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tas7 Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 I must agree with you to an extent, trying to puzzle out the DVD of Signal which has cobbled together different takes although love being able to hear Alex Lifeson's solo on The Analog Kid. Nothing comes close to the sound of the 12 inch singles, I remember the guitar on the 12 inch single of New World Man being some clear and definitive. Same with that end guitar shriek on Subdivisions,it really punched through. I am heavily influenced by Alex Lifeson playing a similar style of guitar and can generated that dense guitar sound with distortion,chorus,flanger and delay. To make the sound more definitive I found that I had to pan it wider and I'm sure that this is what has happened the drawback is that the guts tend to disappear. So Signals sounds more like a Police album by pushing the guitar and Keyboards further away from each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Sawyer Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 (edited) Wow. I keep refraining from saying this, but wow. Really? I assume most people in this thread, from your posts, are 'audiophiles', and man, are you guys crazy! I mean, spending that much money, rebuying every re-release - isn't once enough? How much can you spend before the audio quality becomes more important than the music? The one thing I almost never see in the post of any audiophile (Amazon reviews, etc) is a real detailed review of the music. Honestly, will bad quality ruin an album for you? This morning, I got CoS in my stocking, I believe it is the 'infamous' 97 remaster. I burned it to my iPod - 192 kb/s, and it sound FABULOUS in my nice pair of Sony headphones! I did everything 'wrong': lossless, 192, iPod, 97 remaster, and I am still enjoying the album and amazed at the audio quality! I may come across as a bit whiny, but I seriously don't understand why the 'quality' is so important? Is the song good? That's all I care about... Edited December 26, 2011 by Tommy Sawyer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielmclark Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 QUOTE (Tommy Sawyer @ Dec 25 2011, 11:45 PM) Honestly, will bad quality ruin an album for you? Yes. Sorry, no further explanation from the usually long-winded Daniel. Just yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WCFIELDS Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 QUOTE (danielmclark @ Dec 26 2011, 12:01 AM) QUOTE (Tommy Sawyer @ Dec 25 2011, 11:45 PM) Honestly, will bad quality ruin an album for you? Yes. Sorry, no further explanation from the usually long-winded Daniel. Just yes. same here, absolutely..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Sawyer Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 QUOTE (WCFIELDS @ Dec 26 2011, 01:04 AM) QUOTE (danielmclark @ Dec 26 2011, 12:01 AM) QUOTE (Tommy Sawyer @ Dec 25 2011, 11:45 PM) Honestly, will bad quality ruin an album for you? Yes. Sorry, no further explanation from the usually long-winded Daniel. Just yes. same here, absolutely..... Didn't know the answer was so short. I still just can't understand it! I'm not trying to be mean or anything, I'm just very perplexed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielmclark Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 QUOTE (Tommy Sawyer @ Dec 26 2011, 12:11 AM) QUOTE (WCFIELDS @ Dec 26 2011, 01:04 AM) QUOTE (danielmclark @ Dec 26 2011, 12:01 AM) QUOTE (Tommy Sawyer @ Dec 25 2011, 11:45 PM) Honestly, will bad quality ruin an album for you? Yes. Sorry, no further explanation from the usually long-winded Daniel. Just yes. same here, absolutely..... Didn't know the answer was so short. I still just can't understand it! I'm not trying to be mean or anything, I'm just very perplexed. I know you're not trying to be a jerk or anything about it. It's cool. It really comes down to... if the recording sounds like garbage, then what difference does it make how good the song is? Because if it sounds like garbage, then you're not really going to hear how great it is. It might sound *good* but it's not going to sound *great*. Things will be buried in the mix, it might be harder to hear certain elements, there might be static or high-end buzz introduced into the recording... all kinds of stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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