Production/Mastering issues

[Gedneil Alpeart]

QUOTE (Flying Finn @ Jun 5 2012, 05:52 PM)

I don't know if the over compression is the problem. I think Alex uses too much distortion and there may be too much overdubbing. Well and sometimes I really don't hear what Geddy sings. I really miss the drum mixing they used in 70s and early 80s. I liked how the drums were loud and crystal clear. Now you don't hear them that clearly. But I'm still waiting the Fanpack to arrive and these are only minor complaints. The album sounds mostly great.

I agree on the more crystal drum sounds of 70s and 80s.....miss that.

[CrossedSignals]

QUOTE (troutman @ Jun 5 2012, 03:55 PM)

As much as I love the songs on Presto. I hated the production side. It better not sound like that.

Don't worry.... production-wise, this album sounds about as different from Presto as you could possibly imagine.

[D3strukt]

Muddy mix? just boost the higher frequencies a bit. Problem solved.

[FountainOfSyrinx]

QUOTE (CrossedSignals @ Jun 5 2012, 05:46 PM)

QUOTE (quickfree @ Jun 5 2012, 03:45 PM) And here we go.. I bet this thread gets to 10 pages, at least.   Place your bets now. <5

[troutman]

QUOTE (CrossedSignals @ Jun 5 2012, 03:01 PM)

QUOTE (troutman @ Jun 5 2012, 03:55 PM) As much as I love the songs on Presto. I hated the production side. It better not sound like that.   Don't worry.... production-wise, this album sounds about as different from Presto as you could possibly imagine. Thanks,   Big relief!

[Terrapin]

QUOTE (Flying Finn @ Jun 5 2012, 10:52 PM)

I don't know if the over compression is the problem. I think Alex uses too much distortion and there may be too much overdubbing. Well and sometimes I really don't hear what Geddy sings. I really miss the drum mixing they used in 70s and early 80s. I liked how the drums were loud and crystal clear. Now you don't hear them that clearly. But I'm still waiting the Fanpack to arrive and these are only minor complaints. The album sounds mostly great.

I agree... IMHO I think that Alex has lost his way a bit in terms of guitar sounds and structure. He is going for a complete balls out, double tracked print and IMHO it just aint working. Maybe its Nick with his Foo Fighter production technique?

 

Whatever the case, it isn't working for me.

 

Modern production/mastering techniques be damned for a second, I'm struggling to hear the bloody vocals for the ambient noise!

 

Furthermore, Neil's kit sounds like its struggling to make its way out of a microwave popcorn bag.

[Gedneil Alpeart]

QUOTE (Terrapin @ Jun 5 2012, 06:15 PM)

QUOTE (Flying Finn @ Jun 5 2012, 10:52 PM) I don't know if the over compression is the problem. I think Alex uses too much distortion and there may be too much overdubbing. Well and sometimes I really don't hear what Geddy sings. I really miss the drum mixing they used in 70s and early 80s. I liked how the drums were loud and crystal clear. Now you don't hear them that clearly. But I'm still waiting the Fanpack to arrive and these are only minor complaints. The album sounds mostly great. I agree... IMHO I think that Alex has lost his way a bit in terms of guitar sounds and structure. He is going for a complete balls out, double tracked print and IMHO it just aint working. Maybe its Nick with his Foo Fighter production technique?   Whatever the case, it isn't working for me.   Modern production/mastering techniques be damned for a second, I'm struggling to hear the bloody vocals for the ambient noise!   Furthermore, Neil's kit sounds like its struggling to make its way out of a microwave popcorn bag. I actually hear a wide range of guitar textures on this album.

[Terrapin]

QUOTE (Gedneil Alpeart @ Jun 5 2012, 11:23 PM)

QUOTE (Terrapin @ Jun 5 2012, 06:15 PM) QUOTE (Flying Finn @ Jun 5 2012, 10:52 PM) I don't know if the over compression is the problem. I think Alex uses too much distortion and there may be too much overdubbing. Well and sometimes I really don't hear what Geddy sings. I really miss the drum mixing they used in 70s and early 80s. I liked how the drums were loud and crystal clear. Now you don't hear them that clearly. But I'm still waiting the Fanpack to arrive and these are only minor complaints. The album sounds mostly great. I agree... IMHO I think that Alex has lost his way a bit in terms of guitar sounds and structure. He is going for a complete balls out, double tracked print and IMHO it just aint working. Maybe its Nick with his Foo Fighter production technique?   Whatever the case, it isn't working for me.   Modern production/mastering techniques be damned for a second, I'm struggling to hear the bloody vocals for the ambient noise!   Furthermore, Neil's kit sounds like its struggling to make its way out of a microwave popcorn bag. I actually hear a wide range of guitar textures on this album. Indeed there are. Unfortunately, they are simply not DEFINED due to the actual production/mastering process.   Again, this is is just my opinion.

[Lerxster]

QUOTE (Terrapin @ Jun 5 2012, 06:28 PM)

QUOTE (Gedneil Alpeart @ Jun 5 2012, 11:23 PM) QUOTE (Terrapin @ Jun 5 2012, 06:15 PM) QUOTE (Flying Finn @ Jun 5 2012, 10:52 PM) I don't know if the over compression is the problem. I think Alex uses too much distortion and there may be too much overdubbing. Well and sometimes I really don't hear what Geddy sings. I really miss the drum mixing they used in 70s and early 80s. I liked how the drums were loud and crystal clear. Now you don't hear them that clearly. But I'm still waiting the Fanpack to arrive and these are only minor complaints. The album sounds mostly great. I agree... IMHO I think that Alex has lost his way a bit in terms of guitar sounds and structure. He is going for a complete balls out, double tracked print and IMHO it just aint working. Maybe its Nick with his Foo Fighter production technique?   Whatever the case, it isn't working for me.   Modern production/mastering techniques be damned for a second, I'm struggling to hear the bloody vocals for the ambient noise!   Furthermore, Neil's kit sounds like its struggling to make its way out of a microwave popcorn bag. I actually hear a wide range of guitar textures on this album. Indeed there are. Unfortunately, they are simply not DEFINED due to the actual production/mastering process.   Again, this is is just my opinion. Can you tell us what system you are playing the factory made cd on?

[Terrapin]

QUOTE (Lerxster @ Jun 5 2012, 11:33 PM)

QUOTE (Terrapin @ Jun 5 2012, 06:28 PM) QUOTE (Gedneil Alpeart @ Jun 5 2012, 11:23 PM) QUOTE (Terrapin @ Jun 5 2012, 06:15 PM) QUOTE (Flying Finn @ Jun 5 2012, 10:52 PM) I don't know if the over compression is the problem. I think Alex uses too much distortion and there may be too much overdubbing. Well and sometimes I really don't hear what Geddy sings. I really miss the drum mixing they used in 70s and early 80s. I liked how the drums were loud and crystal clear. Now you don't hear them that clearly. But I'm still waiting the Fanpack to arrive and these are only minor complaints. The album sounds mostly great. I agree... IMHO I think that Alex has lost his way a bit in terms of guitar sounds and structure. He is going for a complete balls out, double tracked print and IMHO it just aint working. Maybe its Nick with his Foo Fighter production technique?   Whatever the case, it isn't working for me.   Modern production/mastering techniques be damned for a second, I'm struggling to hear the bloody vocals for the ambient noise!   Furthermore, Neil's kit sounds like its struggling to make its way out of a microwave popcorn bag. I actually hear a wide range of guitar textures on this album. Indeed there are. Unfortunately, they are simply not DEFINED due to the actual production/mastering process.   Again, this is is just my opinion. Can you tell us what system you are playing the factory made cd on? Yes of course,   There are several...   My Genelec 824 studio monitors, Yamaha 5.1 Surround system, iPod through Sennheiser HD-50 head phones.   Sound is so "squeezed" that it is almost beyond definition.   Again, perhaps its just me, an old fart with old ears, but I tend to like my music with a tad of compression as opposed to compression with a tad of music

[samurai1993]

QUOTE (phoenix87 @ Jun 5 2012, 05:43 PM)

Clockwork angels sounds perfect to me.

Not in its entirety. In the bluesy section of CA(song) I can barely understand the lyrics, but the rest of the album sounds really great.

Edited June 6, 2012 by samurai1993

[Lerxster]

QUOTE (Terrapin @ Jun 5 2012, 07:39 PM)

QUOTE (Lerxster @ Jun 5 2012, 11:33 PM) QUOTE (Terrapin @ Jun 5 2012, 06:28 PM) QUOTE (Gedneil Alpeart @ Jun 5 2012, 11:23 PM) QUOTE (Terrapin @ Jun 5 2012, 06:15 PM) QUOTE (Flying Finn @ Jun 5 2012, 10:52 PM) I don't know if the over compression is the problem. I think Alex uses too much distortion and there may be too much overdubbing. Well and sometimes I really don't hear what Geddy sings. I really miss the drum mixing they used in 70s and early 80s. I liked how the drums were loud and crystal clear. Now you don't hear them that clearly. But I'm still waiting the Fanpack to arrive and these are only minor complaints. The album sounds mostly great. I agree... IMHO I think that Alex has lost his way a bit in terms of guitar sounds and structure. He is going for a complete balls out, double tracked print and IMHO it just aint working. Maybe its Nick with his Foo Fighter production technique?   Whatever the case, it isn't working for me.   Modern production/mastering techniques be damned for a second, I'm struggling to hear the bloody vocals for the ambient noise!   Furthermore, Neil's kit sounds like its struggling to make its way out of a microwave popcorn bag. I actually hear a wide range of guitar textures on this album. Indeed there are. Unfortunately, they are simply not DEFINED due to the actual production/mastering process.   Again, this is is just my opinion. Can you tell us what system you are playing the factory made cd on? Yes of course,   There are several...   My Genelec 824 studio monitors, Yamaha 5.1 Surround system, iPod through Sennheiser HD-50 head phones.   Sound is so "squeezed" that it is almost beyond definition.   Again, perhaps its just me, an old fart with old ears, but I tend to like my music with a tad of compression as opposed to compression with a tad of music Well alright then. Hard to believe we'll be let down, as good as S&A sounded and we have the same team on board, but very few have heard the CA factory cd. Well find out soon how many agree with you.

[canadianice]

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Jun 5 2012, 05:50 PM)

QUOTE (CrossedSignals @ Jun 5 2012, 03:46 PM) QUOTE (quickfree @ Jun 5 2012, 03:45 PM) And here we go.. I bet this thread gets to 10 pages, at least.   Place your bets now. 15 Sick of this bs,bunch of BORN MOUNERS

[wilb1972]

QUOTE

Well, I was wondering how long it would take someone to bitch about the waveform and the compression. A day. It took a single day. Congratulations. The album sounds great. The music is awesome. The vocals are not too far down in the mix. If you're an audiophile that isn't happy unless everything is 100% perfect, well... that's you. That's not 99.9% of the rest of us. I swear, "over compressed" is the most overblown thing I've ever heard about modern music. Honestly, it's beginning to sound like the kind of thing people say when they want to appear smart about audio production or they're just looking for something to be contrary about.

 

 

This.

[MCM]

QUOTE (Gedneil Alpeart @ Jun 5 2012, 06:00 PM)

QUOTE (Flying Finn @ Jun 5 2012, 05:52 PM) I don't know if the over compression is the problem. I think Alex uses too much distortion and there may be too much overdubbing. Well and sometimes I really don't hear what Geddy sings. I really miss the drum mixing they used in 70s and early 80s. I liked how the drums were loud and crystal clear. Now you don't hear them that clearly. But I'm still waiting the Fanpack to arrive and these are only minor complaints. The album sounds mostly great. I agree on the more crystal drum sounds of 70s and 80s.....miss that. If only drums would always sound like they do on MP.. what a perfect world that would be.. the drums on that album are perfection.

[ThinkingBig]

Yes the sound quality of download songs is low.

 

Might we suspend further discussion of the "mix" until we actually hear it as intended via the CD.

[CrossedSignals]

QUOTE (canadianice @ Jun 5 2012, 06:22 PM)

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Jun 5 2012, 05:50 PM) QUOTE (CrossedSignals @ Jun 5 2012, 03:46 PM) QUOTE (quickfree @ Jun 5 2012, 03:45 PM) And here we go.. I bet this thread gets to 10 pages, at least.   Place your bets now. 15 Sick of this bs,bunch of BORN MOUNERS What's a mouner? Did you mean moaner? No offense buddy, but you do your fair share of moaning around here. *mwah*

[Mr. Henry Gale]

I said this in another thread. But a lot of audiophiles on the private torrent sites think this is a 128 transcoded up to 192. That's pretty bad quality. Still, while I think a high quality rip will clear things up and elevate certain qualities - it can't do miracles. Chances are, some of the things people are complaining about are always going to be there. They were production/mixing/mastering decisions. And no quality rip is going to fix that.

 

That said, my only complaint at this point is: bloated/distorted bass.

 

I'm okay with the rest of the album from a production/mixing stand point. But I think the bass is way too muddy sounding in parts.

Edited June 6, 2012 by Mr. Henry Gale

[UltimoGuitarist]

Wow seriously? If anything I find his vocals are too overpowering on this album. I can BARELY hear the guitar work over the mass amount of middle eastern sounding vocals.

[The K Man]

Hmmm, I guess many of us will find out in less than a week now.

 

Like I said in the other thread, the heaviest moments sound loud and noisy on the download, and I hope it isn't that way on the real CD. The best example I can give is when that heavy riff first comes in in the title track around the 31-second mark, which just sounds like a loud wall of noise coming at you. I am hoping that sounds better on the CD.

[Freeze]

I received my fan-pack yesterday, and let me say that the difference in sound quality on the actual cd to the leaked mp3s is huge imo. Huge! Although the overall sound is loud, I found it to be very good on the cd.

[SchemingDemon]

QUOTE (Freeze @ Jun 6 2012, 02:27 AM)

I received my fan-pack yesterday, and let me say that the difference in sound quality on the actual cd to the leaked mp3s is huge imo. Huge! Although the overall sound is loud, I found it to be very good on the cd.

Glad to hear!

[Gompers]

QUOTE (wilb1972 @ Jun 5 2012, 06:21 PM)

ditto

Edited June 6, 2012 by Gompers

[lifeson90]

i think ged's vocals sound more than great on this album, particularly good when they've been played around with

[rushgoober]

QUOTE (Freeze @ Jun 6 2012, 12:27 AM)

I received my fan-pack yesterday, and let me say that the difference in sound quality on the actual cd to the leaked mp3s is huge imo. Huge! Although the overall sound is loud, I found it to be very good on the cd.

This is very encouraging to hear!