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Clockwork Angels Sound Test: Verdict?

Alex

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Alex

Alex

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Posted (edited)

Verdict: Mediocre

 

Let me throw this on the front line: I'm a vinyl guy, through and through. I can talk for hours about why vinyl sounds better than digital, why music sounds better through a system than just earphones etc. etc. etc.

 

But that's not what this thread is about.

 

I don't come into this area of TRF as much as I used to, so please excuse the repeat topic if it is one. However, I just wanted to share my thoughts about the Clockwork Angels album purely on a sound level.

 

Sonically, I'm a bit disappointed. I have a really good system, and vinyl player, so of course I was extremely excited when my brand new Clockwork Angels vinyl came from Amazon! Ah the glory! Beautiful color, the cover looked amazing, and the vinyl looked pure. Black as black could be. Untouched.

 

Throw it on the turntable and.........

 

It's mediocre :| it's sounds a bit like it's been recorded in can at certain parts of the album. Other parts just seem like some channels were overloaded during production and mixing, so I can hear it peaking in the background on some layers.

 

Overall, it's better than some other messes that have been released (cough* Vapor Trails cough*) but still.

 

Verdict: :|

Edited by Alex
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The Analog Grownup

The Analog Grownup

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I bought the vinyl and got the flac download as well. The flac files have a dynamic range of 6 and no clipping, but my vinyl sounds much better. Perhaps it has a better dynamic range although I have no way to find out. I haven't had any negative quality wise with my CA vinyl, so maybe there was a bad batch escaping quality control?
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Alex

Alex

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I bought the vinyl and got the flac download as well. The flac files have a dynamic range of 6 and no clipping, but my vinyl sounds much better. Perhaps it has a better dynamic range although I have no way to find out. I haven't had any negative quality wise with my CA vinyl, so maybe there was a bad batch escaping quality control?

 

I can tell that the vinyl itself is producing exactly the sound it should.

 

The issue is the actual way the album Clockwork Angels is mastered itself. The reason I brought up that I had it on vinyl was to reinforce the fact that I chose one of the best ways to listen to music, in terms of quality, and yet I still don't think the album is mixed or mastered very well.

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The Analog Grownup

The Analog Grownup

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Yeah a little more DR wouldn't hurt. However DR isn't directly affecting how loud music is.

 

And it is dense. That's why I prefer vinyl because it seems to smoothe out the rough edges.

Edited by The Analog Grownup
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Smegger68

Smegger68

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The DR database shows Clockwork Angels to have much better dynamic range on vinyl:

 

http://www.dr.loudness-war.info/index.php?search_artist=&search_album=clockwork+angels

 

However, this score is still only average and should not be seen as a good result. Compared to listening to the CD though, the vinyl sounds much more open and clean. Ultimately, the problem is in the mixing as well as the mastering. It's not as bad as Vapor Trails, but it's nothing to be proud of :oops:

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drbirdsong

drbirdsong

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We had this discussion a while back and a younger fan told us that our ears are too old to really get modern mastering. Bull pucky, bring back the hey day of vinyl please. The vinyl of Clockwork Angels is the best sounding version and the HD Tracks is second. It's not a bad sounding CD, but there are issues. I wish I could send the master tapes back in time to Terry Brown and Bob Ludwig. Imagine how that would sound. :wub:
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Alex

Alex

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We had this discussion a while back and a younger fan told us that our ears are too old to really get modern mastering. Bull pucky, bring back the hey day of vinyl please. The vinyl of Clockwork Angels is the best sounding version and the HD Tracks is second. It's not a bad sounding CD, but there are issues. I wish I could send the master tapes back in time to Terry Brown and Bob Ludwig. Imagine how that would sound. :wub:

 

That would make us all cream our pants.

 

When you put Moving Pictures on the turntable right after CA, you feel the difference and how clean it is.

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Alex

Alex

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The sound could be better, but it's such a good album that it's really a very minor sticking point that the sound isn't fantastic. Non-issue for me.

 

I understand what you're saying. I'm an audiophile so these things but me, but it doesn't impede my enjoyment of the album.

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Pound of Obscure

Pound of Obscure

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Verdict: Mediocre

 

Let me throw this on the front line: I'm a vinyl guy, through and through. I can talk for hours about why vinyl sounds better than digital, why music sounds better through a system than just earphones etc. etc. etc.

 

But that's not what this thread is about.

 

I don't come into this area of TRF as much as I used to, so please excuse the repeat topic if it is one. However, I just wanted to share my thoughts about the Clockwork Angels album purely on a sound level.

 

Sonically, I'm a bit disappointed. I have a really good system, and vinyl player, so of course I was extremely excited when my brand new Clockwork Angels vinyl came from Amazon! Ah the glory! Beautiful color, the cover looked amazing, and the vinyl looked pure. Black as black could be. Untouched.

 

Throw it on the turntable and.........

 

It's mediocre :| it's sounds a bit like it's been recorded in can at certain parts of the album. Other parts just seem like some channels were overloaded during production and mixing, so I can hear it peaking in the background on some layers.

 

Overall, it's better than some other messes that have been released (cough* Vapor Trails cough*) but still.

 

Verdict: :|

 

I've been whining about this since it came out. Good album, lousy sound quality. Its a shame.

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coventry

coventry

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The sound could be better, but it's such a good album that it's really a very minor sticking point that the sound isn't fantastic. Non-issue for me.

 

I understand what you're saying. I'm an audiophile so these things but me, but it doesn't impede my enjoyment of the album.

 

I, too, threw on the CA vinyl side by side with the SnA vinyl on my own system (Reference 3A, ARC, Rega). Alex's issues of mastering and density hold water, though CA is still more dynamic than SnA. Still, with some exceptions, i almost never listen to hard rock over my system. I save that for the car cd player. The few tracks on CA that are pleasurable over a good system -- 'The Garden', 'The Wreckers' and, surpiringly, 'Caravan' -- sound wonderful. But there's nothing in the same sonic and dynamic range as Take Five or Getz/Gilberto or, say, Hancock's The River

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losingit2k

losingit2k

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The sound could be better, but it's such a good album that it's really a very minor sticking point that the sound isn't fantastic. Non-issue for me.

 

I understand what you're saying. I'm an audiophile so these things but me, but it doesn't impede my enjoyment of the album.

What's bothering you are the Taurus Pedals (Bass) tones. Thankfully they're not present all the time. :codger:

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rushgoober

rushgoober

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The sound could be better, but it's such a good album that it's really a very minor sticking point that the sound isn't fantastic. Non-issue for me.

 

I understand what you're saying. I'm an audiophile so these things but me, but it doesn't impede my enjoyment of the album.

 

I'm an audiophile too, but it's not bad enough that I'm going to let it interfere with my enjoyment of the album. No, it's not Steely Dan or Pink Floyd or Moving Pictures in terms of sound quality, but it's good enough. Eventually they'll remaster it and it'll sound better.

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Starman.2112

Starman.2112

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I listen to Rush in my media room / Home Theater with a pretty nice setup. I've tuned the room with the use of sound paneling (kill of reflection points) and sound metering. For example, to 7.1 I run dedicated monoblocks (Outlaw) and have almost completed my migration to Paradigm speakers. I can say that CWA is by far my favorite album for sound because it punch's. When you play a song like The Anarchist, the bass at times will rattle my 3rd floor. Slapping in the new 2112 Bluray in Dolby DTS master 5.1 is like heaven although I notice at the beginning there's a lot of "hum" in the recording. Specifically I think its the first album in 15+ years that they brought Neal's drums more to the front and not hidden behind everything else. Edited by Starman.2112
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rushgoober

rushgoober

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I listen to Rush in my media room / Home Theater with a pretty nice setup. I've tuned the room with the use of sound paneling (kill of reflection points) and sound metering. For example, to 7.1 I run dedicated monoblocks (Outlaw) and have almost completed my migration to Paradigm speakers. I can say that CWA is by far my favorite album for sound because it punch's. When you play a song like The Anarchist, the bass at times will rattle my 3rd floor. Slapping in the new 2112 Bluray in Dolby DTS master 5.1 is like heaven although I notice at the beginning there's a lot of "hum" in the recording. Specifically I think its the first album in 15+ years that they brought Neal's drums more to the front and not hidden behind everything else.

 

While my setup isn't probably as nice as you, I actually have an Outlaw receiver and Paradigm speakers as part of my setup! Mine is only 2-channel though.

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drbirdsong

drbirdsong

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Posted

The album is a MASTERPIECE, both Sonically and in it's writing brilliance!. Stpo bitching about it for Christs sake. You knit picking little dweebs really piss me off!!!

 

Who you calling "little" tough guy?

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brunosamppa

brunosamppa

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The Vinyl master was the same of the CD. Truly an mistake, Roadrunner probably not want to pay extra cash for an exclusive vinyl mastering. This highly compressed master dont work good on Vinyl, the inner grooves dont support that shit audio and delivery awful sound, distortions, simbilance and another anomalies. A shame. a tip: with some EQ you get a slight improvement on the CD version / HDtracks, underwhelming. but the number of dinamic range rises slightly.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjxpP2r44Mc

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb4kHLRVy-E

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rushgoober

rushgoober

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While my setup isn't probably as nice as you, I actually have an Outlaw receiver and Paradigm speakers as part of my setup! Mine is only 2-channel though.

Cool! I also run 2 of the 12" Outlaw LFM-EX subs. I love Outlaw.

 

I had a smaller LFM Outlaw sub. It was great, but then I had to send it back when it was under warranty to be repaired. Then it broked down AGAIN and I wasn't under warranty anymore - I tried switching out the fuse, but the fuse would blow immediately every time. I need to get a new sub... Still, I love my Outlaw RR2150 receiver.

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coventry

coventry

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While my setup isn't probably as nice as you, I actually have an Outlaw receiver and Paradigm speakers as part of my setup! Mine is only 2-channel though.

Cool! I also run 2 of the 12" Outlaw LFM-EX subs. I love Outlaw.

 

I have my Rega RP3 table and needle feeding a Rogue Audio Ares pre/phono, lined into an ARC-VS 110 amp powering Reference 3A mm de capo i monitors. No sub, but I don't really need one. CA still sounds congested and compressed, but the bottom and lower mid-ends are liquidy and syrupy. There's clipping towards the higher end, but that could also be my room. CA still sounds better on vinyl than SnA.

 

I mean, it's no ECM-label recording or anything like that, but it'll do for a hard-rock recording.

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