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is it just me, new Steely Dan cd's too brite snare

I've had this debate on a Steely Dan webpage

several of the latest dan albums
Two Against Nature and Everything Must Go
and the new Donald Fagen album
seem to be recorded beautifully, all the nuances, close mixed horns, incredibly lush mix

everything perfect except for the snare drum which is way up in the mix and headache inducing

it isn't my sytem and it's worse on Two Against Nature
especially the title track and West of Hollywood
it's so bad I have to listen in the next room

EMG recorded in analog is a little less bright
and Don's new spectacular Morph the Cat (MtC) has some hot snare in the mix

the last two albums feature Keith Carlock who is an incredible drummer, but Don has him in tight snare timekeeping with little room for fills on most of MtC

has Fagen lost his upper frequency end of his hearing?
is he mixing things hot for jumpy mid fi reproduction?
or am I hallucinating?
128x128audiotomb
kman0911
27 posts
 
Onhwy61-Thanks for the heads up on NIGHTFLY!!. I must of been living in a cave to not have had this in my collection. Great sound, not good, GREAT! Really enjoyed listening to it today. Thanks Kevin
audiotomb's avatar
audiotomb OP
1,112 posts
 
kevin - you didn't own NIGHTFLY

it's getting a remix soon for a 3 cd compilation with Morph and Kama

the dvd-a is nice too
kman0911
27 posts
 
Audiotomb-I did read a post here about the quality of NIGHTFLY on DVD-A and will have to try it.Loved the mix on this disc. Being a huge Dan Fan I'm sorry I missed DON at Westbury here in NY. I think I've been to almost every Dan show around NY in the past 10 years. The compilation sounds like a possibility. Any thoughts on Morph? Thanks for the Info-Kevin
ghostrider45
449 posts
 
One other thing - Becker and Fagan love tight rhythms and are big fans of drum machines (often augmented by human drummers). 2AN uses drum machines on almost every cut. Gaucho, Nightfly, and Kamakiriad also use them extensively. I need to listen to Morph again to see if this is the case here. Drum machine snares tend to be pretty bright and might account for your perception.
24phun
56 posts
 
I am a lonnnngggg time Dan fan, and I haven't cared much for the recording of the past two. The snare is just the start.
Not to hijack, but I'll bet most of you would like Steve Winwood's recent "About Time" on SCI Fidelity. I have turned many Audiophile heads with this one!
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