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Steely Dan UHQR

There is a great interview with audio engineer Bernie Grundman on the new UHQR album "Aja". At $150 it better be amazing. He talks about how they had to modify the sound of albums in the past so they would play on crappy turntables and how this album, at 45rpm, is designed for the best turntables and cartridges. He also speaks about how the "Dan" gang wanted to use their own speakers to listen to the master and not Bernie's. (Wish he had called out the speakers) But let me ask you this, can a sound engineer with 80 year old ears (born 16 December 1943), have the hearing to engineering a UHQR album to audiophile standards......I know my hearing is shot due to what I did in my 20's with Rock n Roll sound levels....At 70, no way could my ears be trusted for such a task.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGLFTm6jMrY

rbertalotto
tubegb's avatar
tubegb
189 posts
 

+1 tablejockey, recommending AB 1006 stamper.

jayctoy's avatar
jayctoy
4,013 posts
 

I ordered the sacd and I preorder Gaucho uhqr.

bigtwin's avatar
bigtwin
1,181 posts
 

I listened to the entire interview, and while there was a reference to TT's, I don't believe he was saying they tuned down the quality due to poor quality equipment.  He said they didn't go to extremes and produce a groove that was only readable by the very top end of audiophile equipment.  I would think that philosophy would hold true on this latest re issue as well?  In fact, he seemed to be putting more emphasis on producing a master that sounded best on his speakers, compared to the bookshelf speakers being used by Fagen/Becker?  In the end, it's mining the archives to squeeze out every dollar possible.  My existing copies on vinyl and CD sound great.  If the latest and greatest version makes you happy, that's all that matters.  

rbertalotto OP
138 posts
 

I don't believe he was saying they tuned down the quality due to poor quality equipment.  He said they didn't go to extremes and produce a groove that was only readable by the very top end of audiophile equipment. 

Sounds like different way of saying the same thing......

whart's avatar
whart
3,032 posts
 

I had already moved on from Steely Dan by the time Aja was released but it got radio play and was a demo record back in the day. I always found it dry sounding, and the Cisco cut even more arid. Does the horn on Deacon Blues really wail like it should on this latest version? I have great respect for Bernie, going back to his days at A&M, but I'm not really a buyer of classic rock warhorses these days. I did buy good copies of their entire catalog a decade and a half ago but have gotten out of the habit of yet another "better" copy-- I guess if this record is important to you, you should have it. I kind of stopped back in the day with Countdown and have a children's blocks copy from the old days; did buy the Chad UHQR but I doubt it will get any more play than the old copy. 

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