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Recording quality...

A lot of time here is spent discussing equipment, which is to be expected.  But even the best gear will not mask a lousy recording.  Let's face it, some labels use better recording equipment, microphone placement, mixing and so on to create stunning sound.  Other labels just don't sound as good.  

Case in point...when I purchase a recording, I'm looking for a recording date within the last five years.  I realize that some classic recordings took place years ago recorded with analog equipment, but it will still sound old on anything modern you play it on.  I'm not a big fan of remastering either.  Look, I realize that we can't bring back Miles Davis or get Pink Floyd back together to do a modern recording, but imagine if we could.

Once, when I was a kid, I was lucky enough to witness a live recording session in a real studio.  This was in the late 60s, when real musicians played real instruments.  They used these gigantic Scully tape machines with inch-thick Ampex 456 tape running at fast speed and a mixing board, which was the most modern recording equipment of the time.  Today, that equipment belongs in a museum, considering the modern tools that recording engineers have now.  

My point here is that great equipment is nice, but paired with a recent recording using modern tools, the sound is so much better.  Just my humble opinion.  What say you to this?
128x128mikeydee
ethiessen1's avatar
ethiessen1
61 posts
 
Was just thinking of all of those classic albums that I've bought in every new or remastered or improved format hoping for and sometimes getting an even better aural image of music I've loved for years...Abbey Road, Aja, Child Is Father To The Man, lately the hi rez Pink Floyd remasters of Meddle, Obscured By Clouds, etc...and other than Steven Wilson's magic on Tull,Yes, XTC, Supertramp, King Crimson, etc, the majority of the versions that left me smiling were from very hi resolution rips from newly pressed high quality vinyl...not sure how your 5 year window applies given the provenance of the various versions but this is what comes to mind for me when I think of recording quality in general. Of course, the ECM releases, many of the old DG, Phillips, etc classical releases can be game changers in terms of sound quality as well...
trutopia2
11 posts
 
With all do respect - Evidently you haven't listened to MFSL recording remaster on a decent stereo lately ( Maybe a try a DAC ) ! Have fun listening to your tape hiss and poor recording equipment of the past.
erik_squires
16,041 posts
 
You know things will go bad when people start with "with all due respect..." because the "due respect" turns out to be very little indeed.

So, may I present in counterargument the MFSL recording of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Utter crap.

Best,

E
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Uh, wouldn't the original master tape hiss be more audible on a good recording? Hel-loo!

alpha_gt
155 posts
 
That's what Dolby was for, to reduce tape hiss, did a wonderful job too. But a few engineers chose not to use it, I've got an old Pat Travers, Crash and Burn that brags in the liner notes that he did not use Dolby, and it sounds great actually. 

Some of the original digital recordings, or should I say analog converted to digital recordings, were not good. It took the engineers a while to get used to the entire digital process. I recall way back when CD's first came out, some were completely unlistenable. 

But speaking of recordings of the last 5 years, I suspect it depends greatly on what genre' you are listening to. Anything considered Pop Music will most likely be over compressed, and contain less frequency extremes, made to sound good on any music device. Made to sound good on iPhones with tiny ear buds, on car stereos, and whatever the young folk are listening to these days. But a modern Classical, or Jazz recording may be a completely different thing. Using digital recording techniques to get the best recording possible, with 32 bit masters in the megahurts sampling rates, using minimal compression and preserving both frequency extremes, it is possible to make probably the best recordings ever made! You've just got to find the engineers who are trying. 
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