2. analog
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Imaging question

Hey,
A friend gave me a copy of Big Country's LP "The Crossing". I'd heard "In a Big Country" on the radio many times but never the album. Anyhow, I dropped the needle on the first track - "In a Big Country" and was amazed at how narrow the soundstage was. Like, every instrument and vocal seemed to shmushed into a 4-foot wide corridor of sound, not even stretching out to where the speakers were.

What gives?It was just this album as I put on other LP's and they imaged wide and deep as usual. Is it a production artifact? Could it have been that pressing?
128x128simao
reubent
7,037 posts
 
@simao - I listened to my copy of "The Crossing" today. The song - "In a Big Country" does sound like you described. For most of the track, most of the soundstage is located right in the middle. Only the drum hits seem to come from wider out in the soundstage. Sound like bad production to me. I don't think its a problem with the pressing.

BTW, I've always liked the music on this album, but I've never cared for the sound quality.
erik_squires
16,234 posts
 
It's usually a limitation of the recording. Once things are compressed in terms of the stereo image, you can't fix it later.
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,417 posts
 
Is the album in question an original analogue recording (1983) or a digital remaster?

reubent
7,037 posts
 
Mine is an original, 1983 Mercury 812 870-1
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,241 posts
 
I wasn't at the recording, the mix down or the mastering sessions, but I'm going to speculate.  What you hear is exactly what they wanted the song to sound like.  Dense and loud.  Kind of like an assault to your ears.  Reducing the stereo width lends to this effect.

Steve Lillywhite was the producer.  Compare it to his work with U2.


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