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The Plangent Process playback system? Huh?

This from the Acoustic Sounds description of the upcoming box of the first seven Springsteen albums:

"Using the Plangent Process playback system, noted for its ability to correct pitch errors and other distortions in the magnetic tape, this is, hands down, the most detailed take on Springsteen's high-energy studio performances anywhere."

I've never heard of this Plangent thing. Does anyone know anything about it?

I'll be buying this box no matter -- I've long loved these records -- but would be absolutely thrilled if they were somehow made to actually sound, well, better than they used to. Even when I was spinning "Darkness on the Edge of Town" on a crappy little department store stereo back in the 1970s, I remember thinking that the record didn't sound so good. Growing up to a real system only confirmed that, and made me long for more. Here's hoping these remasters will give us what we've been missing all this time.

Thanks.

-- Howard
hodu
aolmrd1241
1,042 posts
 
Here you go Hodo...

http://audiophilereview.com/analog/plangent---a-better-way-to-transfer-analog-tape.html
rja's avatar
rja
2,371 posts
 
Most of the songs on those early albums were great but the sound was pretty bad. Hopefully this "new" system will bring some sonic improvements.
rja's avatar
rja
2,371 posts
 
Read the audiophile review article, seems to make a lot of sense but as always the proof will be in the pudding. Learned a new term "judder", "the slower high frequency jitter of tape, as contrasted to clock jitter in digital".

My question, if the original analog tape sounds "bad" will improved methods of analog to digital transfer help the sound quality significantly? Again, we shall see but hoping for the best, the music certainly deserves it.
lenny_zwik
259 posts
 
Heck, the sound continues to be awful on his recent work. It's too bad, because the music is amazing. Either he's deaf or that's the way he wants his records to sound.
guinness
48 posts
 
I’m one of many firm believers in Plangent Processing. It’s been used on live Grateful Dead recordings since at least the 1973 Winterland box set released in 2008. That was a ¼” two track tape recording. They’ve used it on their annual box sets, all eleven Dave’s Picks and some of the Road Trips series. Just read some of the comments about it and Jeffrey Norman’s work on their Spring 1990 (The Other One) order page.

However, PP is not a fix-all. Born to Run as an example, has other issues besides tape machine errors. In order to build the “wall of sound” feel, tracks were overdubbed so often the original tracks deteriorated. That’s different from a single undubbed source tape being corrected based on anomalies in the recording machine.

Nothin' left to do but smile, smile, smile (~):}
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