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Born to Run: Why the Poor Sound Quality?

I have always been disappointed with the sound quality of Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run. Even the CBS 1/2 Speed Master pressing is underwhelming. Is there a good explanation for this? As I recall, Jon Landau produced the album, and he is certainly no slouch, but the recording seems inferior.

It's really a shame that there doesn't seem to be a decent pressing of this classic album
jeffreybowman2k
audiogeek147
1 posts
 
This looks like a really stale post - but i'm hoping someone can chime in. I just got a supposed "new" copy of born to run, still shrink wrapped. Wife paid out the ass for it i'm sure. It sounds like complete crap. I'm having the hardest time with the vocals. Sound compressed to hell, clipping, and distorted. Instrumentals are tolerable. Vox are worse on some tracks than others, which i find odd. Is it the recording itself, or did my wife get swindled when buying the album?

Marantz SR6006, Rega RP1, and B&W 705's...my gear isn't garbage..but this recording sounds like it.

Thanks!
bongofury
1,160 posts
 
Read my post. Problem lies in the recording process.
phasecorrect's avatar
phasecorrect
2,013 posts
 
The Boss was given a huge budget...this was the beginning of milk.and honey days for fm aor rock...and it took over a year to record btr...the title track racking 6 months...so there was no cost cutting measures by Columbia...this was an all or nothing gamble...and it worked...I find it hard to believe the Sonics were purely accidental...they weren't...it was a deliberate process...with mixed results...a mere two years later...hotel vs and rumours would be the quantum, state of the art, late 70s analog sound many relish...including myself
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Bob Clearmountain did a superb engineering job on Born in the USA. He always does.
jfz
570 posts
 
The remastered CD that came with the Born to Run anniversary box-set is actually very good. Yes, the wall-of-sound production was deliberate on BTR. And many may not like it (I didn't used to). When I heard this remastered disc on my admittedly very high-end system, I was surprised how good it sounded.
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