 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Jul 23, 2024 - 8:56 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
thx99
(Member)
|
I'd like to call attention to the dramatic improvement in audio quality in this new release. I've had the original release since the film opened and in the new release the levels are stronger across the board. Also it's much more transparent with lots more detail in the keyboards and guitars. Lots more to hear and appreciate.
While I respect your take on the Deluxe release, EdG, I have to disagree with the overall quality of the mix and mastering on this new release.
For most if not all of the new cues and some of the cues which appeared on the original Varese score release, strings are narrowly mixed just left of center which makes them sound synthetic and the mix overall sounds more monaural as a result. And the piano in some cues sounds like it's being picked up by a microphone across the room and/or that's underwater.
On the mastering side, it seems that very heavy amplitude compression was applied to boost the overall amplitude (as you noted) but which absolutely ruins the dynamics of the recording. There are also gating effects in some cues which are most noticeable when you have strings which swell and ebb (e.g., beginning and throughout "Gus Farewell").
The Deluxe Edition has been EQ'ed to bring more "air" (higher frequencies) to the recording, but in combination with the amplitude compression, it is an absolute mess IMO. Stage noises are VERY evident now, and not in a good way.
Overall, I'm very disappointed with this release.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yeah I agree, the lack of dynamic range on this album is very disappointing. The whispy high-end sound is rather undesirable as well, perhaps made worse by dynamic range compression. I don't know how mastering engineers can listen to these cues that have loud and soft parts, turn the knob on the compressor up so far that it all sounds loud, and then decide that's how it should be. This isn't a Dua Lipa album. "Torn Dollar Bill" sounds like my ears are two inches from the action in the piano, it's not pleasant at all.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I don't have my copy yet. Who is credited with the mastering? Have there been any other Varese Club releases in this category of sound issues, since Erick Labson stopped working for them in early 2018?
Yavar
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
According to the page on VS:
Produced by: Basil Poledouris, Tim Boyle and Mi Kyoung Chaing
Edited by: Curtis Roush
Mixed by: Tim Boyle
Mastered by: Chas Ferry & Melinda Hurley
Obviously I don't think Basil necromanced himself back to life to produce this, so the other two maybe.
|
|
|
|
|
|
On the mastering side, it seems that very heavy amplitude compression was applied to boost the overall amplitude (as you noted) but which absolutely ruins the dynamics of the recording.
Oh, sorry to hear that. The CD arrived here the other day, haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. I am unfamiliar with both the score and the movie, so I won't have any comparison to any previous mastering, but I thought the tendency to compress dynamic range and boost everything to "loud" is one largely done in pop music, where the expectation is that stream and generally listen to compressed music on ear buds over Bluetooth anyway.
I don't know how mastering engineers can listen to these cues that have loud and soft parts, turn the knob on the compressor up so far that it all sounds loud, and then decide that's how it should be. This isn't a Dua Lipa album. "Torn Dollar Bill" sounds like my ears are two inches from the action in the piano, it's not pleasant at all.
Yeah, I am wondering about that as well... who thinks it's good if the music sounds bad (in this case compressed and flat?). I don't know anyone who enjoys the hot mastering of classical (or orchestral) music, which drains all the dynamic range and compresses the sound. Fortunately, in classical recordings this is quite rare.
Anyway, I haven't yet listened to the CD, but hope I will enjoy it anyway. (Especially as I come to it without any pre-conceived notions as to how it should sound.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Must admit to being surprised at the negative reaction to the remastering - I thought it sounded great on my first listen, and feel the same way now on about my sixth complete play through. I ran it through Wavebox to take a look at the dynamic range and see if I could spot any clipping or anything that would suggest "bad" mastering and I see nothing. IMO there's nothing wrong with the mastering.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The late Douglass Fake stated once (in the Goldsmith Odyssey about the latest INCHON release), that when he talked to sound engineers over the years, he noted that they all had very good ears and could readily identify certain details in recordings most people would not notice, but that they had different emphasis of what they preferred when mixing. Some remove hiss at the expense of other things, some accept that some hiss is okay if that means some details are clearer, and so on. There is no "right" and "wrong", sometimes it is a matter of preference, especially when you restore and remaster and older recording and you have to weigh this against that.
So it may well be here, that the newer mix is more to the liking of some and less to the liking of others.
I will approach this recording without any preconceived notions to how it should sound, as I haven't yet heard it. CD sits in my shelf though. :-)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Jul 28, 2024 - 9:02 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
cody1949
(Member)
|
I'm new to this score, but damn, they sure don't write them like this anymore. This is beautiful, joyful, laid back Americana and it reminds me of the vibe of Big Wednesday a bit. This'll never be remembered in the same league as something like Conan or Starship Troopers, but goddamn, what a joy to listen to. I'm grateful to Varese for putting this out.
Chris
Absolutely agree with you. I had the original release , but I wanted this Varese CD for the sheer symphonic beauty of the music. I have avoided recent Varese special releases ,but this release and EYE OF THE NEEDLE have brought me back to Varese Sarabande,a label I treasured when they started in the late 70’s. Keep the music with great melodies coming. Thank you, Varese Sarabande.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This situation is not unlike the Varese vs Intrada FLESH + BLOOD CD releases.
I got to know the F+B music via the old Varese LP and then their subsequent CD Club release.
And it was great...all my ears had ever known.
Then, Intrada did their own expanded re-mix/master years later, and it was like hearing the same score from a completely different angle.
Instruments that sounded front and centre on the old Varese LP/CD were relegated further back, in the Intrada version, to allow other sections to be more prominent.
And I liked that version too, but in a different way (and it takes some getting used to to expel the version you've grown up with for countless years, in favour of a newer/different mix).
Playing this Deluxe Edition feels somewhat similar.
It's the music from the previous version, but with different enhancements and prominent sections.
I'm likely gonna enjoy getting to know it under a whole new guise.
We live in privileged times.
|
|
|
|
|
|
All due respect to those individuals who contributed to this project, the sound quality is a total mess. It goes downhill in track 2 and never recovers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
