> LOL, one of the forgotten wonderful qualities of this list. It's amazing how
> my "come back to the fold" post got hijacked into an endless discussion
> about digital versus analog.
That just shows how comfortable we are around here. Granted, Moose can
be a little irritating when he goes off on his vegan rants... ;)
> With that being said, I haven't listened to or found a vinyl LP that
> compares to the sound quality I perceive in a well mastered cd. And no
> amount of paragraphs with endless discussion is going to convince me
> otherwise.
"Well mastered" is the key term there. Of the stuff, in our household,
that we've purchased over the past five years, I'm going to say that
maybe a quarter would fall into the "well mastered" category. The
primary reason for this is the retirement of several top mastering
engineers as well as the cost-cutting measures that have eliminated
the outsourcing to the mastering houses. We're seeing more and more
albums actually mastered in the same studios and by the same engineers
that did the mix. This is a recipe for disaster. This has caused a
major issue for radio broadcast, too, as these cuts will cause hideous
amounts of compressor pumping on the air. The guys I worked with, who
are now retiring out, knew how to create a broadcast version, a dance
(club) version, a iTunes version and CD version, as well as a vinyl
version. There is ONE mastering engineer that is the go-to guy for
hip-hop, and he charges a large fortune. Most stuff released is done
by some wannabees down in Atlanta that pretend to be his friend.
But "well mastered" is true for all mediums. The dirty little secret
is that even today, the top dog stuff is not entirely digital. There
is no such thing as DDD for high-end mastering. Almost without
exception, there is an analog processor or even a tape machine hidden
away in the secret confines of a mastering room.
My love of vinyl only extends to a couple of things. I prefer the
digital realm for audio--except for Trident EQs.
AG Ears.
--
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