jpl@allegra.UUCP (John P. Linderman) (06/26/85)
I happened across my first Beatle's album on CD this week, an EMI release of Abbey Road, obviously a Japanese production since the jacket and lyrics were reproduced in Japanese as well as English. In spite of the breathtaking price of $29.95 [for a single CD], I decided to give it a try, to see how good a ``digitally mastered'' Beatle's album might sound. In a word, it sounded noisy, and the obnoxious hiss that came through on every song left no doubt in my mind that the master was most assuredly NOT digital. In fact, if my deck sounded that noisy, I'd clean the heads. The $30 charge is quite obviously pitched at the nostalgia market, not the audiophile market. For $10 I might buy another EMI Beatle's album, but they won't extract another $30 from me any time soon. John P. Linderman allegra!jpl
tynor@gitpyr.UUCP (Steve Tynor) (06/27/85)
In article <4470@allegra.UUCP> jpl@allegra.UUCP (John P. Linderman) writes: >I happened across my first Beatle's album on CD this week, >an EMI release of Abbey Road, obviously a Japanese production >since the jacket and lyrics were reproduced in Japanese as >well as English. In spite of the breathtaking price of >$29.95 [for a single CD], I decided to give it a try, to see >how good a ``digitally mastered'' Beatle's album might sound. >In a word, it sounded noisy, and the obnoxious hiss that came >through on every song left no doubt in my mind that the master >was most assuredly NOT digital. In fact, if my deck sounded >that noisy, I'd clean the heads. The $30 charge is quite >obviously pitched at the nostalgia market, not the audiophile >market..... Don't forget, Abbey Road was released in 1969, and was recorded on a standard analog machine. Of course the master was not digital! Likely, it was *re*mastered when digitized, thus the term 'digitally remastered'. It's very difficult to remove tape hiss from an analog signal. If you try to filter it, you end up filtering out music too. Try to live with it. Also keep in mind that there are other qualities of a recording that make it 'audiophile quaility'. Things like distortion, dynamic range, mike-placement... A hiss-free recording is not necessarily 'audiophile quality' and vice versa. Don't forget the old saying, "Surveillence should preclude saltation." (roughly translated as "Look before you leap") =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Eschew Obfuscation. Steve Tynor Georgia Instutute of Technology ...{akgua, allegra, amd, harpo, hplabs, ihnp4, masscomp, ut-ngp, rlgvax, sb1, uf-cgrl, unmvax, ut-sally} !gatech!gitpyr!tynor -- Steve Tynor Georgia Insitute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332 ...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,masscomp,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!tynor
ben@moncol.UUCP (Bennett Broder) (07/01/85)
>I happened across my first Beatle's album on CD this week, >an EMI release of Abbey Road, obviously a Japanese production >since the jacket and lyrics were reproduced in Japanese as >well as English. In spite of the breathtaking price of >$29.95 [for a single CD], I decided to give it a try, to see >how good a ``digitally mastered'' Beatle's album might sound. >In a word, it sounded noisy, and the obnoxious hiss that came >through on every song left no doubt in my mind that the master >was most assuredly NOT digital. You should have bought the Mobile Fidelity record. (Though it may be out of print by now) I suspect that the CD was made from a poor quality dub of the original masters, since the MF LP is surprisingly clean. I would take the CD back and demand a refund. The CD buying public has got to get tougher with the record manufacturers about quality control!! Ben Broder ..vax135!petsd!moncol!ben ..ihnp4!princeton!moncol!ben
jobusch@isucs1.UUCP (07/12/85)
Thanks for the warning; I have seen the White Album on CD as well, and, I think, for the same outrageous price!!! Dave Jobusch / Iowa State University jobusch@iowa-state isucs1!jobusch