dwm@minn-ua.UUCP (01/30/84)
I recently purchased the George Winston album "December" on CD.
Although the LP is one of my favorites, I find the CD nearly
unlistenable. The CD has these problems:
1) Windham Hill makes masters with 30 ips analog tapes and NO
noise reduction. I guess they avoid noise reduction to
preserve the tonal purity. The resulting tape hiss is hidden
by the backround noise on the LP, but it is extremely noticable
and annoying on the CD. I suspect they may have used a 2nd or 3rd
generation tape for the CD master which would only make matters
worse.
2) Even worse is the actual piano sound (the album is piano solos).
The piano on the CD version sounds unpleasant and out of tune.
At first I suspected that the analog tape deck may have been
running slow when the digital master was made. However, when I
play both the CD and LP at the same time and do an A/B compare,
I can hear no difference in pitch and the running times are the
same (as close as I can tell).
3) With the CD I hear some clunking of the foot pedals which indicates
some minor miking problems.
Have others noticed this? Can anyone explain point 2. I am not
interested in any "I told you so"s from the anti digital people.
I plan to only buy LP versions of Windham Hill piano solo recordings.
I would like to know other people's experiences of other Windham
Hill recordings and other piano solo music on CD's.
I think it was Stereo Review which felt that CD were great for
piano music because of the total lack of wow and flutter. My experience
is that CD are terrible for piano music because it does not need
the dynamic range or frequency response of the CD.
I own about 25 CD's and most (especially TELARC) sound great.
- Don Mears, University of Minnesota Computer Center.ahearn@parsec.UUCP (02/04/84)
#R:minn-ua:-91700:parsec:32900002:000:459 parsec!ahearn Feb 3 18:40:00 1984 Don -- I was given an analog Windham Hill record for Christmas. I found the sound of the record to be superb. In fact, it has been been recorded by several audiophiles here at work with nothing but praise for the production quality. Thanks for letting us know about the CD quality problems. I plan to continue buying digital analog Windham Hill pressings, but I'll certainly be wary of their CD offerings. Regards, Joe Ahearn CONVEX Computer Corporation
spaf@gatech.UUCP (Gene Spafford) (02/10/84)
Well, I have the Liz Storey "Solid Colors" CD by Windham Hill, and I am
a bit disappointed in the sound. Although Liz is very talented, and the
album is very nice, there is a noticable amount of hiss in the background
which is annoying during some of the quiet moments on the record.
There also seems to be a little something missing from the sound of
the piano....
Still, I love the album. I just wish it had been mastered better.
I think I may avoid other Windham Hill CDs for a while. Pity;
with artists like Shadowfax, Oregon, Story, Winston, Ackerman, and the
like, they would be one of the labels I'd be most interested in
pursuing.
Anybody care to engage in recommendations of CD material via mail?
--
Off the Wall of Gene Spafford
The Clouds Project, School of ICS, Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA 30332
CSNet: Spaf @ GATech ARPA: Spaf.GATech @ CSNet-Relay
uucp: ...!{akgua,allegra,rlgvax,sb1,unmvax,ulysses,ut-sally}!gatech!spaf