http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...udio-fidelity-adventures-in-mastering.330567/
Steve Hoffman:
"I love this album, still have my LP version that I bought back in 1978 or so. When the tapes were delivered to Marsh Mastering a few weeks ago, Stephen Marsh wrote me excitedly and asked if I wanted "flats", he was all into the album as well and loved the sound of the tapes. I told him I didn't need flats, knew this album like the back of my hand.
Turns out one never really knows an album until hearing the master tapes. They sound so good, so much better than the old LP and CD versions that I was really blown away yesterday.
The album has that "Record One/Sunset Sound Factory" house sound that I love so much, clean, punchy. giant, fat bass with great dynamics, close miked with a bit of reverb and a tiny touch of hollowness and a lot of LA Soul.
Stephen Marsh spent a lot of time (A LOT OF TIME) adjusting the finicky Dolby A system to play back this tape just the way it was played back in the studio of The Sound Factory back in 1977. He does this before I arrive so all I have to do is walk in and sit down to begin. He pushed "play" and I looked at him and smiled. Ah, something to really work with!
We looked at the accumulated mastering notes from over 30 years worth of head scratching mastering (mostly from A&M Mastering) and we had to laugh:
+5 at 15K? combined with +5 at 10K? And a bass cut at 150?
...and so on, just to have that all clipped and compressed by the high frequency cutting limiter in disk mastering.
Weird, wacky stuff.
So, we ignored all of those notes and took a new approach. I wanted YOU to hear this great album just the way they heard it in playback at the studio back in 1977. So, I polished the sound, bringing out the highlights while still keeping the house sound intact. My usual "polishing" with a layer of tubes and some TLC.
Since the album was mixed on (THANK GOODNESS) AGFA 468, the tape didn't have to be baked at all. In fact, it didn't shed a bit, NOTHING on the tape heads after a side. Nothing. Perfect tape from 1977. Even the tones (individually leadered) were rock steady after all of these years.
When I found the "chill point" for each song (that shiver down the spine) we printed it with a split feed to the DSD SACD master and the CD master and I was done in 4 hours, just in time for some hipster pizza pig out action. If you listen carefully you will be able to hear the difference in Warren's vocal sound from track to track. The better your system the more it will be noticeable. I did not attempt to homogenize his vocal sound to keep it constant, that would have meant throwing everything else off, the drums, piano, etc. We kept it pure and true to the original intent of the mix.
Heard the check disk this morning and it's just great sound and a great album. Warren, looking down from above, should be very pleased with our work. You will too."
Steve Hoffman:
"I love this album, still have my LP version that I bought back in 1978 or so. When the tapes were delivered to Marsh Mastering a few weeks ago, Stephen Marsh wrote me excitedly and asked if I wanted "flats", he was all into the album as well and loved the sound of the tapes. I told him I didn't need flats, knew this album like the back of my hand.
Turns out one never really knows an album until hearing the master tapes. They sound so good, so much better than the old LP and CD versions that I was really blown away yesterday.
The album has that "Record One/Sunset Sound Factory" house sound that I love so much, clean, punchy. giant, fat bass with great dynamics, close miked with a bit of reverb and a tiny touch of hollowness and a lot of LA Soul.
Stephen Marsh spent a lot of time (A LOT OF TIME) adjusting the finicky Dolby A system to play back this tape just the way it was played back in the studio of The Sound Factory back in 1977. He does this before I arrive so all I have to do is walk in and sit down to begin. He pushed "play" and I looked at him and smiled. Ah, something to really work with!
We looked at the accumulated mastering notes from over 30 years worth of head scratching mastering (mostly from A&M Mastering) and we had to laugh:
+5 at 15K? combined with +5 at 10K? And a bass cut at 150?
...and so on, just to have that all clipped and compressed by the high frequency cutting limiter in disk mastering.
Weird, wacky stuff.
So, we ignored all of those notes and took a new approach. I wanted YOU to hear this great album just the way they heard it in playback at the studio back in 1977. So, I polished the sound, bringing out the highlights while still keeping the house sound intact. My usual "polishing" with a layer of tubes and some TLC.
Since the album was mixed on (THANK GOODNESS) AGFA 468, the tape didn't have to be baked at all. In fact, it didn't shed a bit, NOTHING on the tape heads after a side. Nothing. Perfect tape from 1977. Even the tones (individually leadered) were rock steady after all of these years.
When I found the "chill point" for each song (that shiver down the spine) we printed it with a split feed to the DSD SACD master and the CD master and I was done in 4 hours, just in time for some hipster pizza pig out action. If you listen carefully you will be able to hear the difference in Warren's vocal sound from track to track. The better your system the more it will be noticeable. I did not attempt to homogenize his vocal sound to keep it constant, that would have meant throwing everything else off, the drums, piano, etc. We kept it pure and true to the original intent of the mix.
Heard the check disk this morning and it's just great sound and a great album. Warren, looking down from above, should be very pleased with our work. You will too."
