Vertigo MP3 Audio Quality

[elfyx]

Does anybody know of a high quality rip of Vertigo out there?

Before you point me to the Valencia file, I have that already and the sound quality on it is crap.

All of the richness and depth in audio has been chopped out. At first I thought it might have succombed to the LOUDER IS BETTER audio production trend these days, but if you listen to the promo mp3 clip, you can both see (oscilloscope) and hear the difference in quality. And I'm pretty sure THAT clip was a rip off the radio.

And with all these promo CDs out there now, surely someone has made an audiophile level mp3 or shn?

I can't stop listening to Vertigo, because the song totally rules the shit out of everything else right now, but my ears are bleeding at the audio quality of the valencia file.

Just compare the two clips side by side and you can start to hear just really HOW bad ass Edge's guitar sounds. There is a higher clarity and richness to the tone and you can hear the pulsing of it.

 

[Cask]

I´m pretty sure that the Valencia mp3 is a rip from the CD promo, as it shows no sign of typical radio compression or anything. I could be wrong but that´s what I think.

 

[elfyx]

Wow- maybe the CD Promo is engineered so poorly then? Did U2 *really* submit to the LOUDER IS BETTER castration of their music? Just analyze that file- it's depressing how extensive the damage done to the recording.

 

[Cask]

U2 have always recorded their music at a loud volume. Even the Boston, Best Of, and Go Home DVDs are louder than any other DVD I have, (Metallica S&M DVD, for example, is much more quieter than any U2 dvd). But the song also sounds very different from ATYCLB material, because it has a different producer, and I think it was given the RAW sound on purpose. There is no hint of hiss or anything, always present in radio rips. It could be recorded from a satellite broadcast, that could be, but it surely wasn´t recorded from standard radio. Either way, I am fine with this one until I get the album.

 

[Waterman981]

I believe you as well... I have noticed since Thursday a very high pitched noise in the MP3. The track was not ripped from a CD. Listen very very carefully about 2:45... very high pitched. That is noise that would not come from a direct digital extraction from a CD.

-Michael

 

[nuke126]

you think there can be a better quality clip than valencia?? wow, you have extremely high standards

 

[beli]

Its available on Itunes if you are lucky enought to live in an Itunes friendly country : sigh:

 

[Waterman981]

you think there can be a better quality clip than valencia?? wow, you have extremely high standards

I think the Valencia version is not a CD quality version. I have yet to see a better one however. But I'm sure it is not an exactraction directly from the CD. There is noise there that U2 would not have on their music. It is the best quality one I have heard (haven't seen iTunes version as I hate DRM and refuse to use it), but that doesn't mean its a perfect rip.

-Michael

 

[ShellBeThere]

I agree with Michael above, and I don't know crap about any of this generally...but listening a gazillion times this weekend I felt I heard that high-pitched noise and it didn't feel like just an engineering choice at all. and muddy-sounding in places too...

still, it'll do me til official release!

cheers!

 

[voxson]

people who bought it on itunes said it sounded like the valencia version.

 

[jick]

Since when did U2 make high quality sounding CD's anyway? U2's cd's are usually loud with lots of compression. They aren't an audiophile band like Pink Floyd anyway. If you're really so hot about audiophile type sound then go get the Joshua Tree gold MFSL cd. Otherwise, everything else U2 has made does sound a bit flat and lacking in depth and dynamics. But when it comes to U2, I don't care about sound quality as long as the music is great (and it normally is). The Valencia rip I believe is not from the promo CD or perhaps a bad rip from the promo CD. Besides, you can never get much depth from the mp3 format to begin with anyway.

Cheers,

J

 

[voxson]

Besides, you can never get much depth from the mp3 format to begin with anyway

The Valencia MP3 is a high and variable bitrate MP3 made with Lame encoder which means it's just about as good as an MP3 file can get. And at this quality the MP3 IS CD-quality. This is not true for 128kbps files of course. But this one is definitely as good as its uncompressed source.

 

[elfyx]

Since when did U2 make high quality sounding CD's anyway? U2's cd's are usually loud with lots of compression. They aren't an audiophile band like Pink Floyd anyway. If you're really so hot about audiophile type sound then go get the Joshua Tree gold MFSL cd. Otherwise, everything else U2 has made does sound a bit flat and lacking in depth and dynamics. But when it comes to U2, I don't care about sound quality as long as the music is great (and it normally is). The Valencia rip I believe is not from the promo CD or perhaps a bad rip from the promo CD. Besides, you can never get much depth from the mp3 format to begin with anyway.

Cheers,

J

Damn Jick. Some of us *do* care about sound quality because it really does make all the difference in the world. If you don't care about audio quality then leave this thread for those of us who do.

U2 have always mastered their CDs correctly. If the Vertigo single is mastered the way it came out on the valencia CD then I have lost A LOT of respect from them.

You don't even have to be an audio engineer to see how much damage has been done to the music. Just load it up in any halfway descent audio app and you can literally see how badly it was mangled.

Here

is a link that I highly recommend everyone read about what seems to be going on here at the very *least*

I'm off to go purchase the iTunes version and compare. I'll be back with some comments on what I find.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i burned the valencia version to a cd and play it in my car all the time... i don't see a problem with it at all

 

[artdirector]

Valencia version works great for me. Burnt it 3 times on a CD and it gets better and better as you hear it. Lets be happy we have an mp3 to listen to. We should ask the Spaniards to stop adding ambient sound to the Stolen CD they have and just give us a chance to listen to the whole album.

 

[gareth brown]

I've not read many of the posts here but I can tell you EVERY MP3 I've downloaded of 'Vertigo' in the hope of finding a better quality is TOO BASSY! Whoever recorded it had the bass turned up far too high and when I heard it being play on Radio 1, I relished STEREO and MUCH better sound quality! I'm surprised no-one's ripped the 1-track Promo discs yet...