"How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" mastered on vinyl

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Posted on the request thread, very interested to see (well... hear) the difference!
I'm glad NLOTH showed an improvement in terms of cd quality, that suggests HTDAAB was an exception, not the start of a bad trend.
 
corianderstem said:
Okay, so here's the million dollar question - why mix two formats differently? Does the process for vinyl itself just mean it's differently mixed/compressed and sound better by default? Is it not possible that two exact releases on different formats would sound different? I have no idea how these things work.

I mean, I know people often claim that vinyl sounds better, but I don't buy that CDs sound so much shittier just by nature - I thought the argument for "sounds better" was between audiophiles playing it on top-notch equipment or headphones and are nitpicking about stuff barely audible to non-audiophile ears. That certainly sounds like that's not the case here.

If it's a conscious decision along the line for someone to say "let's make the CD more compressed than the vinyl", then my response to whomever said that (U2? an engineer?) is a hearty "hey, fuck you!"

Vinyl releases are typically mastered separately from the CD versions, partly to take into account the pros and cons of each format, and partly because engineers often specialise.

This means there is scope for a vinyl version to sound different:

Because it was mastered (or "cut") for a different format
Perhaps by a different engineer
Perhaps from a different mix

And yes, i'm sure it was a conscious decision to make it more compressed. 2004 was the year of compressed music on CDs. The climax of the loudness war. Shitty decision btw.
 
digitize said:
In all honesty, a CD has more potential to sound good than vinyl. It has excellent potential range. But of course, mastering engineers ruin it by turning the volume up louder than it can conceivably go, so data that goes beyond the loudness limit is just flattened off - ye olde loudness wars. The same could happen on vinyl, more easily. The difference is that people who buy vinyl don't want their sound quality to be shit. They're usually audiophiles, and record companies recognize that.

Excellent potential range, but by no means the best, and limited to sampling rates well below DVDA and nonexistent in vinyl:

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question487.htm

This means that, with an ideal system and cartridge, you can replicate the original recording more accurately with vinyl, with minimal flutter and distortion (although there will always be some, particularly near the end of a vinyl side, which is definitely a benefit of CDs and MP3s).

To answer the question of why analogue and digital mastering processes differ, I've always thought that while the frequencies captured aren't significantly different as far as the human ear is concerned, the delicate nature of vinyl playback necessitates that certain frequencies (particularly lower ones) not be abused. Too much bass and the needle could slip out of the groove. So then, on a practical basis, vinyl is a superior format for new releases mainly because it is not a loudness war casualty. The overstuffed waveforms on CD aren't seen on records.
 
And yes, i'm sure it was a conscious decision to make it more compressed. 2004 was the year of compressed music on CDs. The climax of the loudness war. Shitty decision btw.

It honestly does make me a little angry sometimes when I listen to Bomb and hear how shitty some of it sounds.

But shall I take heart that the loudness wars peaked in 2004 and are getting better now? I'll take NLOTH sounding better to be a good sign. ;)
 
Whatever they do with any Atomic Bomb "remaster" or re-release they better make sure it sounds better on CD. I will say this for the CD, it does sound better than the MP3. I downloaded it when my first CD copy disappeared and there was all kinds of distortion with the MP3 version. It was a pain to listen to with headphones. When I later ripped the CD to iTunes it sounded a lot better. No distortion at all. However the vinyl rip Von Schloopen passed around is quite the improvement from the CD. It's ridiculously stupid that we can't have CDs from today that aren't totally maxed on volume and we miss out on some of the dynamics. Hey the volume knob is there for a reason.
 
corianderstem said:
It honestly does make me a little angry sometimes when I listen to Bomb and hear how shitty some of it sounds.

But shall I take heart that the loudness wars peaked in 2004 and are getting better now? I'll take NLOTH sounding better to be a good sign. ;)

Yes. The Beatles remasters in 09 were a turning point. And after the backlash over Metallica's Death Magnet in 08 the industry knew they had to change. 2003-04 were the peak with all new releases and all Deluxe Edition reissues suffering with the evil effects of the loudness war. 03-04 also marked another low point for the music industry: those copy-protect garbage (technically they were not even CDs) that appeared in Europe and South America but did not appear in the US because they know what costumers can do about there rights in that country.
 
Ok. Here's the visual. The top is the vinyl rip. The lower is the CD. Holy cheese and crackers.

2z7pqtz.jpg

Wow. That's ridiculous! :huh:
 
Yeah I keep thinking I need to be cautious of placebo effect here but I'm pretty sure this sounds a ton better.
 
the amazing thing is it took nearly eight years for us, collectively as interference, to realize this.

we suck.
 
I've wondered if the vinyl version was good for awhile, but I seem to remember always hearing that it was roughly the same. :shrug:
 
Wow...the Vinyl Rip sounds soooo much better!
It has a dynamic range of DR10. The CD has an awful dynamic range
of DR5.
Would anyone be able to create a Vinyl FLAC Rip? That would be fantastic.
 
man I love this sort of talk, very excited in hopefully hearing this rip :hyper:

I'd love to hear this vinyl rip. Does anyone have a link?

Going to have to search for a copy of this record! Costing me a fortune getting back into collecting :heart:
 
SLG said:
I'd love to hear this vinyl rip. Does anyone have a link?

Going to have to search for a copy of this record! Costing me a fortune getting back into collecting :heart:

Yea, HTDAAB on vinyl isn't cheap- if you can find one for under US$100, it's a bargain.
 
gareth brown said:
always worth keeping an eye on discogs guys :wave: there's some available at the moment, one for 60 quid

http://www.discogs.com/sell/list?release_id=714519&ev=rb

sign up, put it on your wishlist and each time someone puts a copy up for for sale you get an email letting you know

True that- I just snagged on last week for a decent price - the wish list emails are awesome!
 
always worth keeping an eye on discogs guys :wave: there's some available at the moment, one for 60 quid

http://www.discogs.com/sell/list?release_id=714519&ev=rb

sign up, put it on your wishlist and each time someone puts a copy up for for sale you get an email letting you know

Just finsihing off amassing a few more of the 80's and 90's 7" singles and 12" before I move onto the (later) vinyl albums.

Still would very much like to hear the vinyl rip if anyone can hook me up:hug:
 
Never received my request in the other thread. Others probably didn't either. Just reminding the peeps that have the goods to pass 'em on. :hyper:
 
That will be edited out of your post soon - it's against the rules to post such links
 
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