TheWanderer
The Fly
I couldn't find a thread on this...
U2's entire catalog has been mastered for iTunes and went up last week and all albums are on sale at $5.99. SOI and JT30 had already been MFiT, but all the other are up there now too.
For those not aware, MFiT is where the compressed AAC is ripped from 24-bit/96k digital masters instead of the CD's 16-bit/44k. They are noticeably improved from straight CD rips. MFiT also has strict guidelines against loudness thresholds and will reject a master with clipping.
Since I already have all the other remasters, I downloaded R&H, Zooropa, Pop, and HTDAAB. I saw no point in ATYCLB and NLOTH since they both sound totally great.
HTDAAB has a little more dynamic range, but is still totally overly compressed. There's definitely less clipping, but apparently it was the hot mixes all along, not the loudness-war mastered CD. Bummer.
R&H, Pop, and Zooropa all sound phenomenal and much improved, but especially Zooropa. I always thought it had a certain murky midrange. It should be noted Zooropa is my favorite U2 album and it sounds so brilliant. There's a clarity and depth to everything, but not shrill or bright.
Sadly, there is a small digital artifact at 1:46 on Zooropa's title track. You could almost be fooled into thinking it's part of the static noise but it's not. I re-downloaded it and compared to my 1993 and 2011 Achtung-box CD and it's not on those. Of all the places and songs for this to happen.
It's the super quiet lull right as Edge's auto-wah fades in. I sent Apple support an email, but doubt anything will be resolved. It's always something...
U2's entire catalog has been mastered for iTunes and went up last week and all albums are on sale at $5.99. SOI and JT30 had already been MFiT, but all the other are up there now too.
For those not aware, MFiT is where the compressed AAC is ripped from 24-bit/96k digital masters instead of the CD's 16-bit/44k. They are noticeably improved from straight CD rips. MFiT also has strict guidelines against loudness thresholds and will reject a master with clipping.
Since I already have all the other remasters, I downloaded R&H, Zooropa, Pop, and HTDAAB. I saw no point in ATYCLB and NLOTH since they both sound totally great.
HTDAAB has a little more dynamic range, but is still totally overly compressed. There's definitely less clipping, but apparently it was the hot mixes all along, not the loudness-war mastered CD. Bummer.
R&H, Pop, and Zooropa all sound phenomenal and much improved, but especially Zooropa. I always thought it had a certain murky midrange. It should be noted Zooropa is my favorite U2 album and it sounds so brilliant. There's a clarity and depth to everything, but not shrill or bright.
Sadly, there is a small digital artifact at 1:46 on Zooropa's title track. You could almost be fooled into thinking it's part of the static noise but it's not. I re-downloaded it and compared to my 1993 and 2011 Achtung-box CD and it's not on those. Of all the places and songs for this to happen.
It's the super quiet lull right as Edge's auto-wah fades in. I sent Apple support an email, but doubt anything will be resolved. It's always something...
