Paul Simons Latest 96/24!!

soundbitten1 · « **Reply #20 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 02:41 am »

I grabbed Paul's new one and a used copy of Rhythm Of The Saints at the local record store today. After one listen each I think they're both great.

ted_b · « **Reply #21 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 03:10 am »

My first sit down with this 24/96 version has me somewhat disappointed. Although my hearing may be a little blocked (allergies hitting me hard this week) I can't help but cringe a little at the compression and peak limiting going on. This should be a colorful organic mix of sweet and sour, and yet what i hear is loud over compression, with plenty of energy (thanks 24/96) but it's all turned up to 11! Ok, I mean, it's not Red hot Chili Peppers hot, but it's wayy too much for Paul IMO. I switched over to Surprise, You're the One, etc...and all i could think was ...."ahhhh".

I will try again when my ears are 100% unblocked, but they're not bad enough to not have enjoyed other listening tonight.

Note: weirdly enough, my first listen to this album was earlier this week via Rhapsody (i.e Mp3) and my desktop Audio Engine 5's. It was a much better experience, with more dynamics.

bdiament · « **Reply #22 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 11:52 am »

Hi ted_b,

Quote from: ted_b on 15 Apr 2011, 12:38 am

...The bottom pic shows the waveform, which shows a somewhat loud slightly compressed recording (lots of peaks at max),...

I must say that is well beyond "slightly" compressed. If you look at a truly uncompressed waveform where the maximum peak reaches the top, you'll find fewer instances reaching the top than you can count on one hand.

This example shows just about all the peaks hitting the top. While I've certainly seen even more compressed recordings, this one clearly has a good amount of it. I can only surmise in this case, it is what the artist/producer wanted.

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

ted_b · « **Reply #23 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 01:40 pm »

Barry,
After listening I would retract my "slightly" comment, thanks.

eclein · « **Reply #24 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 02:13 pm »

Ted--please elaborate, I couldn't find the "slightly..." anywhere in your previous posts. So do you like the music?

vinyl_guy · « **Reply #25 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 02:24 pm »

I bought the vinyl at Record Store Day and it comes with a code to download a 24/96 version of the album.

Most download codes that come with new vinyl are for mp3 versions but this one is 24/96. Same with the reissue of Band on the Run. Just now starting to listen.

pardales · « **Reply #26 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 02:29 pm »

Too bad it is only available in FLAC.

ted_b · « **Reply #27 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 02:33 pm »

Quote from: eclein on 16 Apr 2011, 02:13 pm

Ted--please elaborate, I couldn't find the "slightly..." anywhere in your previous posts. So do you like the music?

Barry refers to it, when I was explaining the bottom waveform picture.

I like the music, but find his last few to be more original. Too many of these songs sound like melodies from his last few, IMO. The instrumentation is very cool, but I can't get passed the compression yet. Again, this is likely to improve if my ears were really that congested (plus was in a slightly pissed off move as our Visa was compromised on Xbox Live to the tune of $200+ last night and now need new card and let a dozen online vendors know, etc. Microsoft is recommending taking card off account and buying points and renewals via retail cards like best buy, etc). ARGH!!!

ted_b · « **Reply #28 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 02:33 pm »

Quote from: pardales on 16 Apr 2011, 02:29 pm

Too bad it is only available in FLAC.

?? There are dozens of free and/or cheap format converters. And most players do conversion. If you are on a PC use foobar (free), etc to do nice conversions to many different formats like AIFF, ALAC, wav, etc. On a MAC, use MAX or a few others. FLAC is like a zip file; no big deal to convert. Me, I use DBPoweramp which is all of like $25. It's amazing to convert whole libraries, etc.

pardales · « **Reply #29 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 03:26 pm »

Quote from: ted_b on 16 Apr 2011, 02:33 pm

?? There are dozens of free and/or cheap format converters. And most players do conversion. If you are on a PC use foobar (free), etc to do nice conversions to many different formats like AIFF, ALAC, wav, etc. On a MAC, use MAX or a few others. FLAC is like a zip file; no big deal to convert. Me, I use DBPoweramp which is all of like $25. It's amazing to convert whole libraries, etc.

I'm using a MAC and iTunes -- don't currently have any other players or conversion software. You are right, of course, there is plenty of conversion software available. It would just be nice to be able to download it in AIFF. They should offer more than one format for download.

JDUBS · « **Reply #30 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 03:31 pm »

Quote from: pardales on 16 Apr 2011, 03:26 pm

I'm using a MAC and iTunes -- don't currently have any other players or conversion software. You are right, of course, there is plenty of conversion software available. It would just be nice to be able to download it in AIFF. They should offer more than one format for download.

Absolutely disagree. I use a mac with itunes (oh, and Pure Music) for my "big rig" and flac plays just fine. Flac is the "most standard" lossless format out there. Takes only a few minutes to convert to another format if you don't like it.

-Jim

ted_b · « **Reply #31 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 03:58 pm »

Quote from: pardales on 16 Apr 2011, 03:26 pm

I'm using a MAC and iTunes -- don't currently have any other players or conversion software. You are right, of course, there is plenty of conversion software available. It would just be nice to be able to download it in AIFF. They should offer more than one format for download.

Why? FLAC is compressed (for bandwidth) highly accessible, open, supports full metadata tagging, and easily convertible. MAC utilities like xAct are free and will convert an album to AIFF in like 2 minutes or less. Why is this an issue?
http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Audio/xACT.shtml

HumanMedia · « **Reply #32 on:** 17 Apr 2011, 11:49 pm »

XLD is probably a better app for this and free of course. Pick your desired format and just drag and drop onto it.

FLAC is what it should be available in, and I'm a Mac user.

mgalusha · « **Reply #33 on:** 18 Apr 2011, 03:25 pm »

Quote from: pardales on 16 Apr 2011, 03:26 pm

They should offer more than one format for download.

Consider also that doing so for high resolution files will require triple the storage (flac + aiff at 2x the size) and double the bandwidth, very likely raising costs. The time spent converting them will be much less than the additional time it would take to download them. Just food for thought.

santacore · « **Reply #34 on:** 18 Apr 2011, 06:39 pm »

I downloaded this last night, and I believe there was a AIFF download option in addition to FLAC.

Overall the music is pretty good, but like Ted, I can't get past the compression/limiting. Honestly, I kind of regret the purchase after hearing it on my min system. Bummer!

ted_b · « **Reply #35 on:** 18 Apr 2011, 07:04 pm »

Yeah, my hearing is back to "normal"

and I still can't get past the loudness and subsequent fatigue. I mean, c'mon...WTF! The mixing engineer, Greg Calbi, is quoted as saying producers want the loudest track in an ipod shuffle or people will bypass it!!!!!!!!!!

mikeeastman · « **Reply #36 on:** 19 Apr 2011, 03:37 am »

I hope this is the right place to ask this question. I want a high rez copy of Paul Simons new album. I have 2 choices I can down load from internet or I have a friend that has access to a very hi end system and can make 24/192 copies direct off of vinyl, which would be (in theory ha ha ) the best ?

santacore · « **Reply #37 on:** 19 Apr 2011, 03:43 am »

Judging by the quality of the download I purchased, I would recommend checking out the vinyl rip and comparing it. My guess is it will be processed differently and will likely be less compressed. Let us know what you find out.

mikeeastman · « **Reply #38 on:** 19 Apr 2011, 04:34 am »

Thanks, that what I thought based posts on the site.If someone has the equipment or what ever( I see post were people have posted graph?) and the interest to check out the copy when I get it, I would be more than happy to send them a copy.

santacore · « **Reply #39 on:** 19 Apr 2011, 05:13 am »

Cool, let me know if you want to do a visual (waveform) comparison. I have professional software that I use for recording and editing that will show the difference.