great music average mastering or average music great mastering

[prem]

Many in our hobby pursue audiophile recordings but in my limited experience, i find the music quality in most of these albums pretty average. Most of the good music normally lies with the big labels but here the mastering could be a bit of hit and miss.

In my case i would rather listen to good music and compromise a little with the mastering.

 

[malvai]

I'd choose good music everytime... in fact, i choose good music all the time!

which is probably why i don't have ANY of the audiophile cd's. this came as a surprise to a few audiophile friends who'd come over a few weeks back! Lol!

 

[baijuxavior]

What use with audiophile CDs if you don't like the music? So I prefer music over quality.

 

[soundofmusic]

When we listen to great music, we forget if the mastering is good or bad. We start enjoying the music not the way its recorded. Good example for me is the Malayalam Songs sung by Yesudas. Even though I dont understand the language..... and the recording quality is not that great, I listen to those songs for a longer period of time then the Sara K from Chesky records.:lol:

 

[prem]

Very well put soundofmusic

 

[akd]

When we listen to great music, we forget if the mastering is good or bad. We start enjoying the music not the way its recorded. Good example for me is the Malayalam Songs sung by Yesudas. Even though I dont understand the language..... and the recording quality is not that great, I listen to those songs for a longer period of time then the Sara K from Chesky records.:lol:

completely agreed, music is always before the mastering, but what if the song you like dearly is in bad recording quality?? it irritates me like nothing, thats the point where I spend money to get the best possible original media with best possible recording, I am in hindi film music (50-80s)

CD mastering
99% of the them are below average
cost effective, not more than 90/- per ACD on an average
easily available
easy to listen to
space requirement is less
light weight
overall they do not satisfy my longing for SQ

Vinyl mastering
most of them beats ACD masterings any day any time (remember I am talking about HFM)
costly affair, sometime they cost more 3000/-
difficult to procure if not in Metros
takes time to listen to
space requirement siginificant
comparatively heavier, around 225 gms each
overall their performance make me buy more of them

even there are OSTs whose no audio media were released ever, to add to the worry not even VCD/DVD, so the only source is VHS which takes years to source but the SQ will be seriously compromised - nothing we can do about it

 

[Hiten]

Definitely music first. But that too can be subjective . Broadly speaking all creative mediums have renaissance period. When creativity, talent, hard work, free hand given to creative people without any time constraint, was the norm and only substance mattered.

Modern super high fidelity could be a frail attempt to reach that height. That's why we have remastered classics. There is a saying in Marathi. If you put gold in dirty rag it won't sell but put dirty rag in gold package it will sell.

I wish some of the Kishore Kumar songs were atleast well recorded. :sad:

 

[panditji]

Music definitely...the audiophile CDs are a stupid marketing trick where the songs recorded generally have only vocals or 1 or 2 instruments playing together.... also I prefer listening to melody rather than the singer sighing or panting or breathing ...

 

[vivek.saikia]

A few days back, I found a very old song in my native language (Assamese), which I had heard when I was a little kid. The sound quality, as expected was bad to say the least.
I listened to this melody on my headphones and by the time the song finished, my eyes were moist, with joy and happiness ofcourse!.

I haven't had this feeling with any of the High fidelity recordings that I have.

 

[gobble]

Great question posed by the OP.

While one has to accept that music matters more, the poor quality of recordings almost always fill the listener with regrets .. at having spend so much on hi-fi gear not finding recordings up to the mark. Then a lot of good music can sound insipid and less inspiring than they could if the recording had been good. A good recording can help one discover and enjoy music that one would otherwise dismiss after a few listens.

For example I have charsur CDs of great Carnatic artistes of yesteryears mastered in 1960s. Awful quality has meant the listening session is like an academic exercise. I have only played these twice in two years. Since these are not the typical favorite childhood tunes, the poor recording has prevented me from expanding my musical horizons in the appreciation of music that have a level of intellectual aesthetics in them.

--G0bble

 

[himadri]

Since these are not the typical favorite childhood tunes, the poor recording has prevented me from expanding my musical horizons in the appreciation of music that have a level of intellectual aesthetics in them.

--G0bble

Aptly put Gobble. Though music always comes first I have realized that I subconsciously pull out music that generally has better recording quality. (I am not talking of audiophile recordings since I cant exactly classify them, my experience being limited to a few demo recordings of speaker manufacturers .)
Cheers
Himadri

 

[akd]

Definitely music first. But that too can be subjective . Broadly speaking all creative mediums have renaissance period. When creativity, talent, hard work, free hand given to creative people without any time constraint, was the norm and only substance mattered.

Modern super high fidelity could be a frail attempt to reach that height. That's why we have remastered classics. There is a saying in Marathi. If you put gold in dirty rag it won't sell but put dirty rag in gold package it will sell.

I wish some of the Kishore Kumar songs were atleast well recorded. :sad:

well said mate, isn't we are spending fortune only because sheer lack of quality mastering, had they been quality recording it would have been a different story all together

off the topic: Kishore Kumar is the single singer whose songs got me into all this madness and finding the best possible quality for many many songs is a tough task, I can produce a long list that remained elusive for a decade or so but this is a different discussion

@Prem: thanks for initiating this, actually these are the topics that ultimately keep us going in the long run, electronics is a route while the songs (or movies) are the destiny

keep writing....

 

[cmsajith]

My guess... Practically, priority will be for Good Music if you are listening to music....Audiophile Cds / music are when you are showing off your gears... Isnt it so? (Ask yourself)

 

[gobble]

off the topic: Kishore Kumar is the single singer whose songs got me into all this madness and finding the best possible quality for many many songs is a tough task, I can produce a long list that remained elusive for a decade or so but this is a different discussion

Hi akd

Kishore Kumar-ji deserves a separate thread in his memory. Since you have been chasing this artistes works for a while, it would be nice if you can share the list of quality recordings and what labels to avoid so we all can benefit.

--G0bble

 

[ssf]

Great music average mastering - Maybe
Average music great mastering - Not really
Great Music Great Mastering - I really don't have to answer this one :lol:

I would have considered myself fortunate if quality of music was not important for me. Would have saved myself a lot of money and time searching for gears that sound good.

 

[akd]

Hi akd

Kishore Kumar-ji deserves a separate thread in his memory. Since you have been chasing this artistes works for a while, it would be nice if you can share the list of quality recordings and what labels to avoid so we all can benefit.

--G0bble

It would be a pleasure for me to do so within my capacity. But if I am not wrong it will not be interesting to most of the users here as the general taste here is different. However, if anyone wishes a dedicated thread (on RDB and KK) I promise I will pour in enough information, am just answering you and have no intention to hijack the original issue here.

coming to the point, a few examples (of course HFM and purely my personal opinion)

greart music average mastering - 1942 A LOVE STORY (HMV CD and later LP), PARINDA (WESTON LP), all "electronically processed stereo" recordings such as YADON KI BARAT (HMV LP), ANAMIKA (HMV LP), I have found KARZ (HMV LP) to be below average as the recoding messes the high ranges and though the stereo separation is reasonable......

average music great mastering - need to think.....

great music and great mastering - SADMA (CBS LP), MAN PASAND (HMV LP), IJAZAAT (HMV LP), SAAGAR (MIL LP) the list is endless

keep adding

 

[prem]

Hi Akd

Completely agree with the electronically processed stereo lps.

 

[skroderider]

A few days back, I found a very old song in my native language (Assamese), which I had heard when I was a little kid. The sound quality, as expected was bad to say the least.
I listened to this melody on my headphones and by the time the song finished, my eyes were moist, with joy and happiness ofcourse!.

I haven't had this feeling with any of the High fidelity recordings that I have.

Can you tell me which song it was? I have this same feeling when I listen to old Assamese songs e.g. came across Mon heera doi on Youtube the other day.

 

[arj]

Very Old thred bought back to life and not surprisingly still a very valid topic !

There is a Grey area somewhere hear as well as while one is very willing to compromise a little something in mastering for good music , there is a tolerance level after which you cant really forgive the mastering

Eg for me , I loved the music from the Movie Yuvraj, but the mastering/recording was something i simply could not handle !
the other extreme example in the other side for me is "Jazz in a pawnshop" I am not the greatest fan of the music a but the mastering , attention to details was so good that i ended hearing it many times ( especially as it tests detail retrieval of a system) but these days have rather come to like the music..although still not love it and hear it only when i want to make sure things are right in the system .

hence finally, Music >> Mastering, but as audiophiles we do want that bit extra for mastering

 

[Kushanava]

Great Thread!! When we talk about good music, its mostly the tune that's the "first love" and the lyric and the instrumentation follows. You would hardly find people humming the Modern tunes as there is "too much of everything" and the simplicity of a tune is lost.
The emotions/feel/melody of the song resides in the tune and that's what have created memories , even while listening through a simple radio system.

I feel a modern day hifi system is so transparent , that it shows off more than a "Tune" and highlights the recording ambience ( which was previously never considered as a part of music). For average recordings the emotions are murdered as you are no more focused on the tune. May be a less transparent system will bring more joy for average recordings than a Hifi one.