any Dire Straits fans?
11tsteve
Posts: 1,166
i just purchased "Dire Straits" and "Love Over Gold" from Amazon, and both are of the Warner Remaster collection. i was curious if anyone else had heard anything from these remasters and maybe had a more preferred recording? they both sound just a tad bright and overloaded to my ears. i guess i was wondering if its me or others had a similar experience.
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Post edited by 11tsteve on
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Good morning, 11tsteve. Big fan of DS here. I have many Dire Straits albums [LP and digital], along with many of Mark Knopfler's other albums. The only version I have of Love Over Gold is the Japanese SHM SACD. I would, unfortunately, have nothing to compare it too as it is my only copy so far of this album. While it may be a good recording, it is definitely not a stellar recording. Just running off of aural memory, I can tell you that mine is definitely not bright though.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
It's you Steve !!!!!!!!If you can't hear a difference, don't waste your money.
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thanks for the response Tom. i, also, am going off of some memory as the last i owned either of the albums was a while back on vinyl and did not have the memory of them being the way they are.Good morning, 11tsteve. Big fan of DS here. I have many Dire Straits albums [LP and digital], along with many of Mark Knopfler's other albums. The only version I have of Love Over Gold is the Japanese SHM SACD. I would, unfortunately, have nothing to compare it too as it is my only copy so far of this album. While it may be a good recording, it is definitely not a stellar recording. Just running off of aural memory, I can tell you that mine is definitely not bright though.
Tom
i have spent some more time this morning listening, both on speaker and headphones. all i can say, the more i listen, is that "bright" was most likely not the word. perhaps "thin" describes better what i hear... or, am not hearing. i also do not find either album to be consistently mixed from start to finish. but i might be listening too hard now.
none of it is not so horrible as to be unlistenable.i will put "Dire Straits" in my Top Ten Debut Albums, and the out solo in Telegraph Road may be in my Top 5... i was just curious what others might hear.
always a possibility. could also be a sign i might need to finally get that tube preamp:cheesygrin:... and bypass the high and mid pots on these Infintys i am using...It's you Steve !!!!!!!!Polk Lsi9
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Vinyl of LOG will be my next purchase. I love Telegraph Road. I must have 7 or 8 versions of that one song, with my favorite being on an unobtainable [no longer offered] CD from Mark Knopfler, Live in Bergen. While it may not be the best recording, the musical talent on stage that night more than makes up for it.
If you are interested, I can play the SHM-SACD after my son is done watching his cartoons and offer my observations of that version.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
i guess that is up to you as i certainly do not want to interrupt anyone's day. i also understand i am seated squarely at the mid-fi level of gear, but still have the best rig i have even owned. i grew up with a set of RSbs and know the sound, and i also am only about 75-100 hours in on cap burn-in... but other recordings i have (say lucinda williams or leonard cohen) sound soooo good.Polk Lsi9
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No worries. Listening to music is definitely not an interruption of my day. I'm currently on the title track. Review forthcoming.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
I am a big fan of DS and MK, have been since the first DS album, which is still one of favorites of all time, and one that I find has fine SQ as well as brilliant playing. I'm listening to On Every Street right now, and it sounds good also, sometimes just outstanding, although somewhat subdued regarding drums as I've also found on some of his more recent stuff, for example Privateering, which I think overall sounds somewhat muffled for lack of a better term, although its still perhaps my favorites album of 2012. I have most of his stuff on vinyl and cd, and I never thought of any of it as bright. He's worked with the best, including Bob Dylan from way back. Chuck Ainlay has been with him forever, and also Guy Fletcher, who has helped on production on much of his stuff including Privateering and The Notting Hillbillies, which IIRC he did before On Every Street, just to name a few that come to mind. By the way, Guy Fletcher has a Diary on his web site that includes recording sessions for many of MK's most recent albums. Check it out, its great, lots of photos and great inside info: www.guyfletcher.co.uk. Click on "The Diaries" and look on the right and you will see his diaries of various recording sessions. These guys are real pros.
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Since I am not a professional reviewer, this will not be written in the style of your typical reviewer. I just listen and jot things down as I'm listening. Whatever hits my fancy to write down is pretty much how it will be offered here. I will say this, you can trust your ears 11tsteve. Here goes...
This album is a single layer SACD, so I can not compare it to any red book layer, seeing as I do not have any other versions of this album. Listening to the entire album at reasonable listening levels, there are some attributes as well as deficiencies with regards to the recording. I'll start with the attributes first.
The sound stage is great. There is plenty of stereo separation and the entire album images well. This goes for all of the instruments and not just one or a select few. The dynamics are good and there is plenty of low level detail throughout the performances. Instruments just seem to come out of nowhere at times with little to no discernible noise floor associated with each instrument. The bass or lower registers are not lacking and are authoritative when needed with no overloading of the room or overponderance whatsoever. The piano doesn't smear across the sound stage like they do in so many other albums I listen too. It's presence is clearly in the middle of the sound stage and it does not expound beyond the speakers [I can't stand 15' wide pianos, they simply don't exist in a real performance]. The xylophone on Private Investigations is perceived well outside the left speaker and comes across clear and natural whether they were hit hard or softly.
Now, onto the deficiencies of the recording. When I first started playing the album, I had jotted down that the upper frequencies were not bright or "tinny", if you will. Perhaps at times, a cymbal may have been accentuated on some passages but nothing really worth mentioning. It was pleasurable to listen too. Until song 3, Industrial Disease. That selection actually became annoying at times with reference to the upper registers. Almost as if a different mastering engineer took over at that point. I do realize that cymbals are loud and in real life, they can tend to pierce the ears a bit but in a recording, they should not override the rest of the frequencies. That was the case here. Not to the point to where it became unlistenable but the potential for improvement was definitely there. The rest of the album toned it down a bit but the potential for improvement remained.
Other than that, perhaps some of the overall recording effort could have been improved a bit [at least for my expectations and preferences] but the overall recording is nothing to shake a stick at. I wouldn't say it would be a top 100 of all time recordings but it's definitely an above average recording and nowhere close to what some of the mainstream recordings of today sound like. Just to confirm my observations, I went ahead and put in the Mo-Fi Japanese printing of Dead Can Dance, "Within the Realm of a Dying Sun". I can say with complete certainty that you were correct. When comparing this album to other great recordings, this one tends to be a little bright. I'll have to find out more about your description of "overloaded" as I honestly do not know what you mean with reference to that but at the end of the day, it did seem to be bright and the potential for improvement definitely exists. Especially with regards to song #3.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
both are of the Warner Remaster collection.
There's your problem. Remastered CD's tend to be brickwalled disasters, victims of the loudness war. Try to find the original versions.
As for the SHM-SACD versions, both sound damn good to my ears with no hint of brightness.Political Correctness'.........defined
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thanks for the input here F1nut. i have seen reviews on some remasters being a good thing, but its good to know your info.There's your problem. Remastered CD's tend to be brickwalled disasters, victims of the loudness war. Try to find the original versions.
As for the SHM-SACD versions, both sound damn good to my ears with no hint of brightness.
and thanks very much Tom for an insightful look into what your ears are hearing. very interesting... what i meant by overloaded was there are just a few points where there is a hint of what sounds like the original taped being overloaded just a little. MK's guitar picks up just a little distortion like at the beginning of Waterline, and the dobro at the beginning of Water of Love. just to my ears it doesn't sound like amp distortion... but i am sure i am wrong. re-listening right now and i am thinking i was over-analyzing this morning.Polk Lsi9
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Even song #3, Industrial Disease? Running off of memory, I didn't recall the album being bright but when I was listening to it this morning I became enlightened. Especially when I went to go put in the Dead Can Dance SACD. Then it really stood out in comparison.As for the SHM-SACD versions, both sound damn good to my ears with no hint of brightness.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
I dont care for the Remasters myself, got the remastered debut at Walmart for $5 and it does sound a little hot.Home Theater
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i have to agree with you here as well... pretty much what i am hearing.sucks but i am going to be looking for replacement copies of what are brand new cd just to do a side by side experiment.Even song #3, Industrial Disease? Running off of memory, I didn't recall the album being bright but when I was listening to it this morning I became enlightened. Especially when I went to go put in the Dead Can Dance SACD. Then it really stood out in comparison.
TomPolk Lsi9
N.E.W. A-20 class A 20W
NAD 1020 completely refurbished
Keces DA-131 mk.II
Analysis Plus Copper Oval, Douglass, Morrow SUB3, Huffman Digital
Paradigm DSP-3100 v.2
