Thursday, August 24, 2006

Re:Mailbag: On Bob Dylan; More on Digital Recordings; Has our Hearing Gone or has the quality gone too?

(Ed. note. Some of you audiophiles can weigh in on this. There is a debate among the inner sanctum at The Observer on the comments recently by Bob Dylan that all of the cd recordings in the past 10 years or so are basiclly (expletive deleted). He reflected that his own recordings sounded better in the sound studio than in the final product.

The Observer has argued that in reviewing the sound of "Lay Lady Lay," one must ask---- who was the singer that actually hit the high notes? In the more recent Bob Dylan, his range seems very narrow indeed. Is it him or the cd or both.

This letter from one dedicated reader of the Observer sheds light on CD quality. )




 

I saw this on the FAQ page of a company that does transfers of LPs to CDs.  I guess I'm not the only one who's noticed this.  So maybe we need to spend a little more on the players, too?  I think that BOSE would be ok, though.
 

Q:  What about the "harsh" sound of CD's?

A:

 - "Harshness" is caused by cheap or improperly designed converters (analog to digital at recording, and digital to analog in your playback unit).  We use analog to digital converters of the highest quality, specially designed for audiophile-grade work.  Our CD's sound as warm as the source LP's, with no added harshness or coloration (minus the vinyl noise, crackles and pops).  The quality of the converters in your playback unit is also important.


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2 comments:

  1. The Evansville Observer1:46 PM

    Here is the article on Bob Dylan:
    Bob Dylan criticizes quality of today's music recordings
    Deutsche Presse Agentur
    Published: Wednesday August 23, 2006

    Los Angeles- US music legend Bob Dylan says the sound quality of contemporary music recording is "atrocious." "I don't know
    anybody who's made a record that sounds decent in the past twenty years, really," Dylan, 65, is quoted as saying in the September issue of Rolling Stone magazine. His own songs on his forthcoming album sounded much better in the studio than on CD, Dylan said in the article which appeared on the magazine's Web site Tuesday evening.

    Dylan is set to release his 31st album, Modern Times, in the US next week. The album is his first release in five years. His new album includes songs like Thunder on the Mountain that address traumatic events like the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and Hurricane Katrina, but do not draw political conclusions.

    Dylan self-produced the new album, because he says no one knows better than he does the way he wants his music to sound. He blames the poor sound quality of recordings on the CD format.

    "We all like records that are played on record players, but let's face it, those days are gon-n-n-e," he said. "CDs are
    small. There's no stature to it."

    © 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agenteur


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  2. The Evansville Observer1:49 PM

    anon wrote:



    ------- I'll try to find out about the information content of LPs vs. CDs. Also, it's very possible that "Lay, Lady Lay" had a different producer than his earlier stuff. There were some guys who were just in a different league. For example, Billy Sherril, who produced most of Tammy Wynette's and George Jones' recordings are just fabulous. They give me goosebumps still today, even from CDs! And others were almost unbelievably bad. Ever buy a Beach Boys LP recorded by Pickwick? Your dad's 6-transistor AM radio sounded almost as good, believe me! This could be an interesting exercise on a rainy day. Yea, I know, weird.

    anon

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