Bob Ludwig claims to be a vocal opponent of the Loudness War, for those wondering.
Nirvana
Pay To Play (DGC Rarities, Vol. 1 Version)Â
Another track ruined on the Deluxe Edition. Sorry for the lower-than-ideal kpbs rate, still sounds better than the version on the Nevermind demaster. Now at 320kpbs.
Update 10/10/11: Bob Ludwig’s response to my criticism over his horrible mastering job.
To be honest, I was a little shocked at the enthusiastic response that I got for my write-up on the Super Deluxe edition of Nevermind. I didn’t expect that anyone aside from me and maybe a couple hundred other people would be worrying about the audio quality of the Nirvana remasters. I was pleasantly surprised to see the post kind of go viral, and not just because it gave me a record number of hits. I was happy to see that people are starting to care about audio quality, about the Loudness War, and about the preservation of important works of art like Nevermind.
That’s probably why a lot of music fans and collectors are buying vinyl these days, because a lot of people think that it’s physically impossible for vinyl to be “too loud.” The grooves on a vinyl record can’t reach the volume that a CD can. Because of that, many people, myself included, held out hope that  the Deluxe 4LP version of Nevermind might be worth getting.
But there’s nothing sacred about vinyl that makes it immune to a shit remaster. If something is over-compressed and too loud on CD and they use the same master for the LP, it might not sound as bad, but it sure as hell isn’t going to sound good. For the Nevermind vinyl to stand any chance, it would have to be taken from a different master, one made for vinyl.
So was it?
Well, before I get into that I feel like I should put out a few disclaimers.
First, I am not an audio engineer and I do not consider myself an audiophile. I’m just an angry dude with a turntable who appreciates music. While I’ve been writing about music for over a decade, I rarely delve into the technical aspects of music production. So if I use any technical terms incorrectly, please correct me.
Second, vinyl is a fickle beast. You could record the same record on 10 different turntables and it will probably sound a little different on each one. When recording a vinyl to a computer, the turntable, stylus, cartridge, pre-amp and soundcard each play a considerable factor in the quality of the recording. If you do your own tests on your own copy of Nevermind, your results may vary, but probably not enough for it to make a substantial difference.
Finally, this is going to be long. But if you want the short version here you go:Â Stay Away.
Now for the long version…
Let’s get the small stuff out of the way. The vinyl version only comes in one flavor, the Deluxe Edition. This version has 40 tracks, which include the original album in full; a collection of B-sides and live cuts; the Smart Studio Sessions; the Boombox Rehearsals; and the BBC sessions. It does not include the Devonshire mixes, nor does it have the live CD and DVD that are on the Super Deluxe version. Although I understand that putting all of that on vinyl would be a bit expensive, it’s kind of a drag.
The packaging is decent, with some nice artwork included, but no special linear notes are included.
The LPs come in individual static-free dust covers, so while they may sound like junk, at least they won’t get dusty. And they’re each a hefty 180 grams, so if push comes to shove, you can use them in case of a zombie invasion.
To judge the audio quality of each LP, I recorded them using my Audio-Technica ATLP120 Turntable (my Technics is in the shop) that is equipped with an Ortofon Arkiv stylus and cartridge. The turntable is connected to an ART USB PhonoPlus Pre-amp, which is plugged in to my computer via USB. The recordings were made using Audacity and any screenshots taken are in Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio 10. No processing was done on any of the files. I recorded each record at the the loudest possible volume that didn’t create clipping.
For the purposes of this review I will be looking at just two songs; “Aneurysm” and “Curmudgeon.” I chose these because they are two of my favorite Nirvana songs, and sadly, the two that suffer the most from audio compression in my opinion.
Here’s a comparison of the waveforms for “Aneurysm.” The top is the original taken from the Japanese  Hormaning EP. The middle is from the the  Nevermind vinyl edition. The bottom is from the Nevermind Super Deluxe CD :
You can click on the image to see it bigger.
As you can see, the vinyl version looks better than the remastered CD version, but it still doesn’t sound as good as the original version taken from the Hormoaning EP. It’s still too loud.
And that’s not just my subjective view, I can prove it by comparing the dynamic ranges of each version.
Dynamic range is the difference between the softest and loudest sounds in a recording. Dynamic range is a good thing. All music, even heavy metal and hard dance, needs dynamic range. It’s what gives music life, energy and power. Without it, a song can turn into noise. Generally speaking, the higher a song’s dynamic range, the better.
Using the TT Dynamic Range Meter, I measured the dynamic range of each version of “Aneurysm.” Here are the results:
The remastered CD loses nearly half of the original’s dynamic range! The vinyl version fairs better, but it still pales compared to the original. And in case you’re wondering, it doesn’t matter what volume I record my vinyl version at, as long as there is no clipping, the dynamic range will not change. I checked.
Now for “Curmudgeon.” The top is the original, taken from the “Lithium” CD single. The middle is from the Nevermind vinyl. The bottom is from the Nevermind CD:
In this one you can even see that the vinyl version loses a lot of the drums in the new mix. No surprises in in the dynamic range either:
I could repeat this for all 40 songs, but I think you get my point. While the vinyl version of the Nevermind remaster is better than the CD version, it was probably taken from the same mix. Both the vinyl and CD versions are so loud that they end up losing subtle nuances and qualities that were in the original mixes, so they are inferior versions of the album. Think about it, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of one of the most important albums of my generation, DGC/Universal purposely went out of their way to make it sound worse.
Assholes.
If you’re new to this whole “Loudness War” thing then you’re probably asking yourself “why the hell would a label go out of their way to make their music sound worse?”
That’s an excellent question. The answer is simple: Because they’re a bunch of fucking morons.
Okay, it’s a little more complex than that. Labels (and sometimes the bands too) like to think that louder = better. They think that if their music is louder than everyone else’s then it will “pop” out at the listener more and create a greater impact. The problem is that they’re wrong. There no correlation between the loudness of a song and its popularity. Additionally, a song that is too compressed will actually sound noticeably worse on the radio.
So actually, it’s not more complex than what I first said; it’s because they’re a bunch of fucking morons.
Never let reason get in the way of business decision though!
When I was doing research for this post I found this video on YouTube. It’s a presentation made by Bob Ludwig at the 2009 Audio Engineering Convention. For those of you who don’t know, Bob Ludwig is a Grammy award-winning audio engineer who has worked with artists like Pearl Jam, Coldplay, The Rolling Stones and hundreds of others. During the presentation he says this:
“If something comes in sounding amazing, a mastering engineer, if they’re any good, will do nothing to it.”
Truer words have never been spoken.
Too bad Bob Ludwig was the person responsible for the Nevermind remaster.
Oh well, whatever. Nevermind.
…
On second thought, no. Fuck that. You should mind. Don’t let them fucking win. I’m not going to. They need to know how much this matters to us.
Bob Ludwig is on Twiter. Tell him what you think about the Nevermind remaster. Let Krist and Dave know too. And the faceless PR blob that runs the Nirvana account. Shit, tell Courtney, it couldn’t hurt. Harass anyone else you can think of who may be responsible for this bullshit. Got the email address or Twitter account of someone in the music business who is promoting this idiotic trend? Share it in the comments. Maybe we can annoy these idiots into taking notice that we don’t want our music ruined anymore.
Tell your friends to do the same. Spread the word. Follow sites and organizations that are fighting this. Visit  Tune Me Up and Justice For Audio. Sign the petition at the Pleasurize Music Foundation that demands music be treated with the respect it deserves.
Music should be this important to you. It should fucking matter. This is something you should care about because if enough people speak up and hit the record companies where it matters (their rapidly shrinking wallets) then they might turn their overcompressed bullshit music down for five seconds and listen to what the fans want.
If not, then they’ll probably end up going out of business. Either way we win.
Nirvana
Aneurysm (Hormoaning Version)
Curmudgeon (Lithium CD Single Version)
Even In His Youth (Hormoaning Version)
For me, these B-sides are as recognizable and as much a part of my teen years as Nevermind proper. I remember borrowing the “Lithium” single from a neighbor after Kurt died and thinking “wow, there are Nirvana songs I don’t own! So cool!” I think I ended up buying the CD off of her so I could keep it. Later that year I went to L.A. with my dad and discovered for the first time the joy of a truly awesome independent record store. There, I bought one of my first LPs (Veruca Salt’s American Thighs, I don’t know why) and my first Japanese import, the Hormoaning EP. I thought it was so cool. Not only was it Nirvana, but it was Japanese! For a grungy teenage nerd into anime that’s two awesome things at once! That’s one thing I miss about the pre-Internet days, it was way easier to be surprised by shit like that.
These are the original versions of the B-sides on the bonus disc of the new Nevermind. Download these versions and listen to these amazing songs as they were meant to be heard.
More on Nirvana later today! Until then, let’s dance.
Underworld
Born Slippy.NUXX (Paul Oakenfold Mix)
Born Slippy.NUXX (Atomic Hooligan Mix)
Born Slippy.NUXX (2003 12″ Version)
Born Slippy.NUXX (London Elektricity Mix)
You know what the problem is with remixing “Born Slippy.NUXX?”
You’re remixing “Born Slippy.NUXX!”
That song is a classic. Easily one of the top 10 electronic songs of the decade. The original version of the song is sonic perfection. I don’t think I would be exaggerating much by saying that when I heard Underworld perform it live at Ultra last year that the song literally got me high. It’s aural ecstasy. I didn’t suck on a pacifier or get all touchy-feely with anyone though.
By remixing it you’re trying to basically make “perfect” better. And why that’s impossible, I will say that some of these mixes from 2003 do manage to be good enough if you let them stand on their own weight and don’t compare them to the incomparable original.
The best of the bunch is the London Elektricity mix, mostly because he pretty much discards the original to do his own thing about halfway in, with the vocals the only original element that remains. Â Conversely, the mix by Atomic Hooligan is good for exactly the opposite reason. About halfway through he strips the song bare, leaving nothing more than the vocals and that classic synth melody. It’s pure, uncut “Born Slippy.NUXX,” and when the beat kicks back in, it almost hits the levels of epic euphoria found in the original, but not quite.
The Oakenfold mix sounds like, well, Paul Oakenfold remixing an Underworld tune, turning it into the boring style of trance that Oakenfold produces when he’s not trying. Whatever, it’s not bad, just utterly unnecessary in every way you can think of.
As for the 2003 12″ mix. It’s just weird. The synth melody is replaced with a piano melody. And while I give them credit for trying something different, it really doesn’t work that well. It just makes you want to hear the original again.
All of these are worth at least one listen though, because if nothing else they are curious interpretations of a classic. So enjoy and I’ll see you all later today when I’ll either be exclaiming the joys of the Deluxe vinyl edition of Nevermind, or cursing it existence with every fiber of my being.
I’m really preparing myself for the latter.
This blog has gotten more hits in the past two days than it usually does in two weeks. I guess sometimes even someone like me can write something that can really connect with what people are thinking and be relevant with current trends and topics.
Other times I share out-of-print songs from obscure soundtracks that no one cares about. Tonight’s post is the latter.
Selections From the Virtuosity Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
For those of you who don’t remember/successfully forgot, Virtuosity was a mid-90s action/sci-fi flick starring Denzel Washington as an ex-cop who is released from prison to hunt down a robotic serial killer played by Russell Crowe. The movie also stars Kelly Lynch (proving that you can go downhill from Roadhouse) and William Fichtner, because he’s in one out of ten movies ever made.
It was directed by Brett Leonard, the only director I can think of who is from my hometown of Toledo, Ohio. Leonard’s other directorial efforts include The Lawnmower Man, Hideway and Man-Thing. He also directed Highlander: The Source, which many consider to be even worse than Highlander II: The Quickening. That’s a fucking accomplishment.
He also directed Feed, a horror movie about a serial-killer who gets off on feeding his victims to death. It’s set in Toledo, Ohio and sounds like the most accurate depiction of my hometown that has ever been committed to film.
Anyways, while Virtuosity is a slightly-below mediocre film, it does have a slightly-above mediocre soundtrack that is now out-of-print. You can get some of the songs on albums by the artists, but most of the tracks remain hard-to-find and rare, and those are the ones I’ll be featuring tonight. If you like mid-90s dance/alt-rock then you might find some tracks here you’ll like.
A quick little disclaimer/cop-out: I know very little about all of the bands featured tonight. So if I make any mistakes, glaring omissions of facts that should be mentioned, IÂ apologize. I’m battling a pretty wicked cold at the moment and I’m really too damn tired to research that much right now.
The Heads (Featuring Deborah Harry)
No Talking Just Head
The Heads are everyone in Talking Heads except David Byrne, created when they wanted to reunite but Byrne refused. They only released one album, and this is the title track from it. Other vocalists contributed to the album, including Richard Hell, Gordon Gano and Andy Partridge. I heard the album sucked, but I do love this track. Any of you heard it and want to share? It’s out of print at the moment.
The Worldbeaters and Peter Gabriel
Party Man
I have absolutely no freakin’ clue as to who The Worldbeaters are. If anyone can shed some light on them for me I would appreciate it. Since they apparently never released anything other than this song, I suspect they do not exist and that it is a pseudonym of Peter Gabriel and whomever he was working with while he recorded this song (which may be Tori Amos, she co-wrote this tune). This is one of the best tracks on the soundtrack, although cool, the mellow vibe totally does not fit in with the rest of the album.
Dig
Hu Hu Hu (Danny Saber Remix)
Dig was an also-ran alt-rock band from the mid-90s. I didn’t remember them at all until I did my research for this article and re-discovered their sole kinda-hit “Believe.” According to Discogs this remix is by Danny Saber (the linear notes for this soundtrack are annoyingly vague and don’t even list that most of the tracks are remixes). That makes sense, because it sounds like nothing else I looked up by the band. Not bad, extremely 90s sounding.
Live
White, Discussion (Sam Sever Remix)
Hey Live! Remember Live? Yeah, I almost forget them too. I blame Secret Samadhi, goddamn that album was dogshit. This very odd remix is not as good as the original version but it is interesting in a “hey let’s just add some beats and a rap to a rock song and call it a remix” kind of way.
Fatima Mansions
The Loyaliser (Juno Reactor Remix)
Okay, I had never heard of this band until about five minutes ago, when I looked up their Wikipedia page and discovered the following:
Judging from what I’ve found on YouTube, they appear to have been absolutely fucking nuts. I think I just discovered another band to obsess over, like I needed another one of those. Oh well, I’m assuming I can get their stuff fairly cheap used.
Also, if you like this remix, check out the original version. It’s even better.
Traci Lords
Fallen Angel (Paul Oakenfold Remix)
Traci Lords is an amazing singer and her album 1,000 Fires is a great example of mid-90s Hi-NRG dance music. It’s a shame she never put out another record. Not only that, it’s out of print too! Looks like I might need to feature it sometime.
Londonbeat
Build It With Love
If right now you are wondering “Who the fuck are Londonbeat?” then click here.
That song will probably be stuck in your head for the next few hours/days/weeks. Sorry about that.
I have no idea how much this remix differs from the original version, even in its remixed form it’s incredibly dated and silly. I bet it was a banger in the gay clubs at the time though.
India and Masters At Work
I Can’t Get No Sleep
India (the woman singing on this track – not the country) has an amazing voice, but that can’t save this track from being so forgettable an elephant would have a hard time remembering it. In fact, whenever I see the that song title I get “Insomnia” by Faithless stuck in my head instead. It’s more upbeat 90s dance, and fine for what it is. Just not my style at all.
That’s it for this one. In case you were wondering, the in-print tracks from this soundtrack are:
Black Grape – A Big Day In The North
Tricky – Abbaon Fat Tracks
William Orbit – Into The Paradise
Samurai – Juno Reactor (AWESOME track, buy it)
Lords Of Acid – Young Boys
I might get another post out on Monday, and expect my full report on the Nevermind 4LP set this Tuesday night!
Oh, and if you’re one of my new readers and want constant updates about my stupid life/listening habits, be sure to follow me on Twitter.
My post on the Nevermind Super Deluxe Edition debacle has officially become the most popular post on The Lost Turntable, thanks to it spreading like wildfire on Facebook and being picked up by Fark yesterday.
Of course, with popularity comes criticism.
The biggest complaint of my post was that I didn’t rip the CD myself. Many people here, and on Fark, have claimed that an improper rip can result in a distorted/over-compressed file.
While ripping at a low bitrate can cause distortion and decreased fidelity, it really doesn’t make the waveform LOUDER. But since so many people like to complain (it is the Internet after all) here’s a comparison of “Aneurysm.” One is taken from from my copy of the Super Deluxe Edition, and the other was purchased from iTunes:
They’re identical, and much louder than the original:
Music on iTunes is encoded in the M4A format at 256kpbs. I’m not a fan of the M4A format, but it wouldn’t cause audio compression like that. It’s at the source. It’s on the master.
Also, I’m not the only person who noticed this.
It’s not even a new phenomenon when it comes to Nirvana recordings. All of the following were taken from my own personal CD collection.
“Curmudgeon” – Original B-side version vs. the With The Lights Out version (which is slightly different, but I believe it’s the same recording)
For some reason I have misplaced my original copy of Breed, and I don’t think you’ll be swayed by my vinyl rip. Here’s how “Negative Creep” looks on the 20th Anniversay Edition. I can assure you that the original CD pressing was not this loud:
As you can see, this is not a new problem with Nirvana remasters. I can assume that the butchered remaster of In Utero is already done and ready to assault our ears in 2013.
If you want a great example showing how bad these remasters sound, check out this video comparing the original version of “Curmudgeon” versus the WTLO remaster from 2004.
My bottom line remains the same: this “remaster” is shit and makes the music sound worse. Don’t buy it. The word is still out on the vinyl version though. My copy is coming on Tuesday, I’ll give you all a full report then.
No new music for now. Hopefully I’ll have a new, non-Nirvana, post tonight.
A few days ago I shared my thoughts on the Nevermind Super Deluxe debacle. But that wasn’t the only classic album to get the deluxe treatment last week.
Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon was also reissued. Much like re-issue of Nevermind, it was released in several formats:
Standard Edition
The album remasterd, available digitally, on CD and on vinyl (with a download code, good job EMI!).
Experience Edition
The album remastered on the first disc, and a complete concert performance of the album taken from a 1974 concert. Available on CD and digitally.
Immersion Edition
This edition has all the things. In addition to the remastered album and the live concert, the Immersion Edition includes:
An audio DVD (not a DVD-A), with the 2003 5.1 Surround Mix; an LPCM stereo mix; and the freakin’ 1973 QUADROPHONIC MIX in both standard resolution audio and high resolution audio.
A second DVD with live footage from the 1970s; a 25 minute documentary about the album; and the concert screen films from three of the band’s tours.
A Blu-ray with the 5.1 mix and the new mix in uncompressed 24-bit audio, as well as everything on the second DVD in high-definition.
And finally, a third CD with a never-before-released early mix of the album by Alan Parsons; a track from the never-before-released Pink Floyd album Household Objects; and several demos that were also never-before-released.
That’s six discs of awesomeness. But wait, there’s more! You also get two booklets; a poster; replica tickets and stickers; Pink Floyd marbles; collectible cards; coasters and a bloody scarf. When you lay it out all together it kind of looks ridiculous.
That’s a lot of stuff, but the real gem of this collection is that third CD that features the original mix of the album and the rare tracks. That mix is drastically different. The random vocal samples aren’t the same in some places, and “Great Gig In The Sky” is almost a different song entirely. It’s fascinating to listen to. Hardcore Floyd fans should eat it up.
The demos are great as well, but the hands-down, must-hear track on this disc is “The Hard Way” an instrumental from Pink Floyd’s never-released/never-finished Household Objects album. It’s minimal, experimental, haunting and beautiful. More Household Objects material is set to be included on the Immersion Edition of Wish You Were Here, and if this song is any indication, I can’t wait to hear more!
There are few problems with this set though, the biggest being the  packaging.
The first two CDs and the two DVDs are housed in the bottom of the box, without any casing of their own. When I opened my box, three of the four discs had been knocked loose and were just sprawled around. Thankfully they weren’t seriously scratched, but I could see this being a serious sticking point for some. Also, the Blu-ray and third CD are kept in plain cardboard cases, also making it easy for them to be thrown about the box during movement. An odd choice.
Also, the marbles, collectible cards and scarf, while nice, are a bit excessive. I would have rather had them excised in exchanged for a slightly lower price.
Finally, there’s the issue of the remaster itself. It’s very good and not that big of a change from the previous CD remaster. However, it is a little too loud during “Money”:
There is the slightest bit of clipping on the left channel. Is that a big deal? Probably not. It’s so slight that I doubt it’s even noticeable to the human ear. But it does show that the engineers and mixers reponsible for this remaster have succumbed to The Loudness War, which is troubling. It does leave me worrying about the remaster for The Wall as well, since that album is much louder.
So is this worth the money? Well, if you’re a die-hard, psychotic Pink Floyd fan with too much money – then definitely. And if you’re a psychotic Pink Floyd fan with not enough money – then you should probably save up and get it anyway. Some of the bells and whistles are a little pointless (I mean, marbles? Really?), but the audio/video content more than makes up for it.
Pink Floyd
Vegetable man
Scream Thy Last Scream
Pigs On The Wing (8-track Version)
There should be a rule: If a band has enough unreleased/rare material to fill a Wikipedia page, then it should get released. There are so many unreleased Pink Floyd tracks still in the vaults that it’s criminal.
I went through a phase of hunting down Pink Floyd bootlegs and rare recordings in my college days, back when you could easily find MP3s on websites. Most of those recordings sound like pure shit though (96kbps rips of vinyl bootlegs) so I’ll spare you those. These three tracks are nothing special in terms of Pink Floyd rarities, you can get them on countless blogs, but it’s all I really got. Both “Vegetable Man” and “Scream Thy Last Scream” are Syd Barrett tunes. Both reflect his messed up mental state, which is probably why the band still has never released them officially.
The 8-track version of “Pigs On The Wing” is interesting. “Pigs On the Wing” is a two-part song on the vinyl and CD versions of Animals, but that couldn’t be done on the 8-track version due to some technical limitations of the format. So guitarist Snowy White recorded a bridge solo that connected the two parts. It’s a cool little curiosity and I hope it gets a proper release someday. It was released on a Snowy White compilation a few years ago, but that CD is already out of print and goes for a mint online. Animals is being skipped over for an Immersion Edition for the time being and that’s really a shame, it’s a brilliant record that is shockingly underrated to this day.