Steve, has DCC ever considered remastering Def Lepard's Hysteria?

[Steve w]

MFSL released it once. But their version sounded very EQ'ed. To the point that it was very distorted.

[Dave]

Steve W,
Are you talking about the Ultradisc (Japan) or the UltradiscII (USA)?
I own the Japanese pressing and I don't think it's been eq'ed at all at least it doesn't sound that way to me. The UltradiscII's are typically inferior to the Ultradisc pressings, with no exceptions so far,And I've compared over 1/2 a dozen.
Oops, thought you were talking about Pyromania. Sorry as I do agree with Hysteria.
[ October 09, 2001: Message edited by: Dave ]

[ October 10, 2001: Message edited by: Dave ]

[Grant]

Why stop there? "Pyromania" needs help too!

[Unknown]

Pyromania and Hysteria need a remaster... both sound very compressed! But I doubt DCC will evr do these titles... :rolleyes:

[Dave]

Has anyone on this page ever heard the difference between UD & UDII versions of the same album? :D

[Mart]

Remember barely. By that I mean I forgot what album. Ultradisc-I sounded a little more colored like a bad cassette tape, while Ultradisc-II sounded like the low-level signal was gated to smooth digital artifacts & the frequency response was expanded. :eek:

[Sckott]

I have the MFSL "Pyromania", and I really like my early Vertigo pressing instead. It was one of those weird Polygram Cds done right at the birth of CD technology. "Hysteria" sounds a bit compressed, but I really think that's on the 2 track master, and meant to sound that way. If you like the 80's mushy sound, I'd say just enjoy your Polygram CD. Only way they're gonna make it sound better, IMHO, is a remix, and it better not be like the "High & Dry" remixes. They made me ill.

Hysteria, the LP was cut with 34 min per side, so all that compression was even more useful when cutting the laquers on both sides of the world. Cassettes, as they had to use thin BASF tape, again, the weak, thin sound helped that as well. Sonically, "Hysteria" was never (might never be) sonically perfect. To me, (sorry fellas) it's 80's cheese wizz, only represents a band catering to the pop world, and losing it's edgy feel from the warehouse rehersal days.

Oh, I should mention, I liked the B sides that came off that album WAAAY more than the album itself. Didn't help when the girlfriends I dated during that time WORE out the album on me. I think a couple of copies got thrown out the window.

[Doug Hess Jr.]

Hey now...that album was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. It's SUPPOSED to sound "heavy" and "mushy".
Doug

[Sckott]

I agree whole-heartedly. Leppard wasn't for sonic integrity. They wanted a certain sound, and they got it. High and Dry is more simplistic in its arrangements while still keeping the splashy sound with those "chorus happy" guitars. Just don't listen to the remixes. They make a mokery out of what was great about that sound by adding fake soundstage and Hollywood Eq. Even with Pyromania, they shed that idea a bit. Less grit, higher chords, less darkness.

I suggest people go back to the High and Dry on vinyl. Really listen to it. That's the band!

[Mike]

Are you saying that all versions of High and Dry on cd are remixes?

Mike

[Mart]

Originally posted by Holy Zoo about "Here's another bit from the Gregg Schnitzer interview:" (http://cgi.dhot.com/cgi-bin/ubb_forums/dcc/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=000453)
The cassette run master would've been suitable as it didn't have any gawd awful EQ done for the duplication. It was very close in master prep to what the vinyl sounded like with one significant difference. Want some cool trivia? Back in the early '80's digital was a bit unpredictable and flaky which is why we used a very expensive 1" video deck (BVH 1000) instead of a U-Matic type 3/4". I'd get these random ticks and pops which we affectionately called zits.
One night I sat in the studio listening to the DSOM digital copy and was horrified when I heard lots of low level clicks and zit like sounds. So I called my wife to tell her I'd be working till sunup as the approval copy had to go to Alan Parsons via counter-to-counter air ASAP. I turned the lights off so I wouldn't be distracted and sat there all night long with the first DAE-1100 editor and made a few hundred 1 millisecond edits to get rid of those zits I was hearing. Then I made an approval copy cassette for Alan, sent it on its way and went home to sleep for a day or two.

A couple of days later we got a heated call from Mr. Parsons wanting to know, "What the f**k did you do to the master?" I explained that I had done the best mastering job I could and that it compared very favorably to the vinyl and, in fact, I thought it sounded better than the vinyl. Was there some problem? He said that when he had mixed DSOM the desk (console) drove him nuts because every time he muted or unmuted a track or switched an EQ in or out there would be a resulting click or pop. There was no technology to remove these artifacts so he and the band decided to just live with it. He said, "How the hell did you get rid of those pops. I love it!" He was left with a patient explanation that it was proprietary. Man, I almost soiled my pants only to find out that he was very impressed.

So, if you compare the CD with a vinyl disc and those pops and clicks are gone then there's the answer as to which tape was used. Once you know what to listen for they are easy to spot as they occur when parts go in or out or the EQ changes.

I think this is all Ultradiscs need as an unfortunate artefact of digital EQing, not the EQing itself. Personally, I appreciate the restored FR extension. This would be a great augmentation to DCC, IMHO, even if the glitches requires some trimming. It eliminates some of that annoying "recorded" bandpass sound. IMHO, I find it ironic that a compromised digital EQ (that tweaks attenuated signals just sort of fully restored levels so as not to call attention to accompanying distortion) reduces that processed sound. I still believe DCC's analog capablities coupled to MFSL's digital capabilities would be a marriage made in heaven that only a squirrelly schmuck behind the knobs can muck up. http://ubb.fanasylum.com/smiles/smlove2.gif

[lukpac]

Originally posted by Mart:
I still believe DCC's analog capablities coupled to MFSL's digital capabilities would be a marriage made in heaven that only a squirrelly schmuck behind the knobs can muck up.

Why would MoFi have any better digital capabilities than DCC?

[Mart]

Let's just say Steve Hoffmann has implied in his interviews that this isn't something in which he's interested. Although, some of his stuff still sounds processed in the analog relm. However, this may be the original engineer as much as Steve trying to add the right dash of gunk to make the master tapes sound authentic.

[lukpac]

Originally posted by Mart:
Let's just say Steve Hoffmann has implied in his interviews that this isn't something in which he's interested.

Huh? Do you mean digital processing, like EQ and such? If so, there's no reason to use it - I kind of doubt MoFi used it either (although that's a guess).

On the other hand, I know Steve is *very* aware of the A/D conversion process.

Not sure what you're getting at...

[Mart]

Originally posted by Luke Pacholski:


Huh? Do you mean digital processing, like EQ and such? If so, there's no reason to use it - I kind of doubt MoFi used it either (although that's a guess).

On the other hand, I know Steve is *very* aware of the A/D conversion process.

Not sure what you're getting at...

The "gunk" to which I refer was analog processing "sound" like that of a Rane EQ. As to adding authentic gunk, Steve said he used an Ampex tape machine because it added some much needed swoosh & goosh (or some onomatopoeias to that effect) to the music to reproduce the period sound. He said without this the sound isn't "right" like the original hit.

Who knows, like I said, maybe the stuff I hear is a limitation of the equipment in the oiginal mix. It's just that those words haunt me despite my enjoyment of many of DCC's albums. It stays with me like some dude who enjoys hearing a guitar amp's hum on an album, or some other guy that enjoys the distortion of live concerts so much he uses pro equipment for his home.

I, OTOH, am constaintly straining to hear the instruments through all the crap during a concert. I nearly shat a brick when I attended a Boston Pop's Christmas concert & saw amplifiers. I was almost ready to demand an immediate refund if I wasn't alone. This SS amplified MP3 sound has got to die.