Sinatra question for Steve (please!)

[ArneW]

Steve,

about a year ago on the old forum I asked you about the Artanis/Trama 1975 Jerusalem Concert and if you mastered it. You had been so kind to reply you didn't do it and pointed out it's a pity they didn't use the "right" tapes which are sitting in L.A.

- How right you were. I just got my copy from a brazilian friend. Although I'm lucky to have it at all: There is a ridiculous "pumped up" low end which makes it impossible to listen to the CD at all but the softest volume levels. I am seriously planning to burn an "equalized" CD-R copy that I listen to without the fear of damaging my SL6'es. However, since I don't know a lot about proper EQ Levels: Would you give me a hint on this one?

Thanks a lot, Arne

[Steve Hoffman]

Removing too much bloated bass is very tricky if you don't know what you are doing.

Three famous bass "pressure points" are at 50 cycles, 125 cycles and 250 cycles. Removing a bit at 125 could help, maybe.

Try a compromise though, and since I don't know what you are using to do this, it's hard to say, but try a reduction around 80 cycles, say minus 3 db and see what happens. Only you know if the extra bass bloat is at the low or high end of the bass scale.

Good luck!

[ArneW]

Steve,

thank you very much. Using CoolEdit Pro I ended up with a 10 db bass rolloff @ 50 Hz and a narrow 7 db reduction in the 125 Hz area. To my ears, it is a small improvement over the bloated bass of the original CD release, although I still wish you had it done your way with the *original* tape! BTW, I do appreciate your work even more after this - it took me hours to get a sound that is by no means good but just acceptable.

Arne

[Steve Hoffman]

10db, eh? Boy, they must have really mucked that CD up.

Sorry it took you so long to get an acceptable result. Now you know why it sometimes takes me weeks or months to remaster an album! :eek:

[ArneW]

Steve,

I'm sorry I said I *ended* up with something after several hours work. What I really meant was... I *gave* up after 'couple of hours. Then I left my computer, ran to the nearest Hi Fi store and bought 1) MFSL Yellow Brick Road UD I and 2) DCC Endless Summer just to compensate for the, uh, amateur efforts. "Girls On The Beach" sounds fantastic - I'm by no means a Beach Boys fan, but this one's alone worth the price of the CD!

Getting back to Sinatra: Did you ever hear the original 1975 Jerusalem Concert tape? The booklet says the performance was recorded by Lee Herschberg, which I put strongly in doubt (he may have recorded simultaneously, but the tape they used has most likely not been recorded professionally). The entire CD sounds as if FS had been backed by a circus orchestra then. I can email you an MP3 just to demo that, if you like.

Yours, Arne