Columbia's Essential Johnny Cash: 1955-1983 ... Scratchy?

[GregY]

Hi,

I recently picked up the 3 CD set from Columbia Country Classics entitled The Essential Johnny Cash 1955-1983. To me, the audio sounds scratchy. It's not overly bad, but it certainly doesn't sound clean even with the volume turned low. It's evident on most if not all of the tracks. One track that had quite a bit was Wanted Man, track 5 on disc 3.

Is this inherent in the original recordings or is this a case of bad mastering or neither? I believe this set was remastered a few years after its original release. I think I have the remastered version but I'm not sure.

I'm listening on a pair of Sennheiser 495's with a TotalAirHead headphone amp. Same amount of scratchiness with or without the amp.

Any comments about this?

Thanks.

[czeskleba]

I'm not sure what you mean by "scratchy". Do you mean you hear actual scratching sounds, like on a worn LP? I just listened to Wanted Man off my copy, and I don't hear any anomalies. Overall, the sound on this box set is very good, in my opinion.

The original version of this set (released circa 1992) came in a longbox (with three separate jewel cases, I believe). The remastered version (released around 1998) has a 3-disc clambox inside a smaller, cd-sized box. The credits on the remaster read "mastered by Vic Anesini, original mastering by Chris Herles." I am pretty sure the original version was Cedared, whereas the remastered version has no digital noise reduction. I haven't heard the original version.

[peterC]

I have the original long box.

No mention of cedar anywhere, not that that's conclusive.

I was always a little sceptical about the re-remastering sony purportedly did to some of these box sets when they bought out columbia. Wouldn't just be a marketing ploy would it?

Has anyone done a proper comparison? AMG I think says the new version sounds better but they also say BGO's Buddy Holly is the best sounding BH!

[Matt]

The jewel case sized one does sound better. Haven't compared them in a couple of years, but back when I had access to both (one I owned, one from a library), there was a definite improvement.

[GregY]

I'm not sure what you mean by "scratchy". Do you mean you hear actual scratching sounds, like on a worn LP?

I don't know how to explain it. Not scratching sounds, but almost like the audio is crackling a bit at certain times. Not even necessarily bad. I suppose it's part of the music. Like if you turned up music really loud on a bad pair of speakers, and you hear that crackle. Kinda like that, except I dont' have the volume cranked and it's not quite that bad.

I listened to the rest of the box. The more recent stuff doesn't have this.

There's probably a very good word for this but I'm the farthest thing from an audiophile so I don't know how to better describe it.

[Steve Hoffman]

I'll give it a listen later.

Sounds like you are talking about mic or limiter overload. Probably just stuff I ignore on this type of stuff.

But, certain types of mastering can bring out these unpleasant artifacts...

[GregY]

Mic overload sounds right.

Here's a slightly better explanation: Won't Get Fooled Again. When Roger Daltrey screams that YEAHHHH towards the end...I've heard that called mic overload (done purposefully or at least left in purposefully.) Some of the Cash tracks have that type of "noise" but at lower levels and more frequently.

I've also noticed this type of "scratchiness" on the remaster of Willie Nelson's Stardust. And I'm sure it's on plenty of other older recordings.

[czeskleba]

Originally posted by peter castanos
I have the original long box.

No mention of cedar anywhere, not that that's conclusive.

Hmm. My assumption was based on the fact that it was used on "The Essential Ray Price" disc which has the exact same design/artwork as the Cash cd and came out around the same time period. I figured if they were doing it to one essential disc, they were doing it to all of them, but I certainly could be wrong.


I was always a little sceptical about the re-remastering sony purportedly did to some of these box sets when they bought out columbia. Wouldn't just be a marketing ploy would it?


I haven't done a comparison. But Vic Anesini is not credited on the original box, is he? Dylan's Biograph and Bootleg Series v. 1-3, which were reconfigured to smaller boxes around the same time, definitely were remastered and do sound better. I have compared them. So most likely it's the same with the Johnny Cash box.

[peterC]

Actually does anyone know if it is a licencing requirement that CEDAR is mentioned in the credits if it is used?

[czeskleba]

Originally posted by peter castanos
Actually does anyone know if it is a licencing requirement that CEDAR is mentioned in the credits if it is used?

Apparently not, since Jon Astley did use it in his *hideous* remaster of All Things Must Pass, and there is no mention of it in the liner notes.

On the aforementioned Ray Price cd, however, the Cedar logo appears, along with a paragraph describing the process.