View Full Version : Neil Young CDs sound
John Buchanan
05-27-2002, 02:37 AM
Steve,
any comments on After the Gold Rush and Harvest CD versions in comparison with the master tapes? :confused:
John B
05-27-2002, 11:50 AM
John,
I'm not Steve, but I'll throw in my Canadian 2 cents (worth about 1 cent US).
Neil Young does not like cds (you may already know this). In one interview, he said that people haven't enjoyed listening to music since the mid-eighties not because the music is worse, but because of the cd itself. Cds lack soul. In another interview about mastering his own catalogue, he stated that there is really nothing that can be done to make a cd sound good. I believe he said he thinks HDCD sounds good - certainly HDCD is used on the new Buffalo Springfield box.
I tend to agree. Many cds do sound pretty good but I have been most moved by the music while listening to records. I understand that SACD and DVD Audio can also induce an analogue reverie. That sense of being "engaged" by the listening experience.
I too would be very interested in what Steve has to say.
John B (another one)
Maybe Mr. Young should meet Steve?
Then I'd like to see him say that cd's have no soul after listening to Steve's Nat King Cole cd's.;)
John B
05-27-2002, 12:52 PM
Originally posted by Dave
Maybe Mr. Young should meet Steve?
Then I'd like to see him say that cd's have no soul after listening to Steve's Nat King Cole cd's.;)
Hello to my friend from the West Coast,
You raise an issue which I would love to have a definitive answer to. Though I have never heard said NKC cd, I am willing to believe you. Steve's cd masterings are the best I have heard. BUT the big question is would the Steve-mastered LP (I don't know if there is one) sound even better? Is cd inherently limited as a medium to produce great sound as many audiophiles attest? Would not a Steve-mastered SACD (in 2-channel) take the sound of Nat King Cole to an even more soulful level?
By the way, I don't believe I am misrepresenting Neil Young, he seems to be pretty consistent on the subject of the inferiority of the cd.
John
Originally posted by John B
BUT the big question is would the Steve-mastered LP (I don't know if there is one) sound even better? Is CD inherently limited as a medium to produce great sound as many audiophiles attest?
Hi John,
Lot's of SH mastered vinyl out there. I don't believe a word of the ole' vinyl is better routine as CD has a larger dynamic frequency range. I would suggest for a more definitive answer ti try Grant or Steve himself.
The DCC versions on vinyl do differ from the CD versions, but not by much. Better? That's totally subjective. IMHO ;)
mikenyc
05-27-2002, 02:28 PM
Something tells me Neil is the kind of artist, where nothing could make him really happy.
His obsessing about compact discs, sometimes is a little unnerving. While I recognize that he has more than a right to be concerned about the presentation of his Art, he forgets his Fans who may not have the where-with-all to afford the technology, or genuinely care that much about how HIS music is presented.
It's nice that he wants to expand our horizons, but he seems too close, to be pandering and shilling for his patron, The Big Music Company...who is more than happy that we invest in and spend ooodles of money on "the next new and better sound technology", that may be out of date "next week". There is something unseemly about it, that he, so far, has tefloned his way out of.
pigmode
05-27-2002, 02:30 PM
I have Harvest on CD. It kinda sucks.
JohnG
05-27-2002, 03:55 PM
Originally posted by pigmode
I have Harvest on CD. It kinda sucks.
I'm looking forward to Harvest on DVDA to see if there is an improvement over the cd version.
Plus we can see if Neil is right about how his music sounds on cd vs. DVD.
JohnG:)
Steve Hoffman
05-27-2002, 04:09 PM
Originally posted by pigmode
I have Harvest on CD. It kinda sucks.
Interesting!
What sucks about it to you? It does sound exactly like the tape.
Too soft sounding, perhaps?
Just curious.
tenuous
05-27-2002, 04:58 PM
I was listening to Harvest the other night and was very impressed with the smooth, analogue sound. Good to hear from the master that it is true to the tape!
Richard Feirstein
05-27-2002, 05:16 PM
Some of my CD's, even very early CD's sound superb! Many, often derived from 5th generation vinyl pressing tapes, sound like they lack soul and a lot more. Some of my SACD disks sound perhaps even a bit better than that. I love Mr. Young's music, but his comments about the sound of his CD's has always been a bit irrational to me. Perhaps his hearing has been damaged from all that loud music and we do know that some people with hearing loss and basic damage can be ultra sensitive to some Hi-Fi sources of music. Is that his issue? I don't know.
But vinyl, for all its "soul" has wow and rumble and limited bass, seperation and dynamic range, and lots of noise and distortions caused by the interphase of the stylus and the disk. Some people miss that distortion because it tends to fill in the holes in the sound field giving a sense of air often missing from the very quiet CD. My Harvest and the MTV Live recording of Mr. Young's sound great on my system and I am looking forward to giving a DVD-A release a listen sometime soon.
Joe D.
05-27-2002, 05:35 PM
I think my Harvest CD is one of the better non-SH mastered discs. The snare drum has a
snap to it, but still sounds warm and not with a ice pick in your ear.
It's hard for me to describe sounds in words, but my copy of the CD does not suck!
I believe it was made it Germany. One of the first CD's I ever bought. I've had a CD player
since April 1985.
Glad I didn't dump my vinyl though.
The missing six is what makes me mad. I had bought many of them new in LP format, but I can't find
a decent copy of "Time Fades Away", RATS!
pigmode
05-27-2002, 07:39 PM
Originally posted by Steve Hoffman
Interesting!
What sucks about it to you? It does sound exactly like the tape.
Too soft sounding, perhaps?
Just curious.
Well, let me backpedal a bit, and say that it doesn't exactly suck, but it's definitely not at the same level as some of the better rock titles such as Heart/DCC/Dreamboat Annie. I've found that some of the songs on Harvest have a frayed and slightly distorted quality to them. On the other hand, The Needle And The Damage Done (my favorite) sounds great, although I could wish that it had a slightly warmer tonality overall in terms of the vocals and acoustic guitar. It lacks the breath of life...
Paul L.
05-27-2002, 07:40 PM
Concerning the missing 6: This is just one of Neil's eccentricities.
I think that your typical Neil fan who cannot buy these releases on CD, because they have never been released on CD, is going to download mp3 versions of them and burn them onto a CDR himself.
Now, if Neil really cared about the sonic integrity of these 6 releases, would he want people downloading them as mp3s?
That is the alternative in reality, because a very small percentage of music buyers, especially younger ones, are going to buy LPs.
And if Neil really hated CDs, why are all of his other releases except those 6 on CD?
Joseph
05-28-2002, 10:34 AM
Originally posted by Steve Hoffman
Interesting!
What sucks about it to you? It does sound exactly like the tape.
Too soft sounding, perhaps?
Just curious.
I always felt that Harvest was not the brightest of recordings but I think that's part of its appeal...mellow and laid back.:)
Richard Feirstein
05-28-2002, 01:44 PM
Right you are. Crosby reports that Neal took him out on his lake and had it played for him for the first time from speakers on or near the dock. Apparently that's the way Neal wanted it heard. :D
Peter D
05-29-2002, 11:42 AM
Any comments on the sound of the Tonight's The Night and Zuma CDs?
Originally posted by Richard Feirstein
Right you are. Crosby reports that Neal took him out on his lake and had it played for him for the first time from speakers on or near the dock. Apparently that's the way Neal wanted it heard. :D
According to "Shakey," the new Young biography, he rowed Crosby out to a lake area that faced his house. The barn and all its speakers were pointed towards the boat, the house dock (about 150 yards away) had a pile of speakers perched on it that were also trained on the boat.
So, the barn was the "right speaker" and the house dock the "left speaker."
Then Neil blasted the album over the water towards the boat.
Wow!
P.S. I'm sure no illegal substances were involved....(joke!)
Nice work (if you can get it!)
Originally posted by Ben
According to "Shakey," the new Young biography, he rowed Crosby out to a lake area that faced his house. The barn and all its speakers were pointed towards the boat, the house dock (about 150 yards away) had a pile of speakers perched on it that were also trained on the boat.
So, the barn was the "right speaker" and the house dock the "left speaker."
Then Neil blasted the album over the water towards the boat.
Wow!
P.S. I'm sure no illegal substances were involved....(joke!)
Nice work (if you can get it!)
I heard the end of the story.... after it was over the conversation went like this:
Neil: What do you think?
Cros: A little too much barn!
Originally posted by Gary
I heard the end of the story.... after it was over the conversation went like this:
Neil: What do you think?
Cros: A little too much barn!
Gary:
ROTFLMAO!
Originally posted by Gary
I heard the end of the story.... after it was over the conversation went like this:
Neil: What do you think?
Cros: A little too much barn!
It's a good thing he wasn't playing it on one of those boomboxes with the "MEGA - BARN Sound" switched ON! Those suckers pump out a lot of barn! ;)
d. brasco
05-30-2002, 02:56 PM
Originally posted by Peter D
Any comments on the sound of the Tonight's The Night and Zuma CDs?
Peter, I have "Tonight's The Night" and it sounds fine to me. Most likely a flat transfer from the master tape, as with many of Young's CDs. Steve, of course, would probably know for sure. "Zuma" I don't have.
Don
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