Mastering Engineer on Stones SACDs = Bob Ludwig

[bmoura]

Just read the press release on the Stones 22 SACD reissue. According to that, Bob Ludwig is the mastering engineer on the project.

From the press release:

" The restoration process for ABKCO's The Rolling Stones Remastered Series
started with hundreds of hours of painstaking research on both sides of the
Atlantic to determine the analog sources most true to the original Rolling
Stones studio recordings.

Final mastering for all albums was completed under the direction of the
legendary Bob Ludwig who commented, "While three generations of music fans,
myself included, are all quite familiar with the Stones' material, DSD has
afforded us the opportunity to showcase both their brilliance and rough edges
all over again in a meaningful way."

All 22 of the albums in ABKCO's The Rolling Stones Remastered Series,
highlighting such classic tracks as "Sympathy For The Devil," "Under My
Thumb," "Street Fighting Man," "Mother's Little Helper," "The Last Time" and,
of course, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," will be released August 20th with
Universal handling distribution worldwide. Suggested retail list price is
$18.98 for single disc packages."

[indy mike]

Well, a known entity mastering the catalog! Maybe these will turn out to be a decent series after all, compared to the crummy GRABKCO (oops, ABKCO) scuzzers that have been out and about waaaaaay too long...

[Mike V]

No way!!

Now, if the Beatles would only follow suit.... I hope they sell millions upon millions of these things and show Apple once and for all why it makes good business sense to appease the hungry masses!

BTW - I've been on the SACD/DVD-A fence, waiting for something like this. I'll be buying an SACD player if the reviews are good.

[Dan C]

Bob Ludwig does very good work.
While I'm not huge Stones fan, I think this series, if done well, could set a very high standard for the majors to follow. (Hello EMI? Paging EMI!)
Dan C

[lukpac]

Let's just say I'm *VERY* glad I was wrong!

[Larry Naramore]

Originally posted by indy mike
GRABKCO (oops, ABKCO)

No, no, no! It's CRAPCO not GRABCO!

[lukpac]

Originally posted by Larry Naramore


No, no, no! It's CRAPCO not GRABCO!

Well, I wouldn't bash them too much - they're giving us Bob Ludwig mastered SACDS, aren't they?

[Steve w]

will that include Hot Rocks 1 and 2?

[bmoura]

Originally posted by Steve w
will that include Hot Rocks 1 and 2?

Yes. Hot Rocks and More Hot Rocks are on the list. Here's the official press release from ABKCO Records:

Aural Satisfaction, At Last: ABKCO Rolling Out The Rolling Stones Remastered Series
22 Classic Rolling Stones Titles Set for Release

NEW YORK, May 30, 2002 -- The entirety of the Rolling Stones' album catalog, originally released in the 60's and early '70's on ABKCO/London Records (ABKCO/Decca in the rest of the world) has been meticulously restored and will be re-released on a series of dual layer hybrid Super Audio discs under the banner ABKCO's The Rolling Stones Remastered. Twenty-two albums including Let It Bleed, Out of Our Heads, December's Children, Beggars Banquet, 12x5 and The Rolling Stones, Now! are part of the most comprehensive single artist re-issue series ever undertaken. Each disc has been encoded with two layers -- one containing a normal CD program, the other Super Audio CD program of the same repertoire. The idea is to provide complete backward and forward compatibility for the consumer, as the albums are playable on both SACD-compatible machines as well as standard CD players. Each dual layer disc was remastered using Sony's Direct Stream Digital process resulting in brilliant fidelity in both standard or SACD formats.

"Over the years, we have had many requests to re-issue these titles using the latest digital remastering techniques," remarked ABKCO's Jody Klein who noted that the albums were first released in the CD format in 1986. Klein, who supervised the development of ABKCO's The Rolling Stones Remastered Series stated, "Improvements in technology had only been incremental since then so we didn't feel there was a compelling reason to go back to the market with these classic albums -- until now." Klein cites DSD mastering which samples the original audio signal 2,822,400 times per second, 64 times faster than standard CD encoding, as one of the main catalysts for the series. "DSD more accurately reflects the sonic quality of analog than any other medium so the depth one hears on these discs in standard or SACD playback is quite amazing."

The restoration process for ABKCO's The Rolling Stones Remastered Series started with hundreds of hours of painstaking research on both sides of the Atlantic to determine the analog sources most true to the original Rolling Stones studio recordings.

Final mastering for all albums was completed under the direction of the legendary Bob Ludwig who commented, "While three generations of music fans, myself included, are all quite familiar with the Stones' material, DSD has afforded us the opportunity to showcase both their brilliance and rough edges all over again in a meaningful way."

All 22 of the albums in ABKCO's The Rolling Stones Remastered Series, highlighting such classic tracks as "Sympathy For The Devil," "Under My Thumb," "Street Fighting Man," "Mother's Little Helper," "The Last Time" and, of course, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," will be released August 20th with Universal handling distribution worldwide. Suggested retail list price is $18.98 for single disc packages.

A complete listing of the album titles in ABKCO's The Rolling Stones Remastered Series follows:
England's Newest Hitmakers
12x5
The Rolling Stones Now
Out Of Our Heads
Out of Our Heads - UK Version
December's Children
Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass)
Aftermath
Aftermath - UK Version
Got Live If You Want It!
Between The Buttons
Between The Buttons - UK Version
Flowers
Their Satanic Majesties Request
Beggars Banquet
Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol.2)
Let It Bleed
Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out
Hot Rocks
More Hot Rocks
The Rolling Stones Singles Collection - The London Years
Metamorphosis - UK Version


SOURCE ABKCO RECORDS

[indy mike]

Nah, let's don't be TOO kind, even with Ludwig mastered SACD's - remember, our pals have put a hammerlock on the Cameo-Parkway catalog (boy, do I want an SACD of ? and the Mysterians!!!!!!!!!!), the crummy sounding Spector box and Spector artist sets, the horrid Animals and Herman's Hermits comps (pee-yew on H.H., but fans shouldn't have to suffer), and who knows what else - oh yeah, the crappy Stones on cd situation (plus yanking the stereo Hot Rocks stuff - grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr). Maybe Bob L. will sneak some stereo in (including a properly balanced/mixed Satisfaction????)

[Dave]

Originally posted by Lukpac
Let's just say I'm *VERY* glad I was wrong!
Phew! I'm glad you were too! :D At least there is some hope for some decent Stones remasters.;)

[Grant]

Originally posted by lukpac
Let's just say I'm *VERY* glad I was wrong!

Luke, I hear ya! Bob Ludwig did the Atlantic and Columbia-era CDs, so this is encouraging. I am a big Stones fan so I will be buying some of these CDs. I'm also happy to see that he is doing tape research.

Perhaps this will be a signal to the Apple people to get a move-on! I have a feeling that all those Beatle remasters are just sitting in the can waiting for the go-ahead from the Apple Corp.

[Grant]

Originally posted by indy mike
Maybe Bob L. will sneak some stereo in (including a properly balanced/mixed Satisfaction????)

He will be limited in taking liberties, for sure. I hope he does the actual mono singles for the Singles collection, at least! Sereo/mono for the album titles should be on a case-by-case basis, not just stereo for stereo's sake, like I think some may be suggesting.

[dolstein]

I would be genuinely amazed if any new mixes were created for the upgraded Rolling Stones CDs/SACDs.

And it wouldn't surprise me if all of the pre-Aftermath material is exclusively in mono.

[David R. Modny]

I'm sure I'm just stating the obvious here, but Bob Ludwig already has a Stones' CD connection. He did the mastering on the post-ABKCO catalog reissues from a few years back.

[petzi]

Originally posted by Dan C
Bob Ludwig does very good work.
...

Are you sure ? I have not been too impressed so far. I´d say his work is reasonable but not outstanding in any way.

[Beagle]

Originally posted by petzi


Are you sure ? I have not been too impressed so far. I´d say his work is reasonable but not outstanding in any way.

:confused:

[lukpac]

Originally posted by petzi


Are you sure ? I have not been too impressed so far. I´d say his work is reasonable but not outstanding in any way.

Do you not like the Stones' Virgin remasters?

My hope is that they realized that the stereo mixes of the Chess material are really outstanding, and that there's no reason to give us the mono mixes of that material.

Now, the RCA material is a different case. While I don't see why Aftermath shouldn't be in stereo, I could understand why a song like Satisfaction would be issued in mono. On the other hand, since many of those songs are being issued on a LOT of different discs (Satisfaction will be on at least 4 CDs by my count), it would be nice if they at least gave us the stereo mixes on one of the releases. Bonus tracks would be another option...

[-Ben]

Originally posted by petzi


Are you sure ? I have not been too impressed so far. I´d say his work is reasonable but not outstanding in any way.

Well...Bob re-did all the later Stones when they signed with Virgin.
If you like the current Virgin remasters, you will probably like the new ABKCOs.
BC

[-Ben]

Originally posted by lukpac


Do you not like the Stones' Virgin remasters?

it would be nice if they at least gave us the stereo mixes on one of the releases. Bonus tracks would be another option...

Luke you beat me to the Virgin remasters comment.

Yes!!! Wouldn't it be nice?

BC

[clayton]

I thought his work on the Roxy Music and Dire Straits titles was greatOriginally posted by petzi


Are you sure ? I have not been too impressed so far. I´d say his work is reasonable but not outstanding in any way.

[petzi]

Originally posted by lukpac


Do you not like the Stones' Virgin remasters?
...

I am currently listening to the old DECCA CD releases which are allegedly mastered by Mobile Fidelity. I was never a big fan of the Stones, I am just getting into that. Never heard Bob Ludwigs Virgin Remasters of the Stones, sorry.

[John Oteri]

You're listening to the best that's ever gonna be. Enjoy them and be glad that they didn't add a bunch of silly top end boost!

[petzi]

Originally posted by clayton
I thought his work on the Roxy Music and Dire Straits titles was great

Well I just pulled out a few CDs mastered by Bob Ludwig, so I can comment here.

My very first CD back in 1985 was Supertramp "Brother Where You Bound", I have a CD "Made in West Germany" (yes, we were still split back then). This is mastered by Bob Ludwig at Mastersound. I have no reason to believe that other releases from that time sound different from mine.

Now this is an incredible mastering job by Mr. Ludwig. It is an analogue recording. I listened through the first track "Cannonball" (which I still like a lot) with my Sennheiser Orpheus headphone. There appears to be no compression applied during the mastering. My meter hits 0 dB exactly once during that 7:40 min track, a second time it reaches -0.5 dB. The peak level is different on every single beat. I can see in the order of 40 dB of dynamics on this track. Bob Ludwig managed to maximize the level on that CD without use of any compression. I´m sure at that time the record companies didn´t care about loud CDs as they do now, the CD was a new medium and engineers apparently wanted to show what the dynamic range on that medium is good for.

Now I like to listen loud, but when I inserted the next CD into the player, I had to turn the level way down immediately. It was Roxy Music "Avalon". Mastered by Robert C. Ludwig at Mastersound, remastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering. This was apparently recorded on analogue tape in 1981 and remastered in 1999. We notice a definite shift in mastering practice here.

The peak level hits 0dB right from the beginning, the average level is much higher than the old Supertramp CD, and the meter hits the 0dB at almost every single bar through the first track (and others, too.) I do not like this mastering job. OK, it´s not bad, but I do not subscribe to the philosophy of making a loud CD by compressing and limiting the dynamics. I don´t like the way it sounds. Of course, there is this "he has to feed the kids" thing (I don´t know if he has any), of course Mr Ludwig will do what the client asks him to do. And I do know that the stupid record companies demand loud CDs, and the only way to achieve this is to compress. Mr Ludwig does that on the praised Roxy Music remaster and I don´t like it.

Another CD I listened to is the Dire Straits "On Every Street" remaster. This is a CD I would play to friends if I wanted to show them how good my system sounds. Not to say that this is a bad mastering job, but on several tracks, the meter hits 0 dB during almost every bar. Still a lot of dynamics in it though. I wouldn´t say that compression is overapplied here, though I would rather like to listen to it without the compression.

The fourth Bob Ludwig mastered CD I listened to tonight was Dire Straits "Communique" remaster. I didn´t spend too much time listening to this record tonight. It appears he hasn´t applied much compression, if any at all, and if I remember correctly it is not that much different from the first CD release produced in the 80s. I gave my old CD to my sister who lives in another city, so I can´t get it for a comparison right now, maybe in a few weeks.

I don´t think Mr Ludwig is a bad mastering engineer, on the contrary. I know close to nothing about him and how he works, it´s just that he does what the record companies demand, it is the application of compression, and I don´t want that, and I can hear it and I can see it on my meter when I turn that on.

[Matt]

I think he was the original mastering engineer for Document by REM, at least for CD. I had that original CD, and when I bought the remastered version from 1999, right away I noticed a louder sound with a definite treble boost. Pretty amazing how he can master the same album for CD so differently after 10 years, and IMO, without using a better approach.