I have no axe to grind, I'm just a fan too. Sadly, because of the closeness to some associated with this release, some here can't speak out loud here and join in my questioning or discussion, of which I completely understand. With that, I fear, as I pretty much stand alone out loud on this CD, that I'll have no other course, but to "leave it at that"... Chris C
I just got it, played it and I'm relieved...that I don't feel all his Reprise tracks should get this treatment. I was dreading it sounding so good that it would make the old remasters obsolete. It doesn't. It's hard and loud, and all this talk about new detail being brought out, I don't get. Theme From New York New York is simply jarring compared to the Keith Blake remaster and Frank's voice at times in it is way behind the brass. His Summer Wind vocal sonically comes out rough-edged and loud. I don't recommend this CD.
How's about that Bewitched? I haven't been putting much stock in this new release, but I am curious how that song sounds.
You can tell it's from a better generation source, but only during the quieter passages, when you aren't squinching your face and your ears aren't recoiling because of the compression. I'll take the old German pressing any day.
The Way You Look Tonight sounds way better on the Academy Award Winners CD. On this new one it kicks off with the obvious compression, as the bass sounds thick and unnatural, like your listening to it on FM in a small car. You have to notice the fingers hitting it to be reminded that it's a real bass. The detail on Moonlight Serenade is far more obvious on the original Moonlight Sinatra disc. It's funny about compression - it's supposed to bring everything up front, but everything seems to get lost. Most of the tracks on Nothing But The Best also seem to be a couple of seconds shorter than the same tracks on their original releases. Fly Me To The Moon is five seconds shorter.
At this point in time, what do you think is the best sounding compilation of his Reprise material? (Per another thread, I'm trying to find out whether The Reprise Years still holds up or if I should look at another comp. I'll start on his albums a bit later...) Dexter
A great sounding two disc set is The Very Best Of Frank Sinatra. It's from 1997 and was remastered by a guy named Keith Blake.
I guess that speaks volumes about someone's opinion of the sound. As a result of what I've read here, I've gone back and listened more carefully, and I understand what some are saying about the loudness and compression. I'm not an audiophile and my ears are not as discriminating, but the waveforms tell the tale. As usual, such considerations are lost on the masses. This CD and the associated publicity are bringing Sinatra to the attention of more people, and that has to be a good thing. Chris C: Please forgive my earlier reaction. You have a valid point about the mastering. However, I disagree that these tracks have been doctored with portions of alternate takes (other than the coda on "Come Fly").
I've noticed this also. There seems to be an approximate one second-per-minute speedup on many of the tracks. If you play them simultaneously with the originals, they don't stay in sync. I don't think it's due to editing, though.
STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT for the first time FEEEEEL in STEREO!!! In other words....even (few seconds) longer ending and fadeout than original MONO LP version!!! Someone might have heard me complain! Or not! Lol!!! Anyways very happy to say the least.
I tried burning a copy for my car today with Nero and it wouldn't let me do it. I'm fairly new to Nero (it came with my new computer -- I don't like it as much as Roxio, though I have gotten it to work a couple of times), but it said it couldn't burn the last track (#22). Is that because the CD is too long? Or is it copy protected? Or is the problem me and my lack of tech expertise? Thanks.
As for upcoming remasters, I hope against all evidence that everyone will throw away the digital processing toys, trendy cheap sounding electronics meant for manufacturing disco music, convenient playback machines that don't sound so ideal playing those tapes, faddish added reverb and unnecessary compression and get them right. The CD is running into the later side of prime time. Playback speed of vintage recordings unfortunately vary a bit. They don't have to be off; the transfer / mastering engineer could carefully tweak the speed. Whether the original or the CD playback was fast or slow, I dunno. I've noticed by ear that more than a few tracks on the Nat Cole Bear Family set are playing too slow (tape transfers by Capitol). You never hear that problem on a Steve Hoffman mastered release.
My suggestion? For best results: - Completely remove Nero. - To rip from the CD, use EAC: http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/ - To burn the tracks, use CDBurnerXP: http://cdburnerxp.se/ If you're not that particular, try just using the last for both tasks.
Nobody reads the fine print anymore. No one seems to have noticed that the CD has been mastered by BERNIE GRUNDMAN.
I always read the fine print. It's just that, when I posted that comment, I didn't have any fine print to read. At the time, all I had was a copy of Bewitched someone sent me to listen to, and not the actual release. At the time, I understood Larry did it all, but obviously that was incorrect. I wonder why he didn't do the mastering himself?
Matt, you say that the 1st cymbal note in "New York, New York" is gone, but I can swear I hear it! Am I nuts? Anybody else??
On the Reprise Collection 4-disc set, which I used as comparison, the tune starts t-t-t-tsssssssssssh on the high-hat. On my copy of Nothing But the Best (and maybe I have a defective disc??) it starts t-t-tssssssssssssh, with the first t gone. Anybody else checked that out? --Matt
I noticed something was amiss on the intro, but couldn't put my finger on it. That missing 't' you pointed out does make the intro a little awkward.
Some of the remixes border on the surreal. I wonder what Lee Herschberg would think about the sound of this comp. I haven’t made up my mind regarding the majority of the tracks yet, but „Girl From Ipanema“ sounds just plain awful. There is some kind of phony spatial effect that sounds like one of these out-of-phase things they did about 15 years ago (Q-Sound?). The strings are floating in a centered vacuum way behind Frank. It sounds nothing like any other mastering of this recording I know of. And yes, I feel guilty for ever complaining about Jobim sounding too loud on the EOTC release. Ah, the pain, the pain. Arne
It's too bad about the compression on this set otherwise I would be jumping up and down with joy that they got it right. I got the CD-DVD version so it was worth the price of admission for me to watch Frank perform at the hall back in 1971.
Its not just the compression imo. Its some pretty weird sounding mixes also. Im sorry but this is just a strange bird the more I listen and compare it to the lps.
