Essential Barry Diament masterings

This is a given (except for the RAM part). The de-encoded FLAC (i.e., the decoded WAV data) is definitely not written to the hard drive when FLAC is converted and played back in "real time".

 

Hi SuperFuzz,

We're not considering downloads at the moment.

In any event, since I consider FLAC a compromise, Soundkeeper will offer only raw, uncompressed AIF and WAV. The customer, of course, is free to compress the files if they so desire.

I worked on that one well before CD, in the late '70s. I believe the '84 release is a re-issue (or perhaps its first release on CD). I worked on the tapes, assembling and editing the final masters.
Dan is a walking encylopedia of music, particularly those wonderful blues masters. His knowledge only increased my appreciation of that music.

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

Hi aroney,

I did the mastering for that one. It was one of the first projects I was hired to do after I left Atlantic to form BDA.

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

Barry, I just went through the entire thread and found that you DID have the original masters to work with for Bad Company's debut album. What about Straight Shooter? Did Atlantic supply you with the original masters or did you get tape copies?

Also, thank you for taking the time to answer all of our questions. It's much appreciated.

 

What is the full title for this one? Can it be added to the list if you have the CD version?

Added. Thanks.


Barry, someone mentioned in another thread that you mastered Bread's "Anthology". Is this correct? Thanks.


a work in progress.



AC/DC - If You Want Blood You've Got It
AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
AC/DC - Highway To Hell*
AC/DC - Back In Black
AC/DC - For Those About To Rock
AC/DC - Who Made Who

Bad Company – Bad Company*
Bad Company – Straight Shooter
Bad Company – 10 From 6
Bad Company - Run With The Pack
Bad Company - Burnin' Sky (?)
Bad Company - Desolation Angels (?)
Bad Company - Rough Diamonds (?)
Anita Baker - Rapture
Bellvue Cadillac - Black and White*
The Blues Brothers - Briefcase Full Of Blues
Tommy Bolin - The Ultimate
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians - Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars*
Jackson Browne - Lives In The Balance
Jackson Browne - Lawyers In Love

John Cage & The Arditti Quartet - The Complete String Quartets, Vol. 1*
The Call - Reconciled
Chic - C'est Chic (?)
The Coasters - The Ultimate Coasters* (Warner Special Products 9 27604-2)
Phil Collins - Face Value*
Phil Collins - Hello, I Must Be Going*
Phil Collins - No Jacket Required
Jim Croce - Photographs And Memories*
Cowboy Mouth - Word of Mouth*
Crosby, Stills & Nash - Crosby, Stills & Nash*
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Déjà vu
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - So Far
The Cure - The Head On The Door

Danzig - Danzig
Bobby Darin - The Ultimate Bobby Darin* (Warner Special Products 9 27606-2)
Dr. John - I did *something* Dr. John. (Great guy too!) - BD.
Dokken - Under Lock And Key
Dokken - Breaking The Chains

The Eagles – The Eagles
The Eagles – Desperado
The Eagles – The Long Run
The Eagles - Their Greatest Hits*
The Eagles - Greatest Hits Volume 2
Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery
Enya - Watermark* (original and reissue with added tracks)

The Firm - The Firm
The Firm - Mean Business
Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly
Foreigner - Foreigner
Foreigner - Double Vision
Foreigner - Head Games
Foreigner - 4
Foreigner - Agent Provocateur
Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Liverpool (?)
Aretha Franklin - best of (?)

J. Geils Band - Best Of The J. Geils Band
Genesis - A Trick Of The Tail 32VD-1023 (see bottom of page)
Genesis - Duke
Genesis - Abacab
Genesis - Three Sides Live (US version with "Paperlate")
Genesis - Genesis
The Georgia Satellites - The Gerogia Satellites*
Guns’N’Roses - Appetite For Destruction*
Guns’N’Roses - G 'N' R Lies*

Helldorado - Sinful Soul*
Hex - Hex*

INXS - Listen Like Thieves

Grace Jones - Island Life
Howard Jones - One To One
Howard Jones - Dream Into Action

Keeler - Autofocus
Tommy Keene - Based On Happy Times*
Rusty Kershaw - Now and Then*
Kitaro - The Light Of The Spirit*
KMFDM - Glory

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin - II
Led Zeppelin - III
Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
Led Zeppelin - The Song Remains The Same
Led Zeppelin - Presence
Led Zeppelin - In Through The Out Door
Led Zeppelin - Coda

Bob Marley - Catch A Fire*
Bob Marley - Burnin'*
Bob Marley - Natty Dread*
Bob Marley - Live!*
Bob Marley - Rastaman Vibration*
Bob Marley - Exodus *
Bob Marley - Kaya*
Bob Marley - Babylon By Bus*
Bob Marley - Survival*
Bob Marley - Uprising*
Bob Marley - Confrontation*
Bob Marley - Legend*
Bob Marley - Rebel Music*

Meatloaf - Blind Before I Stop*
Mike + the Mechanics - Mike + the Mechanics
Mike + the Mechanics - Living Years
Mötley Crüe - Too Fast For Love

Ivan Neville - Thanks*
Gary Nicholson - The Sky's Not The Limit*
Stevie Nicks - Belladonna
Stevie Nicks - The Wild Heart
Nico - The Marbel Index*
Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine*
Nu Shooz - Poolside
Ted Nugent - Little Miss Dangerous*

Of Cabbages And Kings - Hunter's Moon*
Of Cabbages And Kings - Never Too Late*
Onyan Art - Reagge Rock*
Benjamin Orr - The Lace

Robert Palmer - Pressure Drop
Robert Palmer - Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley
Robert Palmer - Pride
Robert Palmer – Riptide
Robert Plant - Pictures At Eleven
Robert Plant - The Principle Of Moments

The Rascals - Ultimate Rascals* (Warner Special Products 9 27605-2 this one )
Ratt - Dancing Undercover
Otis Redding - Ultimate Otis Redding* (Warner Special Products 9 27608-2)
Rock City Angels - Young Man's Blues
Linda Ronstadt - Simple Dreams
Linda Ronstadt - What's New
Linda Ronstadt - Lush Life
Linda Ronstadt - For Sentimental Reasons

Simply Red - Picture Book
Simply Red - Men And Women
Simply Red - A New Flame
Simply Red - Stars
Simply Red - "You've Got It" CD single* (four songs total including a live "Holding Back the Years" and "I Wish").
Slayer - South Of Heaven*
Slayer - Reign in Blood*
Stacey Q - Better Than Heaven
Subdudes - Lucky*
The Sun And The Moon - Sun And The Moon*

Dr. Fiorella Terenzi - Music From The Galaxies*
Tesla - The Great Radio Controversy
Pete Townshend - Psychoderelict* (several versions for Atlantic, including original, censored dialog and cassette!)
Pete Townshend - White City*
Pete Townshend - Deep End Live
Pete Townshend - Scoop*
Pete Townshend - Another Scoop*

Underworld - Born Slippy*

U2 - Boy
U2 - October
U2 - War
U2 - Under A Blood Red Sky

Jason Vitelli - No Photographs*

Work Of Art - Lift* (Soundkeeper Recordings - SR4001)
Work Of Art - Simplicity* (Sword in the Stone Records - SSR54)
Work Of Art - Waves* (Sword in the Stone Records - SSR56)

Yes - The Yes Album
Yes - Fragile
Yes - Close To The Edge
Yes - Drama
Yes - Tormato
Yes - Classics

Warren Zevon - A Quiet Normal Life: The Best Of Warren Zevon*

Various artists - Atlantic Soul Classics (Warner Special Products 9-27601-2)
Various Artists - Superstars in Digital (Warner Special Products 9 27600-2 - "possibly")
Various artists - Stand By Me (soundtrack)
Various artists - Woodstock - Music From The Original Soundtrack And More


*From the original master tapes -- Eagles/Jim Croce: "Analog "best of"s were usually created by copying from the originals and assembling the copies into a new album so that would have been 1:1 from the originals..." - BD.


----------------------------------------------------

CDs NOT mastered by Barry Diament

Yes - Yessongs

----------------------------------------------------

Genesis: "I did create CD masters for all --or almost all-- of the Genesis albums not long after I left Atlantic in the late '80s. Since I never received copies of pressings, I do not know if any of the masters I sent were ever used for CD production." - BD.

See posts #222-228 & post #717 .

 

It's my understanding that FLAC files are typically decompressed by the listening program (i.e., foobar2000) into RAM in advance as the files are cued up so that there is no decompression taking place in real time while listening (unless you are using a rather outdated or slow system).

That being the case there shouldn't be any audible difference between playing FLAC, ALAC, AIF, WAV, or any other lossless format with current audio software. There's an ABX plugin for foobar2000 for comparisons as well.

Any audible difference is most likely caused by an issue in the software chain such as replaygain, codecs, buffer settings, etc.

Of course there are plenty of people with opinions on both sides of this issue so just my 2 cents.

Some discussion on the topic over at Head-Fi
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/fl...rences-366271/

This post says it best IMHO
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/f...ising-quality-differences-366271/#post4772339

 

Hi DPM,

I might have had the originals but I'm not sure. Wish I could remember. Sorry. A quarter century of projects between then and now. Many of the earlier memory cells have left town.

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

Hi Darcy,

I had nothing to do with the CD on the Lowell Fulson. I worked on assembling and editing the master tapes several years before I mastered my first CD.

It is possible. Haven't heard that one in a quarter century. I'm sorry to have to say it is another example that is just outside the area of accessible memories.

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

Hi Gatos21,

I used the term "real-time" to differentiate between expansion as an off-line process and one that occurs while the file is being listened to. Call it "on-the-fly" if you like. To me, relative to a completely off-line process, this is a real-time process.

As to what there "should" or "shouldn't" be, I always say, "Should and is are very often two different things." I was listening via different software, none of which employs anything like replay gain.

Like many things in audio, I've found different folks are sensitive to different aspects of sound and less sensitive to others. Some folks say they don't hear a difference between FLAC and WAV or AIF. In my listening tests (using a good variety of the same software I use in my recording, editing and mastering work, trying all sorts of FLAC encode settings to create the test files), it took only seconds for everyone in the listening panel to hear the sonic price exacted by the so-called "lossless" file.

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

Barry, can u elaborate on that sonic price?
Many heated debates about it, but I like it that you always tell what your ears hear, not what they expect to hear.

 

Hi fredhammersmith,

I and my listening partners all described it very similarly.
In my own words, the sound got slightly harder and brighter.

The tests used many different files, including recordings I made myself and the results were consistent, regardless of the recording, the software used or the settings.

Again, not a night and day difference but an easily audible one, sufficient to deter me from using it for my own listening or from anything Soundkeeper does.

Just my perspective, of course.

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

This is not surprising really.
No non-linear coded audio format is going to sound as good as LPCM in direct real-time playback comparisons. Even with lossless, the audio data is yet another step removed from the audio clock.

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

Which CD version of Robert Palmer - Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley did Barry master?

 

I thought Back in Black was mastered from original master tapes? Eagles Greatest Hits confirmed to be compiled from original master tapes?

 

I believe that's what Barry is saying here. (As well as for For Those About To Rock...)

 

My mistake. I'll have to correct the list. Back In Black is "perhaps" and The Eagles is "think" (see note about compilations). "For Those About To Rock" should be checked instead of "Highway To Hell" according to the list I was given. It could change...

...a work in progress


Also, the mastering for disc one of the original CD version of Genesis' "Three Sides Live" -- the set which has ALL live tracks on disc two -- is the same as the version Barry did according to EAC numbers (Barry confirmed he did the version with "Paperlate"/studio tracks on disc two).

Disc two with "Paperlate" and disc two from the ALL live version are not the same.

 

I just listened to The Call's "Reconciled" with Sennheiser "neautral" headphones. All I can say is WOW!!! Barry kicked this masterings ****! Barry I know you are a humble guy, but you are amazing my friend!

 

They were great recordings anyway. Rob Eaton engineered some great recordings in the 80s.

Not to take away from Barry's work, but the credit for those Call albums must really go to Eaton. Barry, did you have to do much with those tapes?

 

IMO, any mastering engineer in this day in age who presents the recordings that he is given in the best possible light, whether it sounded great to begin with or not, deserves much praise. We've seen so many great recordings get harmed by poor mastering that simply not doing harm is something that should not be taken for granted.

 

I agree it was recorded very well

 

Agreed

 

Hi Keith,

Indeed. I've always said that 90-95% of a recording's potential sound quality is already determined by the time the signal leaves the microphones.

I didn't have anything to do with the tapes except using them to create the CD master. As always, I just sought to bring out the best in what was already there and then get out of the way.

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

Well you must know when to get out of the way because Barry I have never heard a bad master job by you my friend. Thank you!

 

I have seen reference to a Diament mastered AC/DC High Voltage disc. Is there such an animal? If so you should add it to the list.

 

Shouldn't Back in Black and For Those About to Rock have an asterisk for original master tape? Barry has said on numerous occasions that he had 1/2" tape for those.

Also if there is a place where Barry indicated he had the original tapes for Highway to Hell I didn't see it, but saw a couple of other comments questioning that asterisk.

Barry has said that he is pretty sure he did Flick of the Switch, so that should probably be added to the list, maybe with a caveat that it is not 100% certain.