Frank Zappa - Entire Catalogue Remastered and Reissued (part3)

I didn't say it was a new remaster. I said they sounded different.

 

Dude, you quoted me. I said the exact same thing the first time. Admit you're wrong.

 

Why would admit I am wrong when I believed I heard a difference? Seriously, I don't know what else could be going on, but my Ryko and UMe copies sound different. I mean in listening to playback.... Not doing a null test. My ears tell me there's something different going on... Could it be something in the manufacturing? My playback device? Make fun of me all you like, because I can only trust what I think I'm hearing. But I suppose that happens on this forum all the time...

In my own defense, it's NOT inconceivable that the idea the masters were identical may not have been accurate... Look at the number of posts claiming Uncle Meat is identical to the previous Ryko, even after someone posted clips proving it wasn't true. I also hear an EQ difference in We're Only In It For The Money.

I'm not some random troll looking to crap this thread. I am a musician, a serious Zappa fan, and I have experience doing my own engineering and mastering.

 

^^^

I am DL'ing the samples now, but the waveforms most certainly do look identical. What differences do you hear? Small or large?

 

The placebo effect can be surprisingly powerful, I've fallen prey to it a number of times when comparing CDs by ear.

That's why I like to employ technology in figuring these sort of things out, it cuts out the weak link (i.e. human hearing and the power of suggestion, also known as "I just paid $10 for this CD and I'd really like it to sound better than the one I already own")

Apart from the position of the track indexes, the 2012 Uncle Meat is identical to the Ryko (but not the UK Zappa Records CD which has extra extra reverb on certain tracks)

Money is digitally identical, I've done my own null tests to prove it.

Welcome to the forum by the way!

 

Does nobody notice that the 2012 has reversed polarity compared to the other two samples? I thought you guys were sharp.

 

Oh god, it's the stereo Revolver remaster all over again!

 

This post was to (clearly) illustrate differences; not similarities.

 

I've got every iteration of ROXY & ELSEWHERE and am quite pleased with the new Universal CD. I have not made any comparisons ... Just sayin' it sounds good is all ...

 

The Ryko and the Universal sound the same. No difference.

 

Thanks. I've been reading for years, actually. I have just never posted. This came about when my significant other remarked that she heard a difference, and she is a person who is NOT sensitive to that sort of thing. I haven't ripped or run tests on the discs I own yet. I will try to do that, and make some wav's to illustrate what we both THINK we hear.

 

Which is exactly what I did - illustrate a difference.

 

Start arguing or get out

 

I desperately wanted to both HEAR and see differences between the UME Uncle Meat and the last Ryko. Unfortunately it isn't there...either audibly or when I look at or analyze the waveforms. They are identical. I also analyzed the EQ curve of the new vs. old. Absolutely identical. Sorry...but unless there are multiple masterings of either the new UME or the old Ryko that i'm unaware of these appear to be exactly the same.

I'll compare Roxy tonight. But I played several tracks right alongside the last Ryko and could hear no difference at all. Again, the UME didn't even appear to be boosted or lowered in any way. My guess is the exact same mastering with different index points.

One thing I HAVE found strange though:

I have iTunes match (the cloud service). It scans your audio files and if it finds a similar version in the iTunes store it will "match" it with what it has there. However, if I rip my '95 "Freak Out" and my 2012 version...only the 2012 version will "match". I've run every type of analysis I know in Adobe Audition and the files look exactly the same to me in every facet. However somehow iTunes match "knows" when I am trying to match the old CD vs. the new even when the song lengths are EXACTLY the same. Haven't figured this one out quite yet.

 

I got Chunga's Revenge, I love that album but now I like it even more. It sounds really good compared to my old CD with added reverb, etc. I think I'll be getting Hot Rats and Burnt Weeny Sandwich next. Such a shame about Uncle Meat and Roxy & Elsewhere, those two deserved some nice remastering treatment, specially Uncle Meat. They could be pressing some nice vinyl records with some of these remasters... I would love that too.

 

Just got done running null tests on several Roxy tracks...UME vs. Ryko 95. They are identical. They would not pass these null tests if there were any even slight variance in EQ or volume.

Also, I don't recall anybody posting any clips that proved that the UME Uncle Meat is different than the last Ryko. I have compared multiple tracks to the Ryko and they were exact.

 

Burnt Weeny Sandwich is my favorite of the new remasters so far! Gorgeous, warm and full without a hint of loudness. Well-balanced EQ and apparently NR free!

 

Very early in this thread there was talk of a couple tracks on the UMe Uncle Meat missing the digital reverb. The clips are in the first link:

http://stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=7970149&postcount=18
http://stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=7970026&postcount=15
http://stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=7969764&postcount=2

 

No, the difference between those samples is because the original UK Zappa Records CD has an extra layer of reverb on certain songs, in addition to the added reverb on the Barking Pumpkin, '95 Ryko and '12 UMe CDs (which are all identical).

The original LP is completely dry.

 

Hmmm...I'll have to compare Dog Breath...I don't remember if that's one of the tracks I used in my last comparison.

 

Just compared my 95 UM Dog Breath with the 2012. Inverted phase and lined them up. They cancel completely...total silence.

Sorry Brother George...they're identical. I'm not sure what the author of that post is doing exactly but I ripped these directly from my 95 Ryko and 2012 Ume

 

If I recall right the issue was that the UK Zappa Records CD had even more reverb, compared to the Ryko.

 

Stupid newbie question: How do I delete my posts?

 

PM a Gort/Moderator and ask them nicely.

 

Right indeed.

I'm hopefully going to have the info on the second batch fully updated by this weekend. Fingers crossed.