Mastering BEACH BOYS "Pet Sounds" again, leaving the "2 db step fades" intact...

Im confused -- why wouldnt the new CD be done from the original master tape and not from the old DCC transfer???

 

I've noticed those "clunky" fades for years and as a trademark of 60 mixing. Somewhat replicated on Let It Be...Naked

 

I'm sure A/D converters have come a long way since the DCC disc. I'm looking forward to this!

 

I still have a pair of Altec 604 corner speakers.

 

My guess is that Capitol won't give SH the actual tapes again. They want everyone to use their "approved" master.

I'm not sure we're reading this right though. I had the impression that Steve is using the same tape he used for the DCC master, which is a version he put together in '92 from individual song masters. Can anyone clarify?

 

That's the impression I get. It sounds like his tape is compiled from the best possible sources for each song:

I get the impression that there isn't one master tape that had all of those things on it, i.e. correct mixes, no damage etc. Hence the need for a compiled master.

 

Not sure if this is accurate but I read on a BB site that the 'LA Tape', which is said to the master, was disassembled in the 90's and the individual song masters were splied on to other reels. Steve's 30ips dub is a copy of the LA Tape with WIBN and some of the train and dog stuff from the NY Tape. I don't think any of us could tell the difference between a mastertape and a 30ips 1:1 dub though so I'm sure it will sound fine. Might not be an upgrade over the DCC though.

 

The L.A. tape (master) has been missing for years, as Chris points out, so it cannot be used to master another CD release. Capitol/BRI has a 16 bit digital transfer (used on the recent 40th anniversary release) of the master, and Steve has his flat anaolgue copy (and a digital U-matic copy which was used for the DCC release if my memory serves). The 40th anniversary PS mono master transfer sounds bad, though - perhaps from age related deterioration of the U-matic or EQ tweaking or both. Nothing like the DCC IMO.

 

That's what I think happened too.

An upgrade, can't say as I'm sure once it's released that they will be threads about it with some liking one more than the other. My take on it is that those two discs will be two different listening experiences.

 

I'm guessing that the DCC CD and the new AF CD will be almost identical. If Steve is using the same tape I would think that the only difference would be that caused by the new A/D equipment.

Hasn't Steve said that when he mastered the DCC he tried to present what was on the tape, without changing the bass level, etc?

 

Thank you Steve for not only bringing us a great-sounding Pet Sounds, but also for telling us about it in details. Exciting news about a deluxe vinyl coming!

 

Steve, feel free to post any photos of the tape boxes, etc (unless of course it breaks copyright and of course, if they have already been posted here somewhere else! lol!). Does Brian get a chance to hear what you have done or does he/Capitol give you complete reign on the final project?

You can't have TOO many copies of PET SOUNDS, and I am VERY MUCH looking forward to the vinyl pressing as well.

 

Thanks Steve for keeping it authentic. This will be my first copy of this album on ANY format (not much of a Beach Boys fan), so I'm glad my first one will be the best one, period. Can't wait to pick up these (and more) releases!

 

If some of the other speculation regarding Steve's post is correct (specifically HDCD) couldn't that also affect (positively) how this sounds?

It certainly seems like Steve is genuinely pleased with this latest effort, so much so, that he took the time to share his detailed post with us. Call me crazy but reading between the lines, I take his message as a "heads up" to everyone on the Forum that this is going to be one very SPECIAL disc! In fact, I have a feeling it is going to turn out to be the best CD version ever!

 

I don't think they've changed all that much. Just listen to some CDs from 1983. They sound just as good or better than the newest ones.

 

I am 51 years old and I was born and raised in Southern Cal, and I have never owned a copy of this either. I am looking forward to it.

 

I'm confused as well. What is being used as the source for this release? Will there be a slipcover stating From The Original Master Tapes?

 

I have 4 cd's, 1 DVD-A and 3 lp's of Pet Sounds - and can't wait to buy them again.... LP AND CD.

 

Well, a CD made from a 30 ips dub is technically "From The Original Master Tapes". It doesn't say "Direct Transfer From The Original Master Tapes".


I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that someone allowed the actual Pet Sounds mastertape to either go missing, or be frankensteined onto other reels.

 

+1

 

I can't remember or perhaps never noticed, were the fades changed on the DCC or left as is?

 

Is this the first compact disc that Steve has remastered in a long time? IIRC, he has been doing exclusively vinyl mastering for some years now.

 

And Impulse SACDs and Blue Note SACDs.

 

The analogue flat tape dub that he made from the orignal master tape which is now missing and he used for the VINYL DCC Pet Sounds. The digital transfer he made from the original master tape was used for the DCC CD, if I am correctly interpreting what Steve has posted on this forum.

 

Well, maybe. But if Brian wanted it sung higher, he'd have sung it higher, right? It's not exactly out of his range. Are there any other examples of Brian speeding up the tape to make his voice higher? Or lower? I doubt it. But the sped-up Caroline, No is entirely coherent with Murry's meddling approach and a desire to make Brian sound "younger" and more attractive to the teen demographic he was (rightly) scared of losing. It's a real stretch to imagine Brian listening to playback and thinking, hmm, if I made the tape go faster it would be truer to my artistic intentions (or words to that effect.)

Caroline, No is a mature song, dealing with loss of innocence and growing up. It sounds right in the original recording, as sung by a young man, not a teen with the same set of references that produced (say) Surfin' Safari. It's only because we're so used to hearing the meddled-with version that we accept it as scriptural.

Maybe we will never know, in the sense that we know the sky is blue on a sunny day, if it was Murry's decision, but we can infer from all the relevant contextual information that it was. It's out of character for Brian, and motive-less, and in character for Murry, and motivated.

So sped-up Caroline No :thumbsdn: