The Dead Weather new album 'Sea of Cowards'

Yeah, I have those and they are AAA but why wouldn't he continue to do this with the Dead Weather? If your recording and mixing analog why source from a cd. I know the obvious, that's its an easier process but I thought Mr. White appreciated the sound of of analog and vinyl. Curious.

Also, I just picked up Broken Boy Soldiers on vinyl today. It's sounds good, not great on first listen.

 

Simply not true.....

Someone has a case of the koolaids.

 

Here's what someone on another forum said:

"Believe it. A lot of the White Stripes releases were digitally sourced at the very least. I confirmed with the mastering house that cut White Blood Cells that it was from the CD master. I'd say that Jack's spent a long time engineering a facade that makes him appear as if he is all for the analog cause; it seems he fails to follow through on it.
Also, all the vault stuff and Horehound I've got which was pressed at United, isn't the best pressing I've ever seen. "

Also, I have seen some photos of the vinyl release of Sea of Cowards and it's got grooves embedded in both of the labels that you can play! Apparently they have a noise collage on one side and snippets of some tracks that aren't on the album and such on the other.

http://www.imagebam.com/image/13c3df79745437

 

Also:

"From what I've seen, there's no aural benefit to buying any white stripes album on vinyl except elephant or icky thump, as those are the only two confirmed to be analog sourced (beware of elephant, many people have complained about pressing quality, myself included). The rest are almost undoubtedly sourced from the CD master. I contacted the mastering studio that did White Blood Cells, and they said it would've been straight from U-Matic tape or CD-R

EDIT: In regards to both Raconteurs albums, the first was digitally sourced, and the second was definitely analog sourced, and sounds pretty darn awesome (I own both)."

 

I agree with this as I have all these. I like White Blood Cells as a album and the vinyl sounds good not great. Maybe since there is no bass to be bloated it doesn't sound as bad. My Elephants is pretty good. I just got Broken Boy Soliders and I was hoping it was analog but it's digital. I still think it sounds good just not really good enough to a happy buy. It's cd or hi rez sourced, I don't know though.

 

I've owned or listened to nearly every White Stripes (domestic pressings) album even before Icky Thump or Consolors of the Lonely ever came out.

 

Same.

I went to a local store that normally puts stuff out early today in hopes of getting this. They didn't have the vinyl, but since I pretty much have to buy something to justify the trip, I bought the CD, hoping that it would sound better than the mp3s that I've had.

It doesn't, because it's mastered by Vlado Meller. I'm not trying to exaggerate, but this is probably the worst sounding CD that I've ever bought. The 'louder' parts just sound like mush and there are no dynamics whatsoever.

Stay away. Far away.

 

Here's one more waveform, for 'Jawbreaker':



Click for full size. It's disgusting.

 

Oh dear, that does not look good at all. I was gonna go for the vinyl, but if it's not much better than the CD, why bother? I've been obsessively listening to a "web rip" from their live vinyl stream, and that's been very satisfying sound-wise for me. Maybe the quality of the stream shaved off some of the treble?

 

I'm still going to get the vinyl, but I'm being cautiously optimistic about it.

The mastering just ruins this album, which sucks because I like the songs a lot.

 

Haven't heard the new album, but I tend to agree with the masses here -- Third Man sound and pressing quality leaves a lot to be desired.

On the one hand, I feel a little betrayed. Jack seemed to be making a large effort to create an image that portrays him as an analog enthusiast. However, nowhere did he state that he was a supporter of audiophile culture. Seems like he just likes the tangible, physical nature of vinyl as opposed to its "better" sound quality.

I like the concept of "going local" and having Third Man press at United -- but man, these records stink for sound quality. Tons of un-cleanable surface noise, and lots of untrimmed vinyl along the edges -- really does a number on the sleeves.

This bad quality control is a damn shame too, given how rockin' some of the material is. The mastering isn't much better either. The vinyl editions of "Icky Thump" (mono), the live Raconteurs record and Horehound all sound so -- distant.

I'm hoping they can get their act together but I'm not counting on it.

 

Keep us posted surfingelectrode; I've got my on order from my local shop and they estimate it coming in on Friday. If you get it beforehand, our take on the quality/pressing might be the deciding factor in my purchase. And yes, too bad about the CD sound quality...I've already played this album more than any other new LP in 2010! Some seriously great stuff here; I especially love the slinky bass groove of "Hustle and Cuss". I was a big fan of Horehound, but whereas that album sounded like a cool late night jam session for an obvious side-project, this one really sound like the work of a band.

 

I agree with everything you've said. I think that Jack cares a lot more about the packaging than he does the sound.

I mean, Elephant, Icky Thump (stereo), and Consolers of the Lonely are three of the best sounding records that I own. I just wish that the rest were like that.

 

I'll either be getting it in a few hours or tomorrow morning, so I'll let you know. I'm going to be making a needledrop of it on my first play. I'll post some clips when I'm done.

I've been listening to this and the new Black Keys album a lot. It was great to see both bands a few weeks ago and then have these new albums come out!

 

Ooh, I'd forgotten about the new Black Keys album. Never could get into them when they first arrived on the scene, but man that Dan Auerbach solo LP absolutely floored me. Great songwriter. /Side thread done.

 

It never ceases to amaze me that professional musicians and record collectors such as Jack White and Peter Buck just don't get some basic recording/pressing/playback concepts that are fairly common knowledge here on SHtv. I do understand that there is a difference between the creative mindset (just do it) and the collector mindset (obsess about it), but I do agree that White appears to be more into the physical medium/fetish object aspect of vinyl than into having an all-analog recording and mastering chain.

 

After listening to the album properly, I can say this album is really really good.

I think it's better than the first by a LOT...the first just didn't grab me (I thought the live performances were way better than what came out on the album) but this album is great. I'm not crazy about all the static/popping/distorted/vinyl sounds on some of the tracks but whatever. I love the sound effects and vocal manipulation on "Blue Blood Blues", among others, however. The whole album has a very "dark" sound to it (even) compared to the first.

And the sound quality has already been mentioned. I should run that idea by a girl I know who's in love with Jack White and Paul McCartney...I was already informed that she would trust their ears regarding sound quality more than mine, no questions asked.

I would love to hear this album performed live.

My advice? Just listen to the album low and write angry letters.

Regarding Jack White not being what he appears to be - I'm sure it's probably all a careful part of his image, the whole vinyl/analogue fetish. He probably couldn't care for the most part.

 

Really? I thought the first was pretty "dark" already.

 

It still sounds just as bad when played low.

They played the whole album live last week and streamed it online. Someone recorded the video and uploaded it here: http://www.youtube.com/user/Kurt655#p/u

 

I edited my post to say "(even) compared to the first".

 

Oh, I'm listening to it now, I'm not denying it sounds just as bad at low volumes...it's probably just more tolerable for most.

This album is really muddy....(still listening).

EDIT: I just saw that you meant "they played in concert" live...NICE. I'll report back with my thoughts.

 

What about the CD?

EDIT: Oh, just saw surfingelectrode's posts. Another Jack White album that can't be found anywhere in good quality then.

 

I won't know until I get the vinyl tomorrow. The CD is atrocious.

 

Are you listening to the CD or the Vinyl?

Thanks!

 

Technically, the album in MP3 format @ 320kbps.

But close enough to the CD version.