Review of the Dire Straits album Money For Nothing with comparison between CD, Cd remastered in 1996, streaming and vinyl of the new 2022 remastering

[krabapple]

What is new about this?

Nothing, People have been bitching about loud mastering for decades now.

 

[JeremyFife]

What is new about this?

Nothing, People have been bitching about loud mastering for decades now.

Nothing new for sure, but still worth discussion (and also bitching )

We buy electronics that perform to inaudibly high tolerances, and sometimes we buy because of that performance. We measure our rooms and speakers and adjust the signal to optimise it as best we can.

Makes sense to apply that thinking, that rigour to that actual signal that we feed our equipment with. We can't change it, perhaps we can't even hear the differences but - speaking for myself - I want to understand what I'm listening to and if there is a buying choice (a particular CD mastering, a streaming service or digital download ... even vinyl) I want to be informed.

Also, it's a hobby ... it's interesting to dig

 

[Newman]

What is new about this?

Nothing, People have been bitching about loud mastering for decades now.

Perhaps the new bit is the owner of a website starting a thread here to direct us to his website’s latest article. Self-promotion?

 

[JeremyFife]

Perhaps the new bit is the owner of a website starting a thread here to direct us to his website’s latest article. Self-promotion?

To be fair @Jean.Francois was invited to join ASR by a member so that this sort of discussion could happen here. I, for one, find it interesting

 

[Newman]

But are we going to get a thread for every album he looks at from now on?

 

[dasdoing]

I could try to generate a more transparent file with the same DR reduction with a more professional limiter.

chopped of 5.2dB of the peak with two instances of Ozone Maximizer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bu9UnBwTdfr4mr9QYXGCkeWPW0ecqgUz/view?usp=sharing

I am no engineer, and I could have tried harder (one more instance?), but I am interested what you guys hear

 

[sweetsounds]

but anyhow @sweetsounds, the real question is: if tomorrow someone plays A or B for you, just one of them, could you identify which one it is?
also if he went for DR8 he might have left the kick untouched.

Don't know, but is this really relevant? My hearing perception varies day-by-day. It is not an instrument. I also can't tell every time for sure if Pavarotti's Turandot is the 1987 or 1994 version, but in general I prefer the 1994 recording.

Why would I listen to worse recordings on a worse system? Isn't a successful A-B test including a blind preference rating enough of a proof that higher dynamics are preferable? ON AVERAGE I will enjoy the better recording more.

Otherwise I could also eat half-rotten food and live with other low quality stuff.

one could argument that any diference, no matter how tiny, is a reason to not limit, but on the other hand producers have to think about the mainstream listeners in the first place. if you take a sound system with a limited headroom and you want to play the song loud, the more dynamic track will cause distortion much earlier....in other words, it will sound worse.

There are arguments for using overall compression or limiting (individual vocal tracks must be compressed to make it sound good) besides louder-sounds-better:
- systems with limited dynamic range. However, usually these system have some distortion no matter what.
In this situation it is much, much smarter to build a cheap low-pass into the system rather than destroying the original signal.
- systems not resolving details. compression amplifies quiet sounds and gives the impression of more details.
This is most useful in noisy environments like cars. A good car radio would apply some compression by itsself depending depending on car speed.

No matter how you turn, the right solution is to use simple DSP during play-back to deal with system deficiences rather than to damage the recording.

 

[sweetsounds]

chopped of 5.2dB of the peak with two instances of Ozone Maximizer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bu9UnBwTdfr4mr9QYXGCkeWPW0ecqgUz/view?usp=sharing

I am no engineer, and I could have tried harder (one more instance?), but I am interested what you guys hear

This might be a different recording than my original CD. Sounds more "canned"/rough and also less drums than mine.
Anyway difficult due to the distorted e-Guitar.

I watched the FFT. Could it be that the limiter creates square wave distortions? The high-frequency spectrum is really spiky.

 

[danadam]

Don't know, but is this really relevant?

It is relevant to how the negative effects of peak limiting are usually exaggerated in threads like this one. To not look far:

Otherwise I could also eat half-rotten food

 

[danadam]

I am no engineer, and I could have tried harder (one more instance?), but I am interested what you guys hear

I only listened to it by switching tracks in Audacity, but it seems to me a tiny bit louder than the original. The feeling goes away after reducing its volume by 0.5 dB.

 

[dlaloum]

I'm not intending to buy another copy, but which is 'correct?' - Original vinyl or original CD?

I can tell you that substantial, in depth comparative listening at the time of their release.... when I worked in audio retail, with customers wanting to compare CD and Vinyl every single day (!) - they were not substantively different - differences between cartridges would account for a greater part of the difference than difference in the recording/mastering.

The tracks that I used to use at the time most frequently (Money for Nothing... from the Brothers in Arms album) were pretty much the same - subsequent masterings (regardless of whether on Vinyl or CD) did not sound the same.

I would assume the early releases circa 1985 would be "correct". (I am in Australia, don't know whether there was a difference between Australian and other nation releases...)

 

[restorer-john]

I would assume the early releases circa 1985 would be "correct". (I am in Australia, don't know whether there was a difference between Australian and other nation releases...)

Apart from our (Aust) pressings being on pretty ordinary vinyl in many cases. They treated the Australia record buying public with contempt IMO.

I've got an original 1985 BIA here in practically mint condition on vinyl and several original BIAs on CD.

 

[Descartes]

I have the SACD how does it compare?

 

[dlaloum]

No Idea - 2 minutes playing Money for Nothing and I could tell you

 

[DSJR]

My vinyl and CD used to 'sound' similar in fairness and I preferred the full length tracks on the CD anyway, but it was the reversed channels on one vs the other which concerned me - high hats should be on the right - thanks

 

[Rottmannash]

I was excited to see that this 2022 remaster from Dire Straits' catalog was released; very curious to see what they worked on with these gorgeous original recordings (Dire Straits' catalog of studio work is still a benchmark for stunning and damn near perfect audio recordings, in my opinion).

Checked out the 2022 remasters this morning... 5 seconds into "Sultans Of Swing" I was actually saying out loud, "Oh, no!! What's happened here?!" They absolutely destroyed the sound and integrity of the original recording for that song. It's distorted, muddy, and waaaay overcooked. I can't believe they would put this out there!

Listen to the original version from their self-titled album, and then flip to the 2022 compilation remaster. It's shocking. I didn't listen to the rest of the songs because I didn't want to get upset, lol. Maybe the rest of the songs were more tastefully done? But based on that intro track, I'll definitely stick with previous versions when I listen to Dire Straits.

(By the way, I listened to the 2022 remastered Sultans Of Swing on streaming. I don't know if the 2022 remastered vinyl is any different. Maybe something just went wrong with the files that were delivered to the streaming services.)

Agreed. Very strange the new remaster. Can't listen to it.

 

[Rottmannash]

"A good car radio would apply some compression by itsself depending depending on car speed."

Is that why the volume in my Mercedes magically increases as my speed increases/noise increases? I thought it was a loudness function being employed.

 

[ThatM1key]

Oh, I have seen much worse. Try the various masters of Michael Jackson's Thriller...

I wonder how the MFSL SACD version would compare

 

[Ken Tajalli]

Has anyone in the biz ever stated the reasons why they actually do this? Its obviously intentional . Is it so the recording "pops"/ "punches" on playback on decent systems which they assume people will prefer?

Or is it so people arent having to crank little bluetooth speakers in the quiet parts ?

I think they compress it so it would sound better on cheaper equipments and radio!
laptops, phone speakers, YouTube ....

 

[Robin L]

All I know is that the LP edition cuts short "Why Worry" and that the SACD is in full surround.

The rest is just too much time on people's hands spent worrying about close to nothing.

Also, Mark Knopfler is better as a solo artist.