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The Sound Quality of Appetite for Destruction

Tim Link

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Lately I've been noticing how the improved stereo width and separation that I'm getting with my current setup seems to make everything sound better. A couple nights ago I was watching short videos on Facebook and someone had Welcome to the Jungle playing in the background. It sounded like they had recorded it off of speakers on a cheap boom box using some kind of cheap stereo microphone. It was really distorted and messed up but very lively with lots of midrange presence and I got a lift out of it. So, I decided to turn it on in Apple Music. Boy was I disappointed! Such a thin, lifeless, flat sound, completely lacking in presence as I have ever heard. I don't recall this music being so bad sounding, but I guess I never listened to any Guns'n'Roses other than as background music in the car or something similar. Does anybody else agree that this is a pretty bad sounding album? My system gives it a nice wide stereo presentation but it's flat as a pancake, tonally unpleasant with this music. I've tried on headphones and my system at work and I can't get it to sound that good no matter what. The cheaper Sony speakers at work turned down pretty low is the best I can make it sound. I think what I should try next are the Klipschorns. If they can't give it some midrange bite nothing can. I'm starting to think this has to be played quietly or really loud.
 
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fpitas

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Some mastering gets a "smiley face" response specifically to sound better on inexpensive systems. You might be able to EQ it back into a usable shape.
 
OP
T

Tim Link

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Some mastering gets a "smiley face" response specifically to sound better on inexpensive systems. You might be able to EQ it back into a usable shape.
I'll try that!
 
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Tim Link

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Some mastering gets a "smiley face" response specifically to sound better on inexpensive systems. You might be able to EQ it back into a usable shape.
I tried it - definitely like it better with a plus 5 parametric at 1k. I hate to go down this rabbit hole of individual EQ for albums. I guess if I want to enjoy this album there's no choice.
 

fpitas

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I tried it - definitely like it better with a plus 5 parametric at 1k. I hate to go down this rabbit hole of individual EQ for albums. I guess if I want to enjoy this album there's no choice.
Some music management programs (like Jriver and others) allow stored EQ for each track.
 

DVDdoug

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I hate to go down this rabbit hole of individual EQ for albums. I guess if I want to enjoy this album there's no choice.
In a few rare cases I've "remastered" CDs for myself (with Audacity or GoldWave).
 
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