Unlistenable albums

[steve_1979]

On my current system, acdc - back in black sounds awful. Really bright/high pitched,not rocky at all...sounds a bit loke the smurfs playing. Also I was very surprised at hearing stereophonics graffiti kn the train album sounding the same. Very light weight.that was on google play tho and maybe the cd sounds better. Anyone else noticed this?

I agree on both accounts.

AC/DC Back in Black is a bit bright and sounds much better with the bass turned up by about 1dB and all Stereophionics music has an excessive amount of dynamic compression and sounds very poor due to this even though the actual musical content is pretty good.

 

[bigfish786]

Back In Black on vinyl, I already have it on cd, but not listened to it for a while.

i hope it sounds alright!

 

[Balderdash]

Compact snap by the jam sounds awful on my system but not too bad in the car. I played it through my old 63 KI sig and it's really harsh/screechy. It's an album that was potentially put together without the engineers striving for perfection anyway.

 

[matthewpiano]

I feel it is less about something being 'unlistenable', and more about the frustration of knowing that the music deserves a better quality of recording/mastering than it has been given. If the music is good enough it is never totally unlistenable, but it would be even more enjoyable if the recording was as good as possible.

 

[Infiniteloop]

In addition to agreeing with the suggestions of the Adele Albums, (A National scandal and tragedy, in my view. - Her record company should be forced by law to do a better job.) I would like to nominate all albums by Darren Hayes. Undoubtedly a Pop genius, his remarkable, beautiful and intelligent, yet mostly unrecognised works, sound invariably terrible from a SQ point of view. OK in the car, awful on a decent system. - Again, this should be put right.

 

[Electro]

I feel it is less about something being 'unlistenable', and more about the frustration of knowing that the music deserves a better quality of recording/mastering than it has been given. If the music is good enough it is never totally unlistenable, but it would be even more enjoyable if the recording was as good as possible.

I agree completely !

 

[stefanom]

Original version of Whats the Story Morning Glory by Oasis. When I played it for the first time I thought there was something wrong with my system. Brickwalled to hell, drums sound like cardboard boxes.

I haven't heard the remastered issue though.

 

[radiorog]

On my current system, acdc - back in black sounds awful. Really bright/high pitched,not rocky at all...sounds a bit loke the smurfs playing. Also I was very surprised at hearing stereophonics graffiti kn the train album sounding the same. Very light weight.that was on google play tho and maybe the cd sounds better. Anyone else noticed this?

I agree on both accounts.

AC/DC Back in Black is a bit bright and sounds much better with the bass turned up by about 1dB and all Stereophionics music has an excessive amount of dynamic compression and sounds very poor due to this even though the actual musical content is pretty good.

Phew! Glad to hear that. Was thinking there was something major awry with my setup.

 

[radiorog]

I feel it is less about something being 'unlistenable', and more about the frustration of knowing that the music deserves a better quality of recording/mastering than it has been given. If the music is good enough it is never totally unlistenable, but it would be even more enjoyable if the recording was as good as possible.

I disagree a bit here Mathew. The mentioned acdc CD sounds so far off the mark, I will never listen to it. It simply doesn't rock, which is the whole purpose of acdc. So in a way, it is unlistenable. The CD is at least 5 years old and I expect more recent maters may have addressed this a bit??

 

[radiorog]

Original version of Whats the Story Morning Glory by Oasis. When I played it for the first time I thought there was something wrong with my system. Brickwalled to hell, drums sound like cardboard boxes.

I haven't heard the remastered issue though.

Yep, and definitely maybe. Its not unlistenable, but a shame its not better,as the music is A1. Anyone know if the recent remasters sound better on decent HiFi equipment?

 

[steve_1979]

I feel it is less about something being 'unlistenable', and more about the frustration of knowing that the music deserves a better quality of recording/mastering than it has been given. If the music is good enough it is never totally unlistenable, but it would be even more enjoyable if the recording was as good as possible.

+1

 

[philpot1001]

Just bought a Gerry Raferty "Best of" album and the mid range on it is awful, sounds clouded......having said that i also just bought a Stereo MC's "Supernatural" album and thats pretty bad in the same frequency range too....going to check my systems OK tonight by playing something else

 

[record_spot]

Only one or two discs that were badly mastered (Cinram take a bow!) but then again it was Styx Pieces Of Eight album and I'm not sure what the greater crime here was; the mastering or the album itself which is in parts truly woeful (Aku-aku and Lords of the Ring, epic in their cringeworthiness!).

 

[lindsayt]

Back in Black is a pretty well recorded rock album - if you've got one of the versions that scores 12 or 13 on the DR database. http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list/dr/desc?album=back+in+black

It's on the lean / forward side of neutral, with vocals and guitars right at the front of the mix and bass guitar and bass drum pushed to the back, in typical AC/DC studio album fashion.

 

[ellisdj]

This is apparently the company / guy who gave as the mastering on 21.

He has won tons of awards and the list of modern albums is massive.

The bit that worries me is the Mastered for itunes program - does that mean mastered to sounds ok on crap headphones off a phone?

 

[Thompsonuxb]

Any thing with Alicia keys singing on it.

The attempts at auto correction on her voice compounds the fact the woman sounds like cats during the mating season been beaten with a cricket bat.

She sounds passable on the radio but on anything approaching a decent system she sounds woeful.

 

[rich51080]

Avenged Sevenfold - Waking the Fallen - sounds muddy and not enough treble. Shows up badly on my Naim system.

Metallica - Death Magnetic - What were they thinking - terrible quality - very bright and compressed.

Velvet Revolver - Contraband. Very bright sounding and not well recorded to my ears at least.

Nevermore - Enemies of Reality - No treble and recorded so badly I cannot play it.

Those four albums get my vote.

 

[BigH]

A lot of U2s albums sound poor, esp. Rattle and Hum, first track Helter Skelter is probably the worst. Coldplay also are generally poor, not that I play them. Who's Next on cd I thought was bad compared to the original vinyl. Jeff Healey - See the Light I find hard to listen to, drum cymbals just too much. Agree about Oasis. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Californication is often quoted as one of the worst cds.

 

[Infiniteloop]

A lot of U2s albums sound poor, esp. Rattle and Hum, first track Helter Skelter is probably the worst. Coldplay also are generally poor, not that I play them. Who's Next on cd I thought was bad compared to the original vinyl. Jeff Healey - See the Light I find hard to listen to, drum cymbals just too much. Agree about Oasis. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Californication is often quoted as one of the worst cds.

The last Coldplay album 'Ghost Stories' is actually rather good and it sounds great too.

 

[lindsayt]

The annoying thing with U2 is that War is so well recorded. Why couldn't they maintain that standard? Too much Eno influence with their later albums.

 

[Andrewjvt]

Infiniteloop said: The last Coldplay album 'Ghost Stories' is actually rather good and it sounds great too.

I say: yes agree its an album that can show off the detail of a system quite good i think

 

[radiorog]

Back in Black is a pretty well recorded rock album - if you've got one of the versions that scores 12 or 13 on the DR database. http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list/dr/desc?album=back+in+black

It's on the lean / forward side of neutral, with vocals and guitars right at the front of the mix and bass guitar and bass drum pushed to the back, in typical AC/DC studio album fashion.

I can't find my exact disk listed. I have what looks like an Atlantic CD, leidseplien press, lc00121, barcode 756792485. Its close to two mentioned in list, one scores about 13, the other 8. I think I'll invest in a new one, saw one on offer today in hmv

 

[SteveR750]

I feel it is less about something being 'unlistenable', and more about the frustration of knowing that the music deserves a better quality of recording/mastering than it has been given. If the music is good enough it is never totally unlistenable, but it would be even more enjoyable if the recording was as good as possible.

True, but is this equipment related, which was my OP. Does a good system make this contrast between good and poor recordings a frustration, and therefore less listenable, where perhaps a less capable system would make all of your music sound pretty much the same?

 

[SteveR750]

More to the point, is it listenable on a cheap system, anfd then becomes unlistenable when using a more accurate revealing system?

Vice versa, in my opinion.

This is my observarion too David. The context of course is my recent acquisition of the ATC speakers, of which many reviews assume they make poor recordings less satisfying than a (cheaper?) less neutral presentation.

On my current system, acdc - back in black sounds awful. Really bright/high pitched,not rocky at all...sounds a bit loke the smurfs playing. Also I was very surprised at hearing stereophonics graffiti kn the train album sounding the same. Very light weight.that was on google play tho and maybe the cd sounds better. Anyone else noticed this?

No! In fact the opposite on my system. I was also listening to Highway to Hell the other day, and I have never heard it so BIG and powerful sounding. BIB is a more dynamic recording in my opinion, and even better sounding.

 

[pyrrhon]

So, what are they? What are these so poorly recorded and mastered albums or tracks that become less satisfying, or even completely unlistenable with the more money you spend on your system?

I'll start with, er none, but someone has them, as I keep reading reviews that refer to them (whatever they are).

List them here, and we'll all look them up and play them and note our observations. Not very scientific I know with all the bias voting that could occur, but a bit of fun.

Hi Steve,

I often go for Savages : City's Full. The distorted guitar is very agressive and forward. I noticed that you really need a dark sounding system otherwise the song kinda of hurts. Otherwise with a proper system its pretty good and as a quick tigh bass riff that does not go very low and benefits from a slight bass boost in the upper bass region. Equalizer really helps here!