Yep I heard it too. Thought it was shitty Spotify but maybe its on all recordings? They need to straighten that out. Otherwise these are great remixes.
Yep I heard it too. Thought it was shitty Spotify but maybe its on all recordings? They need to straighten that out. Otherwise these are great remixes.
If the files are defective, that might explain the delayed releases I mentioned earlier. Hopefully, Inside Out Music will get this fixed sooner rather than later.
It does sound sourced from vinyl, which is weird. However it's a nice pressing and cart...pretty quiet considering!
Oh shit! You're right. I thought it was just my audio system or internet connection. The crackles in the digital versions are a total bummer.
That's a major fuck-up there with quality control. Really terrible. But is only "SWA" affected by this? I listened to various parts of "Garden Of Dreams" and didn't hear anything wrong, although I heard some pretty radical changes in the mix and even solos etc. Too early to say whether Roine has gone a bit too far with revisions à la George Lucas... For the time being anyway, I expect we'll be offered replacement CDs for "SWA". I went for both albums because they sold for relatively little (16 euros each double-CD) but "SWA" with clicks & pops certainly ain't worth that.
Calyx (Canterbury Scene) - http://www.calyx-canterbury.fr
Legends In Their Own Lunchtime (blog) - https://canterburyscene.wordpress.com/
My latest books : "Yes" (2017) - https://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/yes/ + "L'Ecole de Canterbury" (2016) - http://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/lecoledecanterbury/ + "King Crimson" (2012/updated 2018) - http://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/kingcrimson/
Canterbury & prog interviews - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdf...IUPxUMA/videos
no replacements will be offered. Looks like it was approved to go out this way. The pops and clicks were brought up on FB and Roine was dismissive of it. We have to expect some flaws as these are recordings from the prehistoric times of 1997:
so nothing to see here folks. Don't believe your lying ears, it sounds better this way or it's because of your cheap equipment.Pale Rider
Mixes and remasters derived from almost 25 year old tapes ........go figure. ( I'm a musician - not a magician.....😉 ) - Generally speaking these remasters are so much better (imho) - or your system(s) are not good enough to reveal the difference ....🧐.
Guess I'll just try to enjoy them as I would alternate takes or curiosities. /shrug
So these are analog tape masters? Then it makes sense I guess.
In the interview I posted earlier, he mentioned that the early Flower Kings albums were recorded on analog tape. He also seemed to suggest that he didn't have the resources to properly treat (bake) the tapes the way that major labels do.
Eventually, he moved on to recording with Logic according to the liner notes on some of the later albums.
At this point, Roine probably doesn't realise that this is more than just a couple of audiophiles throwing a tantrum. The little I've heard on YT, it definitely sounds like a vinyl rip. If there's more uproar, Stolt and Inside Out might come to acknowledge that there is a bigger problem there.
However, if this is what Stolt approved for release, even if it's a mistake, IO might not want to cover the costs of pressing replacement disks.
How could it possibly be a vinyl rip when, to my knowledge, now is the first time this has ever been released on vinyl? It's not like we're talking of a needle drop of some 1970s classic! So the new CD reissue would have been mastered from a (not so) new vinyl reissue? Makes no freakin' sense.
Calyx (Canterbury Scene) - http://www.calyx-canterbury.fr
Legends In Their Own Lunchtime (blog) - https://canterburyscene.wordpress.com/
My latest books : "Yes" (2017) - https://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/yes/ + "L'Ecole de Canterbury" (2016) - http://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/lecoledecanterbury/ + "King Crimson" (2012/updated 2018) - http://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/kingcrimson/
Canterbury & prog interviews - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdf...IUPxUMA/videos
Stardust We Are was released on vinyl one time before in 2014. I'm no expert on any of this, and I don't know that we are saying that it IS a vinyl rip, just that it sounds like one, due to the errors or deterioration of the master tapes.
I did email IO because I honestly thought this had to be some sort of mistake made with wrong files or something, they replied that "to our knowledge this is part of the original master. it's not a mistake from the pressing or wrong masters."
So are these cracks and pops just showing up on the analog masters? I guess they could have digitally removed them in the quiter sections of the album, because you can't hear that stuff when its all rockin' out. Hmm, its a strange scenario. I guess if I do pull the trigger for the vinyl its not a big deal because they'll be there anyway on LP, but hearing these pop up on a digital recording is a different matter.
I thought the remixed Unfold The Future sounded more "noisy" somehow. Less compression seemed to reveal less-than-stellar aspects of individual recorded tracks, while the original mix glued it all together and covered that stuff up. Maybe this is a similar situation. It seems weird now because recent albums have mostly sounded pristine.
<sig out of order>
You definitely have a point Aymeric. Yet it does sound like cracks and pops from a vinyl, for lack of a better description.
Everything points to the fact that the new masters actually sound like this. How this was considered fit for release is unbelievable. I've never heard of similar problems with the tapes on other remix/remasters. It certainly could have been fixed to some extent.
Last edited by LeFrog; 06-28-2022 at 10:38 AM.
If you're actually reading this then chances are you already have my last album but if NOT and you're curious:
https://battema.bandcamp.com/
Also, Ephemeral Sun: it's a thing and we like making things that might be your thing: https://ephemeralsun.bandcamp.com
If the clicks and pops are a real thing when transferring from analog tape then it's just a shame since there's software out there to eliminate that. One doesn't need to be a "magician".
Edit:
https://www.avartifactatlas.com/arti..._and_pops.html
It's interesting that digital clicks are also possible. Could be incorrect audio buffer settings in the DAW....if that's what was used to record the output from the tape. Buffer settings might need to be adjusted if going to a higher bit depth/rate than usual.
Last edited by Plasmatopia; 06-28-2022 at 11:37 AM.
<sig out of order>
Maybe I'm dense, but why would it be a vinyl rip?
"what's better, peanut butter or g-sharp minor?"
- Sturgeon's Lawyer, 2021
Not dense at all...none of us except for Mr Roine himself would know the answer to that question. It's beyond bizarre. When I spun SWA, I thought it was shitty Spotify that caused the pops/crackles. But man it does sound like vinyl, but according to Roine its the analog tape...?
Bookmarks