"Glenn Richards" wrote in message
...
Iain Churches wrote:

By "cleaning up" I was referring specifically to applying digital
noise reduction. The re-EQ was mentioned simply for completeness,
as the recordings were a bit bass-shy and lacking in sparkle. So a
touch of smiley EQ solves that, followed by noise reduction.
Professionals call this "cosmetic enhancement" :-)) For one's own
use, make any changes that take your fancy. For a commercial release,
I regard the smiley brigade with deep distrust. When the big day
comes and we all standing in line in the big mastering room in the
sky, they will have much to answer for:-)

Depends on how the original sounded, really.


Yes indeed. There is a great deal of butchery that goes on in the name
of "mastering" This is hardly ever the case with classical mastering
or re-issues.

I've been doing some experimentation with comparing non-remastered CDs to
remastered ones, actually after buying the latest ABBA box set (Complete
Studio Recordings) and being shocked at the amount of compression that was
in use.

I always found the original Polydor/Polar CDs rather bass-shy and lacking
sparkle compared to the remasters, but the remasters lacked punch and
dynamics (although the tonal balance was better). So I dug out my original
Polar CDs, ripped them to WAVs and started playing about. Applied a bit of
smiley EQ, and the tonal balance was then the same as the remasters (lost
the excessive midband that the remastering had taken out). On "The
Visitors" (recorded digitally) this was all that was needed, earlier
releases sourced from analogue needed some NR applying as well.

I'm fairly convinced that the Polar CDs were produced from the same 2ch
analogue master as the vinyl versions, the reason being that my vinyl copy
of Super Trouper has exactly the same drop-outs and pre-echo print through
as the Polar CD, in exactly the same places. Indeed, the only real
difference (apart from the slight scratch on the first track and a bit of
surface noise) is that the applause at the end of the final live track
runs through the lead-out groove, until the arm lifts (if you've got a
semi-auto turntable). On the CD it fades out.

I was at RCA at that time. We had the licence for Abba distribution.
There was little if any local mastering. In the case of vinyl, we received
a Mother matrix from Sweden from which stampers were grown.
There were many territories to which vinyl pressings were shipped
in bulk, (probably due to a lack of faith in local production and quality
control)

During the period of the vinly CD overlap, CD submasters were also
supplied. I believe these to have been made from the same originals
from which the analogue lacquer was cut. I must dig out
Super Trouper and make some comparisons. Thanks for raising the
point.

It's rather vital that you EQ before NR though, otherwise the re-EQ
boosts bits that the NR has cut, leading to some interesting
pumping effects...
That's correct. One needs to do a dummy run though to see if the pre-EQ
is the best possible after you have heard the NR.

Yup. Nero Wave Editor has a very useful "undo" function, so if the EQ was
too steep, or not steep enough, you can go back, change it, re-NR, and try
again.

Most large digital workstations have many layers of undo.


Back in the days when I worked part time in a recording studio (when I was
about 15!) this was the stuff that engineers dreamed about, while we
sliced up bits of 1/4" tape with a razor blade. And that was only 13 years
ago!

It takes a stout heart to step up to the multitrack machine
(24tracks on 2 inch) with a splicing block and a razor blade
(no undo function there) mark up with a chinagraph pencil
from a score or leadsheet, and then cut,
while everyone is waiting and watching. We had a policy
of always making composites to that the mix was made
from a complete version on multitrack cut together.

But you can still keep your splicing skills polished working in
digital also. One can razor-blade edit the multitracks made
on a Studer D827 24/24 DASH machine. There is a 2 inch
splicing block fitted into the front plate. It's fun:-))

The digital age has made things much simpler, but there was
much more fun when you had to fly by the seat of your pants,
as they say:-)

So in these instances I do the NR first. Any subsequent gentle EQ
slightly raises the noise floor, but with vintage material is of
little consequence. The secret is to do as little as possible In this
instance less is often more :-)

Yup, likewise on these recordings my aim was to do as little as possible.

The irony is, my remastering attempts using £60 worth of software running
on a Windows XP box of what is now a fairly mid-range spec (AMD XP2800+,
2GB DDR RAM, 120GB HD) actually sound considerably better than what some
muppet at Universal Music with half a million quid's worth of kit and a
fetish for abusing the compressor/limiter could come up with...

Yes indeed. The first audio workstation I used was Lexicon Opus. The
user interface ran under DOS with a green screen monitor. It had removable
hard disks, and cost more than a four bedroomed house!

Iain