Prime Time Love

Tom, if it makes you happy, keep listening to your phone...
Your forgetting but back in 2018 you were pointing out that a lower quality format like cassette might reveal issues with the master because it emphasizes different parts.

I think it's fairly typical that many listeners to commercially recorded cassettes will turn off the Dolby B processing as it seems "dull" with it turned on. I know I've done that with the few purchased cassettes that I've had.

With Dolby off, you're hearing an emphasis in certain higher frequencies, which would probably account for the perception of the brass being louder.

When I want to digitize a cassette, I've found that I have to switch the Dolby off, and then with software in the computer, attempt to compensate for the exaggerated highs.

I still think the cassette version of “If I Had You” is a jazzier mix than what was in the LP & CD. But it could be from the “emphasis” on the higher frequencies.
 
BUT, I was referring, in that post, to working with a cassette, as the only source of the music and being able to bring out the highest fidelity possible. And I assure you, that I wasn't using a phone as my monitor in the process.

Rather, I was using reference quality headphones for monitoring the progress of my digitization.
 
It looks like "Partners in Crime" is not Apple Digital Masters (formerly known as Mastered for iTunes). It is likely that the version available on iTunes is just a 256 kbps AAC file of the redbook CD released in 1992/3.

I should add that "Apple Digital Masters" are not mastered by Apple, but they are mastered by the record companies using Apple's proprietary codec/converter to essentially cram hi-fi resolution into a lossy file. I don't know how much I buy it, but a big difference between Apple Digital Masters and non-Apple Digital Masters is that "Apple Digital Masters" are not sourced from Redbook CDs, whereas many non-ADM files are essentially lossy redbook CD rips.

Here's the Apple website with more info:


FYI. "Partners in Crime" that appears on iTunes is indeed a rip from that awful MCA CD. I heard just a few seconds of it and recognized it. I hate that THAT'S the version that's out there for streaming. It can sound so much better and so many won't even realize it.

Ed
 
I have the original AM+ CD of Voice of the Heart. It has the mirror finish on the CD. I actually prefer the sound of this over the Remastered Classics. I do hear subtle differences and to my hears the AM+ has a bit better clarity and vocals appear brighter. I just prefer it over the Remastered Classics mix. I’ve felt that some of the Remastered Classics have sounded muddy to me and less appealing to listen to over the original CD’s. For instance to my ears, the original CD of Passage sounds 10x better than the Remastered Classics CD.
 
I have the original AM+ CD of Voice of the Heart. It has the mirror finish on the CD. I actually prefer the sound of this over the Remastered Classics. I do hear subtle differences and to my hears the AM+ has a bit better clarity and vocals appear brighter. I just prefer it over the Remastered Classics mix. I’ve felt that some of the Remastered Classics have sounded muddy to me and less appealing to listen to over the original CD’s. For instance to my ears, the original CD of Passage sounds 10x better than the Remastered Classics CD.

"Passage" is just lousy on CD. I agree. The LP opens it up far more so I'm glad I have it. Highly recommended if you don't. To my ears, it murders the CD in every way.

Ed
 
"Passage" is just lousy on CD. I agree. The LP opens it up far more so I'm glad I have it. Highly recommended if you don't. To my ears, it murders the CD in every way.

Ed
WXPN does a 70's flashback. I was driving home during a tornado warning a week or two ago and they played "All You Get From Love Is A Love Song", followed by " Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft". Both tracks sounded so much better than the original vinyl and the CD. They actually sounded amazing.
 
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