You Smile - the pressing's bad

[whippedflea]

I recently burned my copy of YOU SMILE - THE SONG BEGINS to CD, and for years now (even with previous copies I've worn out on cheap stereos) I've been perplexed with the bad sound quality of the pressings on vinyl. Hearing "Last Tango In Paris" on CD and the remixes on LOST TREASURES, I know that the session was produced to industry standards at the time. But the vinyls of YSTSB I've heard just sound so muddy and flat, I couldn't really EQ much life back in to the tracks...some of them ("Legend Of The One-Eyed Sailor" and "Save The Sunlite") sounded better mixed to mono. Was there a place (Japan, Australia, etc.) where the pressings of YSTSB was better sounding?

 

[Dave]

My pressing of You Smile, The Song Begins is actually good! Should be for the $8 that I paid for it! :| My copy of Just You And Me, which I like a littel better, is good, too! I can't yet seem to find Coney Island anywhere near me, though...


Dave

 

[Rudy]

I recently burned my copy of YOU SMILE - THE SONG BEGINS to CD, and for years now (even with previous copies I've worn out on cheap stereos) I've been perplexed with the bad sound quality of the pressings on vinyl. Hearing "Last Tango In Paris" on CD and the remixes on LOST TREASURES, I know that the session was produced to industry standards at the time. But the vinyls of YSTSB I've heard just sound so muddy and flat, I couldn't really EQ much life back in to the tracks...some of them ("Legend Of The One-Eyed Sailor" and "Save The Sunlite") sounded better mixed to mono. Was there a place (Japan, Australia, etc.) where the pressings of YSTSB was better sounding?

I have a promo pressing of YS-TSB but I'm not sure if the labels on the record are correct or not. The album seemed to have very little stereo separation to begin with, and on my promo LP, the label for Side 1 reads "mono" and Side 2 reads "stereo". I highly doubt Side 1 is mono--they just don't master LPs that way. They could have used blank label stock from promo 12" single releases (if such a thing existed back then).

The sound isn't particularly bad, but it isn't the greatest either. I still look at copies of this album if I see them, and may pick up one or two more to see if the sound is any different.

I have yet to find a clean Coney Island. I always see them in the used bins, but the ones I've bought have been rather trashed. One I bought turned out to be a Columbia House pressing, and it was total crap. Clean vinyl, but the sound was totally wonky! Two other copies looked clean at first inspection, but they both have groove wear.

 

[whippedflea]

I worked with CONEY ISLAND a bit last night. The problem that I found is that the loud parts are REALLY loud and that sort of "enhances" the groove damage. Also, Bob Findley's trumpet sounds like a kazoo on the first few cuts.

 

[Rudy]

I worked with CONEY ISLAND a bit last night. The problem that I found is that the loud parts are REALLY loud and that sort of "enhances" the groove damage. Also, Bob Findley's trumpet sounds like a kazoo on the first few cuts.

I've been using SoundForge and WaveLab as my editing programs, and the Waves filters as DirectX plug-ins. The Waves "Crackle" filter will sometimes help with groove damage, but it also clips off a lot of high-frequency information along with it. For groove damage, I only use it for irreplaceable and/or hard to obtain vinyl I have not yet found better copies of. I really have to crank up the settings to make it work on groove damage. Normally, I use it lightly after applying the "click" filter, which is more what it was designed to do.

I will say this: for as little as Coney Island sold in the big scheme of things, the copies I've come across have been very "well played". IMHO, the ones that bought this album really liked it! I'm hoping to come across a lightly-played promo copy one day, but no such luck so far...

You're right though--you will hear groove damage the most in certain places: 1) during loud passages; 2) during passages with a lot of high frequency content (cymbals will "hiss" instead of sounding clear); 3) the closer you get to the middle of the record, since older cartridges could not track those grooves accurately.

That's probably my biggest peeve about collecting vinyl: groove wear is invisible, unless it is REALLY bad and the grooves have a powdery white look to them! My second biggest peeve is how quiet the vinyl is--I run them on the record vacuum, but sometimes the dirt is too ground in, or previous dirt had caused small impressions to be made in the groove walls, and is not repairable. Pressing defects are another peeve, but unavoidable...and most of the times, I can deal with them in the software.

 

[whippedflea]

I've been using GoldWave. It works pretty well, it's simple and that certainly helps. After a year, I'm still learning new tricks about it. My project since October has been putting all the Alpert/TJB albums that aren't coming out on Shout Factory and all the solo era stuff that didn't come out and/or I didn't buy on time CDs. I was suprized to find out how many solo CDs I was able to find (RISE, MAGIC MAN, BULLISH, WILD ROMANCE, KEEP YOUR EYE... etc.). I guess I forgot I had them.

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Also, Bob Findley's trumpet sounds like a kazoo on the first few cuts.

Best damned kazoo I've ever heard!


Capt. Bacardi

 

[Rudy]

I've been using GoldWave. It works pretty well, it's simple and that certainly helps.

I got WaveLab mainly because it will record DVD-Audio discs. I'm planning to redo my needle drops at 24-bit/96kHz, and this program actually authors DVD-Audio better than DiscWelder Bronze. I am also looking to make audio DVDs, which will play in standard DVD players at the higher resolution. Confusing, I know, but I figure I can be compatible with different machines that way, and can always "rip" them if I need to go to a regular CD.

The only solo CD I don't yet have is Beyond. Never knew it was available in Japan until it was out of print, and too expensive. Had I known, I'd have bought it.