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Topic: Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ? (Read 444290 times) previous topic - next topic
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Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ??

I've noticed there has been a few post where people have complained about how bad some cd's are, so I've only posted this to find out the general opinion in the forums.
I am just curious thats all

Dok Lorenz
Morality, like art, means drawing a line someplace. (Oscar Wilde)

Doktor Lorenz

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #1
Quote
Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ??

I've noticed there has been a few post where people have complained about how bad some cd's are, so I've only posted this to find out the general opinion in the forums.
I am just curious thats all

Dok Lorenz
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


That's a tough one. But I'm going to base my answer partly on 'expectation' of the company producing the album.

Tierney Sutton : Dancing in The Dark

Not considering the annoying standard compresison on the vocals....this CD has many audible distortions(on headphones) on the peak passages of the piano/voice found in several songs.  Inspection of the waveform after hearing these annoying static/fuzzy sounds revealed many clipped peaks. It's not like I have not seen/heard worse examples, but......

The real reason this poorly matered CD bothers me is that it is a Telarc release. I suppose I expect to never find such examples of distortion on a CD released by a company that specifically markets itself as a sound quality oriented one:

[a href="http://www.telarc.com/about/history.asp?mscssid=5BWRX80C168W8M9KVKPXGXUFJ81M2MPE]http://www.telarc.com/about/history.asp?ms...KPXGXUFJ81M2MPE[/url]

Here is a zip file(552kb) with a couple of samples(44.1/16 wave):

http://www.linaeum.com/downloads/misc/tsut...t10_samples.zip

-Chris

EDIT: Added samples.

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #2
I know there's a thread on the forums already dedicated to "slovenly" mastering. 

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication is always on the top of many peoples lists.
"You can fight without ever winning, but never win without a fight."  Neil Peart  'Resist'

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #3
I was really disappointed with how "Full Moon" from Brandy was mastered. I love her voice and i like several songs off that album, but this CD just sounds like a wall of noise, only interrupted for the song change every few minutes. It's not the worst mastering ever, but since i'd just love to hear it in better quality, it's the one i'm most annoyed with.

 

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #4
Deep Purple - Deepest Purple (Best Of)


They tried to remaster the tunes, and they sound so thin and crappy. My vinyls sounded better.

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #5
Tie:

Audioslave - Audioslave
Rush - Vapor Trails
flac > schiit modi > schiit magni > hd650

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #6
Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse
Opeth - Morningrise


These two Opeth albums are really good, but they could have sounded much better, and then (from what I've read) they really got screwed over during the recording the mastering (the producer kept turning down the acoustic guitars, which was against the band's wishes)

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (The newest release.. the Hybrid SACD one)

The CD layer on this one really ruined this album..

[Edit added one album]

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #7
Foo Fighters - One By One
John Mayer - Heavier Things

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #8
Quote
Tie:

Audioslave - Audioslave
Rush - Vapor Trails
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=242659"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


I don't know about the Audioslave (I havent listened to it) but Vapor Trials was easily the worst mastered album of 2002. Their albums have always tended to be poorly mastered but Vapor Trails was a new low.

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #9
Of all my albums, it's a three-way tie for horridness:

Rush - Vapor Trails (2002)
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - The Last DJ (2002)
Audioslave- Audioslave (2002)

2002 is really the last year that I was buying new CD's in any quantity until the past few months, when I acquired a SACD/DVD-A player. The only reason why I opened up the door for these questionable "hi-res" formats is for the better mastering (and to a lesser extent, multichannel capability), not the increased sampling rates. So far, the handful of SACD/DVD-A's I've bought really do sound great, but it's probably just a matter of time before somebody boinks the hell out of them, too.

It's sad how the industry suckered me into investing in the new format(s). They purposely screwed up a perfectly good product (CD) as to get people who actually care about sound quality to buy the latest thing. Luckily, there's still a ton of older releases on CD that haven't been butchered (yet), so I doubt my SACD/DVD-A collection will ever get very big.

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #10
Rush - Vapor Trails
RHCP - Californication
Audioslave - Audioslave

these are the 3 loudest/worst sounding cd's i have.

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #11
Quote
Quote
Tie:

Audioslave - Audioslave
Rush - Vapor Trails
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=242659"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


I don't know about the Audioslave (I havent listened to it) but Vapor Trials was easily the worst mastered album of 2002. Their albums have always tended to be poorly mastered but Vapor Trails was a new low.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=242708"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Their 2004 EP, Feedback is perhaps a hair bit better, but I'd say that it sounds pretty similar in terms of production/mastering to Vapor Trails. So, the trend continues 

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #12
Nevermore - Enemies of Reality

It's a shame that such a great band would put out a cd that sounds so horrible compared to all previous releases.  This album has the worst mastering of anything I have personally listened to.  It even makes Animositisomina look good.  Stick with their earlier (brilliant) work if you can.
"Have you ever been with a woman? It's like death. You moan, you scream and then you start to beg for mercy, for salvation"

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #13
Agreed, Audioslave is awful.

Probably the worst track I've heard in a while was Eminem's Lose Yourself.  I think in the studio that snare drum was intentionally squashed just to the breaking point (why they didn't just use an authentic 303 eludes me), but after mastering it's all just painful.  I think this may have been intentional--the white noise effect of the 'music' makes his voice sound more hypnotic.  Replaygain_track_gain of -9.93 dB.

While Peter Gabriel's initial analog to CD transfers sounded amateurish at best, his recent remasterings have been excellent, as have his digital albums.  The remastered Passion soundtrack clocks in at +0.87.

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #14
Quote
Agreed, Audioslave is awful.


Hmm. Assuming the Rhapsody online version is the same as the CD version; I definately see why several people seem to think this album is a bit 'loud'. The track 'Show Me How To Live' reminded me of Soundgarden's 'Outshined' track from the album 'Badmotorfinger'. The voice and guitars are pretty similar - but the Soundgarden track did not seem to compress the voice or most of the instruments nearly as much as this AudioSlave track -- which BTW, this Audioslave track sounded to me like about the amount of cmopression used for TV commercials. IMO, it was horrid.

I remember when I was a kid and first heard a CD vs. the radio version of a song -- I remember myself wondering why the CD sounded so much better(besides the static, etc.). Later, I found out that radio broadcasts are typically heavily compressed. It's kind of hard to believe that today most of the CDs sound like the 'radio' version which I hated due to this hyper-compression. It's just unbelievable......



-Chris

EDIT: Added statisical analysis.

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #15
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication would have to be the worst mastered CD as far as volume goes for me.  It clips like crazy and is way too loud.

Audioslave - Audioslave is up there with Red Hot Chili Peppers since it is distorted a lot.

Lamb of God - As the Palaces Burn was compressed as well, however, the compression was not all that bad and was not what bothered me about the album.  The album just seemed flat to me.  No real dynamics in the audio that gave the music life.  I'm not talking about difference in volume I just mean the drums didn't stand out amongst the guiters, etc.  The mixers could have done a bit better job with the equalizer on that album in my opinion.  Now on their latest album, "Ashes of the Wake", the mixers did a much better job with the equalizer

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #16
What about Iron Maiden's "Dance Of Death"? I don't know how bad it is compared to the other albums mentioned here, but I still think it is bad. What do you folks think?

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #17
Quote
Quote
Quote
Tie:

Audioslave - Audioslave
Rush - Vapor Trails
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=242659"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


I don't know about the Audioslave (I havent listened to it) but Vapor Trials was easily the worst mastered album of 2002. Their albums have always tended to be poorly mastered but Vapor Trails was a new low.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=242708"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Their 2004 EP, Feedback is perhaps a hair bit better, but I'd say that it sounds pretty similar in terms of production/mastering to Vapor Trails. So, the trend continues 
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=242733"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]



Quote
What about Iron Maiden's "Dance Of Death"? I don't know how bad it is compared to the other albums mentioned here, but I still think it is bad. What do you folks think?
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=242757"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


@Cygnus XI--  Feedback is louder than Vapor Trails, but I think the mastering was done a bit better and does "clip" as harshly.

@rohangc-- Dance of Death is horrible, but imo, Maiden has never had the world's best production/mastering.  Kevin Shirley did do a decent job on Brave New World though.
"You can fight without ever winning, but never win without a fight."  Neil Peart  'Resist'

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #18
Uncle Kracker - No Stranger to Shame:  This one is the worst I've heard yet. I like the music, but the clipping is so bad that I just can't enjoy listening to it. In fact, it just makes me angry to think about how good it could've been.

Heart - Jupiter's Darling: This one sounds almost just as bad. Serious clipping. I can't listen to it either.

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #19
Well, I have a huge collection of local music that was recorded, mixed and mastered by non-professionals. =D Good music, but a lot of it sounds like junk. Probably the one local album that should have sounded good was 12 Rods - Lost Time. It is a loud album, but more offensive is the horrible EQing, presumably to eek out every last decibel. It's all mids, very little bass or highs. Sample.

And people actually pay huge money to record at their studio!

As for professional albums... Queens of the Stone Age, Songs for the Deaf. Worst album in my personal collection.

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #20
Has anybody listened to ***hole by Gene Simmons yet? It's really loud, -12 dB replaygain for the album and -14 dB on the title track. It's not that bad really, exept that they made it as loud as they possibly could. Quieter songs with piano on them sound strange and there's highly audible clipping everywhere.
I could try to provide samples if anybody is interested, but I'm on a 56k connection at the moment so lossless would be difficult...

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #21
Quote
Their 2004 EP, Feedback is perhaps a hair bit better, but I'd say that it sounds pretty similar in terms of production/mastering to Vapor Trails. So, the trend continues 
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=242733"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


I might have ears of tin now, thanks to all of that heavy metal in the 80s, but I didn't think Feedback was nearly as bad as Vapor Trails. I've only listened to it once or twice though and there was background noise.

I just don't get it with Rush...they must know that no one is pleased with the mastering on their albums and yet nothing changes.

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #22
Another vote for RHCP - Californication.  The bad compression and clipping everywhere  is really unacceptable.

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #23
Quote
Deep Purple - Deepest Purple (Best Of)


They tried to remaster the tunes, and they sound so thin and crappy. My vinyls sounded better.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=242655"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


I have to agree on The Deep Purple. Black Knight has a 'farty' clipping sound on one channel. I don't know what they were thinking when they remastered this.

Also, I agree with the guy who posted about the two Opeth albums - they sound bad compared to "Blackwater Park" . I wouldn't say it is the worst mastering I've ever heard, though - far from it.

Some other disappointments for me:

Nick Cave & Bad Seeds - Henry's Dream (Vinyl)
Cynic - Focus (CD)
All 'Cradle of filfth' albums (CD)
McCoy Tyner - New York Reunion (SACD)

Note, I'm NOT criticising the music here - I was just disappointed with the sound.

Whats is the worst mastered CD [your opinions] ?

Reply #24
Quote
I have to agree on The Deep Purple. Black Knight has a 'farty' clipping sound on one channel. I don't know what they were thinking when they remastered this.

Also, I agree with the guy who posted about the two Opeth albums - they sound bad compared to "Blackwater Park" . I wouldn't say it is the worst mastering I've ever heard, though - far from it.

Some other disappointments for me:

Nick Cave & Bad Seeds - Henry's Dream (Vinyl)
Cynic - Focus (CD)
All 'Cradle of filfth' albums (CD)
McCoy Tyner - New York Reunion (SACD)

Note, I'm NOT criticising the music here - I was just disappointed with the sound.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=242815"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Actually, Just listening To "New York Reunion" again, its only the SACD layer that seems to have a problem - random super-low frequency (like several Hz) fluffing about on one channel of track 3. The CD layer sounds fine (actually it sounds great). So I guess it is not really a mastering problem, but perhaps a problem with the SACD encoding or my SACD player, So I would like to retract that one from the list. Thanks