Billy Idol - Rebel Yell (AF Gold, SH remaster)

2011-03-05 00:55:51

Hi. I am new to this site. Apologies if I have picked the wrong forum.

This is a question about sound quality and mastering, rather than the music itself.

Recently I discovered that recordings mastered by SH (are we allowed to say his name here?) are sought after because they are very good. I have long known about the loudness wars and have been fully aware of the lack of dynamic range in many recordings and even in remasters. So I was thrilled to learn that there is a list of SH mastered albums, and I was all prepared to stock up on all which matched my musical tastes.

Things soon began to turn sour, however, when I noticed the availability and pricing on most of them. Nonetheless, I found this one for only $14: "Billy Idol - Rebel Yell" (HDCD, Audio Fidelity Gold CD, SH remaster). Great, I thought. I received it today and immediately spun it up.

My first thought is: WTF?! Man this thing is very low volume. OK, so maybe it's because I am used to loudly mastered material and this one needs to be cranked up. So I crank it up. But I just don't get anything good coming out of this. To me it sounds like any other dynamically compressed rock music (except I have to turn my dial at least 10 to 15 dB higher to get the same SPL out).

So there you have my first experience with an SH master. Sounds like a dud to me.

Am I doing something wrong? I have plenty of CDs and many that sound really, really good. In fact, I have another Billy Idol album, "Charmed Life" (label: Chrysalis, mastered by: Bernie Grundman), and it sounds fantastic.

Should I give up on SH masters? Or are there some good ones out there? (The expensive ones?)

Any and all tips on finding good recordings are greatly appreciated. Thanks!