30-second samples of "Amen and Attack" by Powerwolf, from the "Preachers of the Night" album (2013). CD and LP.
For comparison of mastering, in this thread: http://www.hydrogenaud.io/forums/index.php?showtopic=109948 (http://www.hydrogenaud.io/forums/index.php?showtopic=109948)
I'm 100% certain they are from the same clippressed digital master, though I've seen far worse.
[attachment=8397:Untitled.jpg]
I'm 100% certain they are from the same clippressed digital master, though I've seen far worse.
[attachment=8397:Untitled.jpg]
Yeah, that's a bad piece of clipping right there, and a smoking gun.
And I do have tracks that are worse.
Much worse:
(http://i.imgur.com/na8wXpg.png)
That one is appropriately named "The Violation", and it can actually be listened to, surprisingly enough. But it is very crunchy.
The worse ones are much easier to spot, though you will probably never find horizontal clipping in the vinyl versions. This doesn't mean the source wasn't clipped, however.
Here are a couple of samples of "Erase This" by Lamb of God, off the "VII: Sturm und Drang" album. The LP claims "special vinyl mastering 45 rpm". Both versions sound pretty good to me, and there seems to be a bit more dynamic range to the snare drum in particular on the LP, which a cursory and unscientific look at the waveforms supports.
Those appear to be from the same mastering to me as well. The exaggerated peaks appear be ringing which occur at the onset of a slope in the vinyl version exactly where they are flat in the CD version.
While I'm fairly certain about this one too, I can understand if people might be more inclined to disagree.
[attachment=8401:Untitled.jpg]
30-second samples of "Amen and Attack" by Powerwolf, from the "Preachers of the Night" album (2013). CD and LP.
For comparison of mastering, in this thread: http://www.hydrogenaud.io/forums/index.php?showtopic=109948 (http://www.hydrogenaud.io/forums/index.php?showtopic=109948)
When I hear this kind of evenly quantized, identical velocity drum beats I guess it should be a copy and paste MIDI sequence. How can it sound "analog"?
I prepared couple files to this comparison KozmoNaut started). Here are the files + info
Album (2LP incl CD):
Emmylou Harris - All Intended To Be
Nonesuch Records (a WMG Company) 2008
30s (3MB FLAC 16-bit/44.1kHz files) samples from opening track: Shores Of White Sand (downloads are hosted from Google Drive (no space left here))
LPRIP+HPLPHUM (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2orKJuZJ5YOVUJqek9lSDZxUmM) is recorded using 24/96
CDREC+HPLPHUM (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2orKJuZJ5YOZ05vd2tvVEh4azg) is recorded using same path/settings/filters as LPRIP
CDRIP (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2orKJuZJ5YOcW1NRFJUeWxHREE) is wav format rip from CD
CDRIP+HPLPHUM (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2orKJuZJ5YOUkExS0RVUFZHR3M) is CDRIP with filters used in analog recordings (noticed that the HP filter is different from the LPRIP)
Hum removal filter (Electri-Q) @ 50Hz
24/96 -> 16/44.1 done using r8brain free.
Those appear to be from the same mastering to me as well. The exaggerated peaks appear be ringing which occur at the onset of a slope in the vinyl version exactly where they are flat in the CD version.
While I'm fairly certain about this one too, I can understand if people might be more inclined to disagree.
[attachment=8401:Untitled.jpg]
That makes sense, thanks. So much for a "special vinyl master" I guess, but at least both versions sound good. Again, the CD version has more bass, but I'm almost 100% sure that's due to my phono cartridge, which is known to boost the highs a little bit.
When I hear this kind of evenly quantized, identical velocity drum beats I guess it should be a copy and paste MIDI sequence. How can it sound "analog"?
They do have an actual drummer in the band, but it's very common for modern metal bands to use triggering to get the right sound, especially for bands that play really fast, where it can be hard to be 100% consistent. That can make it sound a little machine-like. Some bands also tweak the drums in Pro Tools afterwards, which can further add to the machine-like feel.
And then of course you've got bands like Fear Factory, where the machine-like robotic drumming is such an integrated part of their sound. They are heavily triggered and Pro Tool-adjusted. And yet somehow it still shines through on their new album that they brought in a real drummer instead of using programmed drums like on their previous album, which caught a lot of flak for that reason.
I have to dial back my confidence on the Lamb of God title. I tried to manipulate the CD version to generate the phenomenon which I attributed as being ringing but was unable. I'd be very interested to hear someone else's take on what's going on.
I prepared couple files to this comparison KozmoNaut started). Here are the files + info
[attachment=8404:Untitled.jpg]
The top is the original CD rip. The bottom is the LP rip, which I inverted to make time-alignment easier.
Here is what happens when I apply a subsonic rumble filter (the bottom plot):
[attachment=8406:Untitled.jpg]