By Michael Fremer -- Music * Reviews * Audio * Sound * Vinyl... 05.08.09 12:45

musicangle.com - By Michael Fremer -- Music * Reviews * Audio * Sound * Vinyl... 05.08.09 12:45

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 05, 2009

In Heavy Rotation::: ALBUM REVIEW: Icy waters? It's what's on the tape, says August 2009 the mastering engineer. (sound rating Stevie Wonder (REVISED review 2/21/09) upped to reflect the mastering engineer's Gil Melle Songs In the Key of Life claim that the sound on the record Patterns In Jazz reflects the sound on the analog tape).

Georgie Fame Tamla/Speakers Corner 06007 5303833 2 180g LPs+7" EP Cool Cat Blues Produced by: Stevie Wonder Billie Holiday Engineered by: John Fischbach and Gary Olazabal Music for Torching Mixed by: N/A New Audiophile Vinyl Iggy Pop Mastered by: Maarten de Boer at UMG Berliner LPs Raw Power All genres - Jazz, Blues, Rock 140-Gram Vinyl & Dan Auerbach Keep It Hid Heavier! Review by: Michael Fremer www.jazzloft.com 2009-03-01 John Hart John Hart

Gil Melle Editor's note: this review has caused quite a dust-up, in part because of the sonic Camtasia Studio 6 Patterns in Jazz description and in part because of this, which you'll find further down in the text: Web-ready Flash From PowerPoint Frank Sinatra "...but the mastering is just plain weird. Sings For Only the Lonely Presentations & A layer of crunchy ice has been added on top and the bass has been boosted, producing Narration. Try Free The Ramones www.TechSmith.com/CamtasiaStudio It's Alive a garish sonic mix. The result is an unpleasant edgy grit to Wonder’s voice. You know something's wrong when the triangle on "Love's In Need ..." is louder than Wonder's ZZ Top voice! And believe me, it is. Fandango online- Diana Krall One would hope an analog source was used, but whatever was the source, this reissue masteringservice The Look of Love sounds nothing like the original and represents an unnecessary, unwarranted revision Affordable, high quality that I’m sure would appall Stevie Wonder." mastering 24h service, 50 EUR a track In Heavy Rotation::: Mastering engineer Maarten de Boer has responded, first on the Steve Hoffman forums: www.online-masteringservice.com 2009 http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?p=4213023#post4213023 July and then to me personally. Here's what he wrote: LP to Digital Software June Download software to "Being the engineer who mastered and cut this record I think I am the only one who can convert vinyl records to May put this record straight. CD (or mp3) quickly. April Download.nch.com.au/Programs 1. never will a digital source be used as a master for Speaker Corner records March 2. the master is an analog copy run at 30 ips on virgin tape. So if the copy is done February correctly it will be pretty close to the original. Rare Vinyl Records January Are You Looking For 3. I did use a very slight touch of EQ, 0,5dB at 700 Hz with a Q of 2.5. Just to enhance Quality &Value More depth a bit . This is a typical 70's recording so it is very dry and lacks depth. I had to use Than 18,000 Titles In the de esser so anybody could play the album without distortion. Stock 4. No dolby has been used and the copy was obviously from a non dolby tape. Believe www.audiophileusa.com me after 30 years of disc cutting and mastering I can tell the difference.

5. If I EQ an old analog master there has to be a good reason for that otherwi9se I won't and if I EQ it it will be minimal and it will probably most of the time midrange. EQing low and top is totally useless and ruins practically everything.

What bothers me about this discussion is the amount of presumptions instead of knowledge and fact. One of the problems with vinyl is the playback system and difference in quality and sound between all these systems. I'm glad Mr Grant shows the right way to approach the record as it was cut and mastered. As long as you haven't heard the real master tape and we probably never will you will never know what the truth is. What I can tell you is that for a lot of cuts I do get the absolute original and when I compare these to the original release I am glad they masterd it originally before cutting it."

Maarten de Boer

Emil Berliner Studios

There were many posts on the thread, some accusing me of having "an agenda" (not spelled out, of course) and others telling people that my word shouldn't be taken "as gospel" (no shit!).

http://www.musicangle.com/album.php?id=726 Seite 1 von 3 musicangle.com - By Michael Fremer -- Music * Reviews * Audio * Sound * Vinyl... 05.08.09 12:45

My response was this:

"Now that I have Mr. de Boer's email address, I will ask him before presuming anything. However, I don't think my review presumes anything and I don't think Mr. de Boer had aimed that at me. I don't think it's fair to say that I "trashed" the Wonder reissue. I reported on what I heard, comparing the original, the Japanese copy I have and the Speakers Corner reissue.

In my experience, when a reissue sounds very different from an original, it is the reissue that is the revision. This is not always the case, but usually is. If you read a lot of reviews of reissues, you will find that there are many reviewers who are biased against reissues, and of course there are the usual dingbat re-sellers of original pressings who say the same thing, and then accuse me, who sells no records, of having an "agenda."

I have no "agenda" here. There are also reviewers who love everything. I am not one of those reviewers either.

I have never asked anyone to take my word as "gospel," so when I read posters saying "why are you taking Fremer's word as 'gospel' " I agree with them, though I defy them to show me where I've ever claimed to be the light.

I state my opinion and I don't mince words---or at least I try not to.

In this case, the Speakers Corner reissue is much brighter than the original. That is not my opinion, that is a fact. And the brightness is in this one narrow zone.

Now, I am also sure Mr. deBoer has no agenda here other than the truth.

Then the issue becomes, as it has always been, is the master tape "the truth" that should pretty much be transferred to lacquer or DMM untouched? Or is it merely a tool to be manipulated to achieve a particular result.

Often, master tapes include original "notes," wherein the original mastering engineer explains what he did AT THE DIRECTION OF THE ARTIST OR PRODUCER to create the original lacquer from which the original pressing was created.

In that case, an original pressing, not the master tape, should be considered the "original document."

For instance, Sundazed's Bob Irwin told me when he mastered Love's "Forever Changes" for vinyl reissue he consulted the original notes he found. Arthur Lee insisted that the first song on the record start out very low in level and build. It's what Arthur Lee wanted. The tape wasn't produced that way but when Irwin remastered it, he conformed to the artist's intentions.

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