Hungarian Rhapsody CD - The Mix

Over the last week or so, I've been heavily adjusting my project studio. So, today, I wanted to listen to some tracks from various artists. Anyway, at some point, I realised I had the Hungarian Rhapsody CDs that came with the bluray. So, I decided to have a listen. Well...I'm baffled.

Compared to every other Queen release (including Rainbow), it sounds so...shit. I haven't heard another CD/FLAC file tonight that seemed as bad (not counting bootlegs!).

Am I alone on this feeling? I'm genuinely curious to hear what people thought of the CD release.

There's a bit of the loudness war thing going on, but I still think it sounds phenomenal overall.

My only beef with it is the added delay effects in Dust. That's not how it sounded at the show.

Other than that it's fantastic. It sounds way better than the Wembley shows - and there are just about no overdubs. It's probably as close to the real thing an official release of a complete Queen concert will sound.

Bri's guitar tone off the top of One Vision is just massive !

^ Agree.

Hungarian Rhapsody sounds great, much better than Wembley. And the band was in top form that night, so everything is perfect.

Hmm...interesting. Here's what I'm hearing:

(Note: using One Vision as the basis) Fairly low volume overall, lacking in high-end detail, Freddie was fairly compressed (low dynamics), Brian's guitar seemed pretty flat (lacking high-end detail), drums during middle part sound very boomy and Deacon's bass sounds weird/weak (perhaps lacking some high-mids??).

Honestly, I wouldn't start a topic if I didn't think this was easily explainable, i.e. my room is the problem. However, I've listened to loads of different albums, modern and old, and they all sound very good. HR 86 is the one that stands out. As a test, I stuck a basic EQ on it and did think it was better. I checked it on my headphone monitoring stuff, too. Mind you, it didn't sound quite as bad on there. But again, I added the same EQ and it made things a little more defined overall. Although, I should say, there's some serious low-end on the HR release, so maybe that's the problem. I should probably finish my bass trapping before judging it too harshly. Still, it is the only album I've heard today that sounded weird. Heck, even some bassy electronica was good in here! lol

If everything's missing highs to mids, maybe it's just your setup. Fiddle with the EQ a bit, tis all.

Could it be possible that the mix/eq on the CD is different than the mix/eq in another version...?

I remember people in Mexico used to buy CD's from the USA as they had better sound and overall quality. And you have to believe me, the sound was flat and horrible in mexican cd's while the imported ones had an amazing sound! I dont know if that happened in another countries...

IMHO Budapest release is very nice. It's no Rainbow but better than Wembley. The guitar is not so loud and they manage a great performance with few overdubs. The overall volume is very low though.

I'm with the majority here in thinking that the Budapest mix is pretty good - far better than the original release on VHS, and far better than the Wembley audio. MK Bowl all sounds ok apart from the drums, but the appalling drum sound and clarity on that brings the whole mix down for me. Montreal and Rainbow audio mixes still rule for me, but I don't really have an issue with Budapest. Now if they can just sort out a decent Rio or Japan 85 audio mix then I'll be happy!!

I'm not too sure about the mix. Yes it's better than the vhs but for me it's a bit bassy and I feel Brian's guitar is a bit too low in the mix. Brian's guitar sounds quite thin and tinny at the beginning of Tie your mother down to compared to say Wembley. I'd love a mix like Under pressure was done on the Knebworth mix of Under Pressure rah mix single release. That for me is spot on.

That's strange, as I've always found Brian's guitar on Wembley to be at its worst, and very 'thin' compared to other mixes!

Hungary sound so low and Wembley is so high.

[QUOTE] [b]cmsdrums wrote:[/b]

That's strange, as I've always found Brian's guitar on Wembley to be at its worst, and very 'thin' compared to other mixes![/QUOTE]

The reason you think that is due to Brian's guitar set-up on that particular gig. He used a line driver which altered his sound. It's not a mixing alteration - That's just how his guitar sounded on the day.


Back to HR... I'm listening again and it seems better than yesterday. That makes me think one of two things; 1. I may have had ear fatigue after listening through other material or 2. I did feel a little ill later (maybe flu), so maybe it was clouding things.

That middle drum bit in One Vision still sounds very messy, but I think I can say with some confidence that that's probably my room. It's not fully treated with bass trapping yet.

Anyway, my bad! Seems it's a lot better than I gave it credit for, so I'll be listening through it today :)

[QUOTE]

[b]cmsdrums wrote: [/b] I'm with the majority here in thinking that the Budapest mix is pretty good - far better than the original release on VHS, and far better than the Wembley audio. MK Bowl all sounds ok apart from the drums, but the appalling drum sound and clarity on that brings the whole mix down for me. Montreal and Rainbow audio mixes still rule for me, but I don't really have an issue with Budapest. Now if they can just sort out a decent Rio or Japan 85 audio mix then I'll be happy!![/QUOTE]

Not particularly fond of the hi-hat sound in Montreal - not sure what it is, but its sound is very sharp and hasn't got much body to it.

[QUOTE] [b]Adam Baboolal wrote:[/b]

The reason you think that is due to Brian's guitar set-up on that particular gig. He used a line driver which altered his sound.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I always thought his tone is thinner on that one particular day than not only the rest of the Magic shows, but any other show he's ever played.

Can you elaborate any more on the techie details?

(what in the world was he thinking!?)

[QUOTE] [b]cmsdrums wrote:[/b]

Now if they can just sort out a decent Rio or Japan 85 audio mix then I'll be happy!![/QUOTE]

Nah, I'd still pass.

Anything 1976-79 for me, please.

Unless they miraculously find the Brussels 84 audio to go with that newly discovered video footage.