Bob Ludwig Statement Re: "Queen Studio Collection" Box Set

brians wig wrote:

Techie question!

You can buy phono pre-amps with valves these days which make your vinyls sound "warm" again on modern digital amplifiers.
I wonder if you could use one inbetween your CD player and amp to add some warmth back into the music, or would it (even at the lowest setting), blow your amp?

If you keep your setting on the (very) conservative side your speakers (blowing an amp is a bit harder) will stay intact. It won't be very effective however, since pre-amps are meant to make sure there is any sound at all from passive electronics like turntables or microphones first, with the added warmth as an often welcome side effect. The modern phono pre-amps just make sure that your record sounds the way it was meant to in the first place.

A great deal of the percieved warmth in vinyl was achieved by saturation (a form of distortion, basically clipping the output to a signal well over 0 dB), while any signal over 0 dB in a digital recording will lead to digital distortion which sounds horrible. I recommend fiddling with your amp's EQ-settings over inserting an extra amp.

If you really want an extra pre-amp, try ripping your CD, mastering it with an VST or hardware pre-amp and then re-recording it on a blank CD. Hardly worth the hassle imho, but there ya go.

Biggus Dickus wrote:

cmsdrums wrote:

"The people from the Queen camp were the most fastidious listeners I’ve ever encountered. No one I’ve ever worked with has shined a light like this on a project.

The Queen camp wanted to: fix all ticks, fix “bad” edits that couldn’t be re-spliced to correct them with a razor blade, have me change eq if necessary note by note.

They hired an engineer JUST to listen to everything at half-speed, and BACKWARDS as well, to see if the slightest tick or anomaly could be perceived and fixed"

Yet they were happy to put out that absolutely shit drum sound on 'Live at The Bowl' that wasn't even as good as the original mono TV broadcast? Some good ears they've got there.....

You keep going on about that, yet I can't find a huge difference between the original release and the TV version. I guess it's a matter of taste.

I meant the difference between the TV version and the officially released version. Don't know where that 'original release' came from.

I had no doubt about Queen's product.. top class as always.

"I recommend fiddling with your amp's EQ-settings over inserting an extra amp"

This. The sound you want is right there. Buy an expensive amp with lots of pretty glass domes all you like but you will still mess with the EQ to get the sound you want. A new amp will do nothing. Find the sound you like, enjoy it, stop picking faults and carry on with your life.

I should be president of the world.

How about turning off any EQ and listen to the music like it was meant to?

I'd be quite happy to listen to music I liked at half speed, forward and backwards.

Maybe they should release these as bonus material.

dysan wrote:

I'd be quite happy to listen to music I liked at half speed, forward and backwards.
.

It's not difficult to achieve. Audacity is free and can do it.
.

Maybe they should release these as bonus material.

Don't give them ideas....

Sadly, I spend a surprising amount of time listening to tracks backwards on Audacity. You've got to have a hobby.

But they already remastered all the albums in 2011. Why would they not just use those masters for the vinyl boxset?

And anyway, it's all compressed to death these days so pointless. I have a complete set of the original EMI UK first issue Queen CDs, and these have by far the widest dynamic range of any release I've heard of these albums. I have the 2011 remasters, but I listen to the original CDs by preference.

OwenSmith wrote:

But they already remastered all the albums in 2011. Why would they not just use those masters for the vinyl boxset?

They did.