Sly & the Family Stone Greatest Hits - 4.0 Audio Fidelity Multichannel SACD (October 2015)

[rtbluray]

SH is a "minimalist" when it comes to his profession...that's his style.....he would be the first to tell you that...he makes very small and subtle improvements(unlike Steven Wilson and Elliot Scheiner)..which is fine when the source material is good...and in the case of the Doors that's exactly what he had to work with...

But that's the difference between a mastering engineer and a mixing engineer.
Good mastering engineers should make subtle improvements to an already great mix. The worst the mix is, however, the more latitude they have to make more dramatic adjustments if possible. After all, you know what they say about polishing feces…

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but to my knowledge Steve Hoffman has not been involved with a MFSL project. Analogue Productions and Audio Fidelity yes, but MFSL, I doubt it.

You are right...I get those confused all the time...and those early DCC jobs too...thanks for catching that...

 

[Clint Eastwood]

But that's the difference between a mastering engineer and a mixing engineer.
Good mastering engineers should make subtle improvements to an already great mix. The worst the mix is, however, the more latitude they have to make more dramatic adjustments if possible. After all, you know what they say about polishing feces…

I need to stop trying to watch tv and post at the same time....my mind is all over the place...

 

[keenly]

But that's the difference between a mastering engineer and a mixing engineer.
Good mastering engineers should make subtle improvements to an already great mix. The worst the mix is, however, the more latitude they have to make more dramatic adjustments if possible. After all, you know what they say about polishing feces…

Yes indeed!!!

Hoffman is great at what he does. Compare his Holy diver to previous versions; SH has opened up the mid range, subtle but clear.

 

[keenly]

But that's the difference between a mastering engineer and a mixing engineer.
Good mastering engineers should make subtle improvements to an already great mix. The worst the mix is, however, the more latitude they have to make more dramatic adjustments if possible. After all, you know what they say about polishing feces…

Yes indeed!!!

Hoffman is great at what he does. Compare his Holy diver to previous versions; SH has opened up the mid range, subtle but clear.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

It's funny how we are governed so much by computers that even obvious mistakes go unnoticed...like leaving the "t" off of greatest in the upcoming release by Sly And The Family Stone...I saw it on amazon and thought it was just their mistake...but now importcds has the same mistake...

The good news is the price on importcds HERE

 

[GOS]

Got an email from Amazon last night....this release is delayed a bit....no big deal....
Hello,

We're writing about the order you placed on August 01, 2015 (Order# 106-6637727-0010650). Unfortunately, the release date for the item(s) listed below has changed, and we need to provide you with a new delivery estimate based on the new release date:

Sly & Family Stone "Greates Hits"
Estimated arrival date: October 16, 2015

 

[skherbeck]

I don't mind a short delay... gives my wallet a chance to breathe!

 

[fredblue]

I don't mind a short delay... gives my wallet a chance to breathe!

These are safe as any pre-orders for things beyond September I've kept active but killed all the others until I'm in the new flat.. I've just gotta stop buying every SQ record I lay my hands on in the meantime..

 

[blue.monk]

Steve Hoffman posted regarding the delay on his site earlier today. It's all good stuff. I'm very much looking forward to this one!

One more day and it will be done with mastering. All 12 songs sound totally different from each other in tone. I want to bring them together but not too much, just enough so that it's not jarring. So once again, my fault for the delay, I chose to do mono (THANKS, SONY FOR GETTING IT ALL TOGETHER FOR US) and so the artwork had to be redone to reflect that, the mastering had to be redone, my bad.

But, in my old age I get a complete "SLY & THE FAMILY STONE GREATEST HITS" SACD in Quad and hit mono and that makes me happy.

So there!

 

[cupboy]

Steve Hoffman posted regarding the delay on his site earlier today. It's all good stuff. I'm very much looking forward to this one!

One more day and it will be done with mastering. All 12 songs sound totally different from each other in tone. I want to bring them together but not too much, just enough so that it's not jarring. So once again, my fault for the delay, I chose to do mono (THANKS, SONY FOR GETTING IT ALL TOGETHER FOR US) and so the artwork had to be redone to reflect that, the mastering had to be redone, my bad.

But, in my old age I get a complete "SLY & THE FAMILY STONE GREATEST HITS" SACD in Quad and hit mono and that makes me happy.

So there!

So he's doing a bunch of fiddling around with EQ settings.... that can't be good.

 

[milt]

So he's doing a bunch of fiddling around with EQ settings.... that can't be good.

Oh please. Stop the hand-wringing & ridiculous speculation.
Maybe you could've elbowed Hoffman out of the way at the board and showed him how it's done.

 

[cupboy]

Flat transfer is the way to go. Like with the SHM SACDs.

 

[wavelength]

Whatever Hoffman did with the Best of the Doors it turned out great. I love the sound of that one. If he thinks he needs to tweak Sly a bit then by all means do it.

 

[Franklin]

Flat transfer is the way to go. Like with the SHM SACDs.

Not always - surely you know that already.

 

[alk3997]

Let's not forget that mid-1970s quad master is probably a third / fourth generation analog tape. It may even be 1/4" tape and any noise reduction would be very early Dolby or equivalent. Combine that with the original recordings coming from releases over many years and being mastered for quad-LP, 8-track and reel-to-reel. Then to make it more difficult, throw in that the tapes have been sitting in climate or non-climate controlled conditions for 40 or so years as well as whether the original tape machines are still around and calibrated the same way as when the original was recorded.

Bottom line, some restoration (including eq) is not unreasonable, particularly to try to match tracks and fix 40 years of aging. For the most part, I've missed having some more bass punch on these quad releases but that's part of the recording era and not much that can be done unless the albums are remixed from the original multitrack masters instead.

Andy

 

[Franklin]

Nice that the mono mixes are due, if true. That makes it a double whammy for me.

 

[Larry Geller]

Nice that the mono mixes are due, if true. That makes it a double whammy for me.

What do you mean "if true"? It's been confirmed nine ways to Sunday.

 

[Larry Geller]

.

 

[wavelength]

What do you mean "if true"? It's been confirmed nine ways to Sunday.

Yes, absolutely. SH has said so himself in a post somewhere on his forum. I saw it.