.


MY GOD THAT ALBUM NEEDS REMASTERING.


Shit---it was too bright, too fuzzy, and too 80ish sounding.

Damn, it needs a little cleaning up.

Strange thing is that After LoveSexy, I never really have much of a problem with the sound quality, but PR through SOTT just needs some serious remastering.

the first few albums are in need of remastering, really.

Come on now, haven't we been saying that forever now that all of his early Warners stuff needs to be remastered? I always say that Warners is just too cocky about reissuing stuff, at least they reissued all 3 of his movies on DVD!

SoTT is probably my favourite Prince album. I'd love it even more if it was remastered! It sounds very 'thin' in places. Songs like 'It' and 'Hot Thing' could really do with a big, beefy bottom end.

Too 80s sounding? Well, newsflash, it was done in the eighties. What do you expect them to do, remove all the reverberation, the analog synthesizers, make Prince write new lyrics about da homeboys and da jeeps? Oh wait, don't give him any ideas...

yonipuja said:

Use your graphic equalizer or get new speakers.

You can actually add bass if you encode a WAV file to mp3, using the Lame encoder.

My advice would be to:

01) Rip the whole album (both discs) to WAV files;
02) Apply WaveGain Album Gain with an Extra Gain setting of 6.5 dB;
03) Encode the WAV files using a Lame setting of --abr 192 -b 32 -mj -h --nspsytune --noath --lowpass 19.7 --lowpass-width 1 --cwlimit 7 --ns-bass 1 --scale 0.93 -X7
04) Burn to a single 80 minute CD and enjoy!

WaveGain can be found here: http://www.rarewares.org/...-1.2.4.zip
The latest stable release of the Lame encoder is here: http://audio.ciara.us/rar...3.96.1.zip
If you don't have a front-end for Lame which allows you to enter command lines, try RazorLame, which can be found here: http://www.dors.de/razorl...orlame.zip

If anybody gets stuck, just ask!

BinaryJustin said:

Not preferred.

Get a proper bass maximizing plug-in to do the effect (-> www.kvr-vst.com). Or use the EQ on your audio editor (+3db boosts around 40-150hz should be enough). Much easier.

Or just simply the EQ on Winamp for playback. Winamp also plays CDs, attach your computer soundcard to your stereos though. Do not ever use shitty computer "multimedia" speakers.

Novabreaker said:

Really?

Here's a nine-second mp3 sample without any volume gain or bass volumising: http://www.savefile.com/files/3666661

Here's the same sample with the volume gain and bass volumising: http://www.savefile.com/files/8188392

Mods... These are nine-second samples and will automatically self-destruct after 30 days anyway!

Not impressed.

Why would you use command-line operations for sound manipulation when free audio editors with normal graphical interfaces are available in hordes? Gain adjusting shouldn't be done with boosting anyway, but with proper limiting. You're just going to cause clipping that way, the sound on even 80s CDs is enough hot as it is.

all of the albums from 'For You' to 'Lovesexy' are in serious need of remastering.In particular,'Controversy','1999' and 'SOTT' are begging for a fresh remaster.Prince....are you listening??

Novabreaker said:

Oh, Novey, Muffin...

Do you have a copy of MP3Gain? If not, download it from here: http://prdownloads.source...e?download

Now take the boosted sample I've produced and let me know if the analysis states if it's clipping or not...

Clue: It isn't!!! :p

Okay, I've taken a closer look and that file doesn't clip. You could push it to higher levels with limiter though.

But thank you for providing me the link for that program I'll download it and try it at home later on. Might come useful for quick work with mp3s. Can't try it on my workplace's mac.

However, I'd still recommend for anyone to play their CDs i.e. in WinAmp and use the equalizer provided there. For convenience.

Just played around with the eq in Winamp while flicking through SoTT.
Even with the bass end all the way up the kick drum on 'Play in the Sunshine' sounds like a weedy little popping sound or cardboard box. Maybe there's no bottom to be beefed up there in the first place?

yonipuja said:

There is some of course. But that was indeed a cardboard box-type of sound, you're right. Prince wasn't too keen on using that much notable bass in the 80s anyway. The LinnDrum sounds have very peculiar bass frequencies that at least at my old flat set the walls shaking and . It was just the Linn snare. "All the way up" sounds like a bad idea though.

Okay, I admit. WinAmp isn't the optimal solution, but personally I've just had the bass boost active for years and my tinny 80s speakers work just fine with it. The best solution of course would be something like a BBE Sonic Maximizer, a hardware unit or a VST version inserted on a plug-in chain. There are free plug-in alternatives for WinAmp available as well.