Heey friends,

I just bought 3121, and it is great. However, with me being a bitch for nice audio hardware, i am UTTERLY disappointed in the quality of this recording.

Haven't you guys noticed that the cd is clipping like, all the time (clipping being that the recording volume is set to loud and thus exceeding the dynamics of the cd. The soundwaves on the cd are then cut of, so they become squares instead of sines. Let me tell you: squares sound way different)

Here is an example as found all over the place in "Lolita"


You see the chopped of waves? It is a disgrace. I promise you that the music would sound way better if it wouldn't have been mixed by a *$%$% idiot.

I'm sorry, but I can't stand this. Why wouldn't someone as perfectionist as Prince do something about this? I know HE is someone who cares for detail....

I agree. There is some terrible mixing on the album. Get on the Boat is all over the place too...

It sounded rushed to me from the second I heard it. Dunno why it would have been though.

Anyway, its still a good album. Just poor production...

Rebeljuice said:

I totally agree! But doesn't that make it even worse...

cruzlee said:

Not really. Depends if, when you play it youre listening to the production or listening to the songs. The production isnt so bad that it detracts from the music in my opinion... Its more noticeable on headphones though.

Well, it depends on the zoom ratio you are using on Audacity how bad that clipping actually is, and I see you are actually on quite close figures. Can you hear those parts on your bare ears without looking at the graphic at the same time? That's the question. The Square effects might have been the result of limiting, which is not the same thing as pushing the levels too hard. However, that can also be the result of applying something else after the "final" limiting stage so, that's what we get. Myriad explanations, most CDs today have that "clipping" used as a loudness effect anyway. I'm sure you knew that already.



Well, that clipping witnessed above has absolutely nothing to do with mixing, per se.

I've noticed it on Lolita a lot - not a clean sound at all and distorted in parts and, way too loud. Silly really because if I want it loud, I can turn up the volume. This way it sounds too harsh and worse when loud. Is this how Prince really wanted it?

I'll have to digitize the track and see what is looks like for me...

yep it's crushed. I'm sure Prince wanted it that way to sound "too" loud and crushed.

it doesn't have the usual clipping sound I hear... I wonder why?
[Edited 5/31/06 10:18am]

Like I said, I listen to my music on a decent audio system and I really don't need any cans to hear this album ruined. And yes, it is too bad for me to not be pissed, because this could have been prevented so easily.

So, please do not misunderstand me. I listen to music for the soul of it. But I also like the advance of technology in music. You know, Prince is not the only offender in this area. The whole music industry has been sucked into something we are the victim of. For money, and nothing else.

Can I just say I am very sad that Prince joined this war?

Check out this site: http://www.prorec.com/pro...2E005DAF1C

And wikipedia of course. http://en.wikipedia.org/w...udness_war

To get an idea what I mean.

So what Prince cds actually sound good to you^^^^; in terms of mastering and mixing?

The revamped version of Rave into the joy Fantastic does not clip at all if i remember correctly, just play it next to the original version of the album for the tracks that were the same.

The mastering is very, very poor! Listen 2 a track on "3121" then put any track from "crystal ball", 4 exemple, & u'll c how little-profound the sound is on "3121".

Beats me how Prince let this happen...

This topic is interesting. I had no idea about how technical it is to produce a cd with excellent sound quality. Let's hope when Prince's old albums are remastered they remember louder is not better!

what i have noticed is that some songs i turn up a little because it is quiet.
Then i have to turn the volume down because the next song is too loud.
I only really notice this when i listen to it in the car.

mikek1 said:

The Rainbow Children.

Graycap23 said:

Not really. That one is definitely too loud at some parts. "Muse 2 The Pharoah" goes into clearly audible distortion all the time.

Novabreaker said:

I'll have to check that out. I've never played it in the studio.

Graycap23 said:

I think that kind of faults are more easily to be found on mid-level home speakers though.

LOL, that would explain the whole problem then! They probably just need to update their shabby studio equipment!

hmmm - i seem to recall the vocal on If I Was Your Girlfriend being a tad on the crunchy side in places, which added a certain character.... AND, music tech fans - DID YOU KNOW the dark 'muddiness' to the audio quality of the Ballad of Dorothy Parker was caused by a fault on the tape machine causing it to run at half speed, resulting in a decreased treble response!??? And it's one of the best songs ever recorded by anyone EVER!!??!?!

NOW i'm not comparing Lolita to anything off of Sign o' The Times, that would be DAFT yes? but it certainly has a good bounce. and i quite like the 'your speakers are a tad fkd' presence of the track. in fact it pretty much sold the whole album to me on 1st listen, you know, before i realised that Fury was a bit pants.

Novabreaker said:

That's probably true. I don't even use speakers at all. I use only studio quality monitors. I do have a pair of old Bose 501's but I don't play music on them.

Novabreaker said:

Sooooo true.

Not sure if it is a result of the production but "Last December" on TRC sounds very bad to me, mainly during the really busy parts, it just sounds all compressed and I guess "clipped", reminds me of a low quality MP3 file.

It might be how Prince wanted it to sound but has far to much of a "digital" sound to me with not enough breathing space for the different instruments so sounds really muddled. But this is only my opinion and I have no technical knowledge or experience just know what I like but also a lot of 3121 sounds kinda bad (extended listening makes my ears hurt - could be my age though!)

Which reminds me there was a post on NPGMC about sounds levels or something, and someone had analyised a file (can't remember the track though),the poster was giving a detailed explanation of what was good and bad etc etc (actually a very good post on the club). Anyway I think they then performed the same treatment on the Te Amo Corazon single and posted that it was much better than previous releases by Prince (this was before 3121 was out).