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Thread started 12/05/20 1:09pm

JoeyCococo

Sound Revelations on SOTT Remaster set

I wanted to hear from others that are equally impressed by the sound in this remastered set.

I will start with vocals... vocals and vocals.

forever in my life's backgrounds are so much more present. I actually wondered if they'd boosted the volume on the backgrounds. It is that clear

If I Was Your Girlfriend...it is so amazing to hear all the layers of vocals. Housequake- that deeper voice comes through so well now
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Reply #1 posted 12/06/20 12:41am

Vannormal

-

I agree with that.

It all sounds so much fresher and more revealing on headphones.

Either, modern headphones are making progress.

Or both of course. wink

My investment in a great pair of headphones also made me rediscover ''U Got The Look.''

This song used to leave me quite indifferent.

But ever since Susan Rogers said he's been working on this song for a long time,

I felt I should give it an extra chance.

And boy!

What a great song that is in this remastered version.

Same goes for ''It'', although i've always loooooved this mysterious funcky track.

in ''Play In The Sunshine," the vocal parts of Susannah are so much brighter and well produced.

That song seems much more complex that it sounds.

All the c-vocal arrangements are absolutely stunning !

Also the vocal harmonies in ''Starfish And Coffee'' are so much more layered now in the chorus.

Another; ''Slox Love'', how gracefully the vocal harmonies in the chorus blend into the wonderful saxophone parts, and then once more into the silky string arrangements.

It's all so much more apparent.

-

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves. And wiser people so full of doubts" (Bertrand Russell 1872-1972)
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Reply #2 posted 12/06/20 1:55am

runningbear

Have not listened with headphone, but sounds about the same to my ears. I did buy the records in 1987 though, and they reportedly sound better than the original cds. I also have a few of the songs on the soundtrack for a Spike Lee CD, think the Cross, Hot Thing, always thought they sounded very good too. Don't get me wrong, remaster sounds great, but not necessarily different or a lot better compared to what I had

merf
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Reply #3 posted 12/06/20 5:32am

TheEnglishGent

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The remaster sounds great, imagine how gutted we would have all been had it been badly remastered and brick walled.

RIP sad
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Reply #4 posted 12/06/20 5:48am

trickyjoe7777

TheEnglishGent said:

The remaster sounds great, imagine how gutted we would have all been had it been badly remastered and brick walled.


im sure I heard from a "reliable source" that it had been? Or was than an error?

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Reply #5 posted 12/06/20 5:55am

cooldayla

trickyjoe7777 said:

TheEnglishGent said:

The remaster sounds great, imagine how gutted we would have all been had it been badly remastered and brick walled.


im sure I heard from a "reliable source" that it had been? Or was than an error?

Don't blame the op, he was going with the opinion of the ears of a Grammy nominated producers.

U know

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Reply #6 posted 12/06/20 7:26am

funkaholic1972

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I think there is a lot of difference between the original CDs and this new remaster. In general the songs have more low end and better definition now. Like JoeyCoco said especially the vocals are much more defined and clear, it is a joy to be able to distinguish all the individual parts. I think the remastered SOTT album is a huge improvement on the original CD, the remaster has definately given SOTT a new leash of life for me as an album.

RIP Prince: thank U 4 a funky Time...
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Reply #7 posted 12/06/20 10:31am

dbpdexter

they still didn't fix the sound level

if i have my player on shuffle i still have to turn the volume up when a sott track plays and then turn the volume down before the next track plays

AKA PDEXTER
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Reply #8 posted 12/06/20 12:20pm

WhisperingDand
elions

avatar

dbpdexter said:

they still didn't fix the sound level

if i have my player on shuffle i still have to turn the volume up when a sott track plays and then turn the volume down before the next track plays

Post-80s Prince material is 92%brickwalled.

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Reply #9 posted 12/06/20 1:33pm

JoeyCococo

The following is what I wrote before on a diff thread but here it is now updated..

I agree with most that the low end has really been filled out, similar to how they added a little something on the low for 1999. It is fantastic. I did also read that gentlemen's comment about too much bass in It. To me, this album had nearly zip in terms of low end so this is a great improvement. The roar of the guitar in I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man just takes the song to another stratosphere of enjoyment. Adding bass oomph on If I Was Your Girlfriend really anchors the song better. However, it is also the details that this remaster has revealed that really has my attention...some particulars..

The following are specific of what I heard that were obviously more then before. However, there is a lot throughout the album that is not easy to describe but I sense that is a huge improvement over the previous cd.

If I WAs Your Girlfriend - it may be mid range but the synths throughout are far more clear. It adds to an isolated feel to the whole song...almost like a sinister soundscape. THroughout my listening, I was amazed by the vocal details brought out...often in the backgrounds. When he sings in the altered low voice the backgrounds, it is so so clear.

House Quake - again, vocals...there are so many bits and pieces...so many backgrounds that are more clear. You can distinguish several voices making up the backgrounds better then before.

Ballad Of Dorothy - bass...for sure, much better.

Starfish and Coffee - the cymbals were what i noticed right away. You can hear the tapping of each hit..not a haze. I also noticed a backward playing throughout the whole song...much more clearly. I guess I knew something odd was there before, but not so clearly. I can also make out the female vocal better (Susanah?)

Slow Love - i was not expecting much here but this is the one that surprised me. I could hear the keyboard twinkles for the 1st time. I could hear strings...the bass guitar was more articulate. All combined made for a much more interesting listen. I've now lived with this for over 2 months and am still impressed by how good this song is now. There was so much care put into recording all of this.

Hot Thing - Vocals...when he sings "tell'em you've found a new, baby doll'. There is another vocal by Prince saying the same thing but it's so clear...almost singing it right beside the lead. I just can not clearly remember this before. Is there a cowbell in this song?

Forever In My lIfe - oh the backgrounds...i can hear his every nuance. I just never heard it that clearly. The background always competed wth the lead on this song but here, they almost take over. Wow... That springy beat also has a longer decay or something...the sound just rings out a bit longer at every beat...

U Got The Look - hardly a fav of mine but i noticed some sub woofer action occasionally that was missing before. I also heard a very odd keyboard line when he sings 'well here - we - are, ladies and gentlemen..the world series of love....' .

If I Was Your Girlfriend - i mentioned some points above but where he sings 'not that your helpless'....i hear an odd clink or something in the left speaker. Never heard it before. A friend listened to this part and he could also tell there was something...but he also heard (much more faintly) on the original. We think it could have been Prince hitting the mic with his hand or something...approx 3:20 when he sings "not that your helpless'

I Could Never- guitar roars!!

The Cross - so clean. The drums sound as clear as the International Lover take 2 on the 1999 set.

Adore - The piano parts stand out to me. You can clearly hear him playing this as well as some other key.

All in all, this remaster was done by a PRO. Surely I would not have minded if the boosted the bass a little bit more to get my sub to rock. However, the clarity they squeezed out of this recording is miraculous. To me, this is a whole new listening experience.

Finally, today was the 1st time in years I listened to the album all the way through (almost). It truly deserves every accolade that it has and continues to receive.

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Reply #10 posted 12/06/20 1:34pm

JoeyCococo

WhisperingDandelions said:

dbpdexter said:

they still didn't fix the sound level

if i have my player on shuffle i still have to turn the volume up when a sott track plays and then turn the volume down before the next track plays

Post-80s Prince material is 92%brickwalled.

Yes, I agree...which is why I'm THRILLED they didn't F up SOTT.

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Reply #11 posted 12/07/20 1:07am

Rimshottbob

dbpdexter said:

they still didn't fix the sound level

if i have my player on shuffle i still have to turn the volume up when a sott track plays and then turn the volume down before the next track plays

Unfortunately, that's because Sign is at the correct level, whereas most modern music, especially Prince's are mastered way too loud.

There is software that can sort that though.

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Reply #12 posted 12/07/20 3:11am

Vannormal

WhisperingDandelions said:

dbpdexter said:

they still didn't fix the sound level

if i have my player on shuffle i still have to turn the volume up when a sott track plays and then turn the volume down before the next track plays

Post-80s Prince material is 92%brickwalled.

i

I may sound stupid but I hav no idea what 'brickwalled' means...

Yes i read it several times here on different forums, but still no idea..

in this context. Can someone please explain me?

Thank you.

-

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves. And wiser people so full of doubts" (Bertrand Russell 1872-1972)
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Reply #13 posted 12/07/20 3:55am

LILpoundCAKE

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The biggest surprise for me is Slow Love. cool

May U Live 2 See The Release of Parade SDE
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Reply #14 posted 12/07/20 4:35am

TheEnglishGent

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dbpdexter said:

they still didn't fix the sound level

if i have my player on shuffle i still have to turn the volume up when a sott track plays and then turn the volume down before the next track plays


This is actually a good thing and why the remaster sounds so good, because the dynamic range is preserved. The sound level hits peak but isn't clipping and the rest of the range hasn't been compressed, which is how it should be. The only way to make it seem louder as a whole would be to decrease the dynamic range, thereby brick walling it.

The problem lies with the other albums, not this one.

RIP sad
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Reply #15 posted 12/07/20 5:26am

AsylumUtopia

Vannormal said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

Post-80s Prince material is 92%brickwalled.

i

I may sound stupid but I hav no idea what 'brickwalled' means...

Yes i read it several times here on different forums, but still no idea..

in this context. Can someone please explain me?

Thank you.

-


This wikipedia page
explains it well.

Lemmy, Bowie, Prince, Leonard. RIP.
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Reply #16 posted 12/07/20 6:26am

JoeyCococo

LILpoundCAKE said:

The biggest surprise for me is Slow Love. cool

THis was definitely one that i appreciated more after the remaster. I always liked it but found it to be the least interesting on the album. Now with the keyboard twinkles, and beautifully restrained singing...I just love it.

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Reply #17 posted 12/07/20 6:30am

JoeyCococo

Someone else started a thread on La La La He He Hee and how there is so much more going on. I totally agree. There is so much bass or low frequency stuff happenning in that song. There is more low in the mix talking happening too

For those that are able to explain technically, I'd love to understand how they were able to squeeze so much out of these tapes.

I am longing for a Lovesexy to be remastered .....especially, the 3 part I Wish U Heavan 12".

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Reply #18 posted 12/07/20 7:53am

ThirdStrike

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TheEnglishGent said:

The remaster sounds great, imagine how gutted we would have all been had it been badly remastered and brick walled.

LOLOLOL!!! Totally GUTTED...

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Reply #19 posted 12/07/20 1:33pm

CaseysCousin

cooldayla said:[quote]



trickyjoe7777 said:




TheEnglishGent said:


The remaster sounds great, imagine how gutted we would have all been had it been badly remastered and brick walled.




im sure I heard from a "reliable source" that it had been? Or was than an error?




Don't blame the op, he was going with the opinion of the ears of a Grammy nominated producers.


U

eek

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Reply #20 posted 12/07/20 2:21pm

LILpoundCAKE

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JoeyCococo said:

LILpoundCAKE said:

The biggest surprise for me is Slow Love. cool

THis was definitely one that i appreciated more after the remaster. I always liked it but found it to be the least interesting on the album. Now with the keyboard twinkles, and beautifully restrained singing...I just love it.


All of a sudden it makes sense why he kept this one on the album instead of some of his other great tunes from this time. It never made sense before lol But it does now. It's a beautiful song.

May U Live 2 See The Release of Parade SDE
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Reply #21 posted 12/07/20 11:33pm

Vannormal

AsylumUtopia said:

Vannormal said:

i

I may sound stupid but I hav no idea what 'brickwalled' means...

Yes i read it several times here on different forums, but still no idea..

in this context. Can someone please explain me?

Thank you.

-


This wikipedia page
explains it well.

-

Thank you so much. smile

Even didn't know it is called loudness war.

-

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves. And wiser people so full of doubts" (Bertrand Russell 1872-1972)
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Reply #22 posted 12/08/20 12:59am

ForceofNature

dbpdexter said:

they still didn't fix the sound level

if i have my player on shuffle i still have to turn the volume up when a sott track plays and then turn the volume down before the next track plays

Albums that have a great and big dynamic range tend to be quiter overall than more compressed albums, which is probably what you hear. They fixed the sound levels when it comes to the tracks in relation to each other on the album

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Reply #23 posted 12/08/20 6:25am

JoeyCococo

MOst of Prince's music was 'brickwalled' badly post 1995. The Crystal Ball set is expecially terrible. This is why I'd welcome if they'd put those 1986/1987 tracks from CB on the SOTT set. They could have had another 1/2 disc....

Dream Factory

Last Heart

Make You're Momma Happy

Movie Star

Crystal Ball (full)

Sexual Suicide

Joy In Repitition (would love to hear this remastered)

I'd have filled out the remainder of this (4th vault) disc with...

U Got The Look - supposedly a slower, much funkier version exists. I read this somewhere.

I Could Never Take The Place - at the end of Michael Dean's Cat interview, he let a diff version of this song play out the closing. I could tell it very likely a version Prince did b/c you had to have the original tapes to do it...for example, the guitar solo's start was more clear... you could hear the guitar start clearly. It also had more precussion. I liked it.

Maybe they are waiting for a 2nd Originals, but the following would have been super.

The Sex of It

Violet Blue - or really, anything from the Jill JOnes album

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Reply #24 posted 12/08/20 6:25am

jfenster

All that matters is how good does it sound in someone's car...thats the best way to determine quality. I think
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Reply #25 posted 12/08/20 7:02am

fortuneandsere
ndipity

dbpdexter said:

they still didn't fix the sound level

if i have my player on shuffle i still have to turn the volume up when a sott track plays and then turn the volume down before the next track plays

True, but they managed it on Adonis & Bathsheba compared to the bootleg version, so don't see why they couldn't up all the frequencies in equal measure on SoTT.

The world's problems like climate change can only be solved through strategic long-term thinking, not expediency. In other words all the govts. need sacking!

If you can add value to someone's life then why not. Especially if it colors their days...
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Reply #26 posted 12/08/20 9:46am

WhisperingDand
elions

avatar

jfenster said:

All that matters is how good does it sound in someone's car...thats the best way to determine quality. I think

Sarcasm? More compression/limiting would be needed to cut through traffic noise/engine noise/background noise... this is how brickwalling started, every exec wanting everything optimized for their car CD decks... It's also why vinyl is how it is, people aren't playing records in their cars, they were designed for living rooms...

[Edited 12/8/20 9:48am]

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Reply #27 posted 12/08/20 11:07am

JoeyCococo

WhisperingDandelions said:

jfenster said:

All that matters is how good does it sound in someone's car...thats the best way to determine quality. I think

Sarcasm? More compression/limiting would be needed to cut through traffic noise/engine noise/background noise... this is how brickwalling started, every exec wanting everything optimized for their car CD decks... It's also why vinyl is how it is, people aren't playing records in their cars, they were designed for living rooms...

[Edited 12/8/20 9:48am]

Yeah, I wasn't sure if that was a jokey comment or not. Dynamic range does not matter if yuo're listening via a Airpod...or in the car. It matters when you are listening real close, i the dark to focus all attention to your ears....i understand most don't listen this way....but for those that do, this remaster is king.

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Reply #28 posted 12/08/20 11:10am

JoeyCococo

in fact, this remaster gives me so much hope of hearing The Black Album properly. I will guarentee...that forgotten album will get its due when you can actually hear what he is doing on it. That bass playing in Le Grind....all that keyboard swirling in SUperfunkacalifragisexy....the horn lines in Rock Hard...

Like what happened with Slow Love...a equally good remaster will show off the Black album in new gleaming light. There is too much happening in those songs not to be impressed. Did you know there is a piano happening in Le Grind?????????

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Reply #29 posted 12/08/20 11:20am

WhisperingDand
elions

avatar

JoeyCococo said:

in fact, this remaster gives me so much hope of hearing The Black Album properly. I will guarentee...that forgotten album will get its due when you can actually hear what he is doing on it. That bass playing in Le Grind....all that keyboard swirling in SUperfunkacalifragisexy....the horn lines in Rock Hard...

Like what happened with Slow Love...a equally good remaster will show off the Black album in new gleaming light. There is too much happening in those songs not to be impressed. Did you know there is a piano happening in Le Grind?????????

ya, but gotta EQ those old cdz.

[Edited 12/8/20 11:22am]

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