Kevin Bresnahan

There's lots of smiley faces and back slapping whenever anyone recites the mantra, "It's about the music". But what many contributors to this thread fail to realize is that most Jazz reissues have been somewhat immune to the "LOUDNESS WARS". It's bad in the rock genre. So bad, that it's ALL about the music... sounding crappy! These new "maximized" CDs sound like dog doo doo in most cases. Almost anyone who hears one the first time thinks something is weird. The "sound" is there, but it's constant, loud & in your face. It's particularly bad on guitar. If this trend makes it to Jazz, it'll be too late for us. We'll be stuck looking for older remasters too. Kevin

I know this thread is meandering here but who cares... Lon, I think we've discussed this a bit, but I think all listening preferences are system dependent. I still think your system has a bit of a roll off at the high end since your preference is RVG remasters, which many people find too bright. The fact that your system may have this roll off DOES NOT mean that it is a "bad" system, and you've made it perfectly clear that you like it the way it is. All it means is that you & I have to take each other's recomendations on sound with a grain of salt. FWIW, from what I hear in your listening preferences and what I've read over on the Hoffman forums, you & Steve Hoffman have very similar home systems. He also shows a definite preference for brighter mastered CDs. It's because of this that I rarely follow his recommendations for preferred pressings too. BTW, to give an analogy, I love jammy red Zinfandel wine from California. Black in color with huge, sweet fruit like strawberry jam in your mouth. The reviewers at The Wine Enthusiast hate this style of Zin and they always give these "fruit bombs" very low scores. I usually have my local wine shop bring in a couple of these low scoring wines and I almost always love them. The sad thing is, many Zin makers have tried drying out their wines so they get the better rating. It's getting harder for me to get fruit bombs. I hope this doesn't happen with my music. Kevin

I contacted Ron and gave him the gist of our discussion here, including the graphic of "Caravan". We've talked about the industry trend toward loud CDs before. He replied once again that there is pressure to up the levels. FWIW, Ron does appreciate criticism if it's justified, so don't think he's upset at us for talking about his work. Like any professional, he is striving to do the best job he can. BTW, in my E-mail to him, I also complimented him on his recent work on the Ike Quebec "45 Sessions" Connoisseur. I think these CDs sound very good. I will post some of the pertinent stuff from his E-mail. Later, Kevin From Ron McMaster: The "Level Wars" as they are called have been going on since the early days of 45's. Everybody wants their song to be louder than the other guys. What makes today's levels go beyond the limits is the technology and equipment that makes the music that the consumer buys. I told you that as mastering engineers we are always getting demands to raise the level or make it "hotter". I hold the line at a reasonable level and DO NOT give in to levels that flatten and distort the files. That means that in no way do I Maximize the files! I cannot stand that program/software. What you must realize is that comparing CD's that were made by engineers in the mid 90's verses CD's that were made more recently is that you will see more overall level gain. Equipment has improved and consumers expect a certain degree of louder overall volume level. Why they can't use the volume control is beyond me. As an engineer that is very sensitive to this subject I try to walk the line and keep all parties involved happy, most of all myself, and not give way to distorted sounding albums! In looking at the file you sent me it does look full and over. I would have to hear it to judge if it went beyond the limit of excessive level. I have seen much worse. However, it still must be listened to for possible clipping and distortion on the track. Many times a file will look just as the picture you sent but it will in fact sound fine. I'm not making excuses, just stating a fact. I'm sorry to hear that a critic of my mastering thinks "Caravan" sounds "absolutely awful, bright LOUD and no dynamics". I will have to pull this album out to see what this person is talking about. It's important to note that the producer has the final say so on any project. I know that Michael (in this case) would not approve any CD from any mastering engineer that was "absolutely awful, bright LOUD and had no dynamics". He knows how the music should sound and believe me when I tell you he will reject albums that are not to his liking. Ron

The tiny url link just goes to Comcast when I click it.

Mostly every Connoisseur CD has been mastered by Ron McMaster. I have not had any problems with the sounds on them. However, if Ron McMaster starts pushing his levels up past 0 dB and the resulting waveform looks like the one posted in this thread, I know it's going to sound crappy. The mastering engineer does not matter. If Hoffman, Dennis Drake, Bob Ludwig, Bob Norberg, Vic Ansemi... ANY of them pushes the levels up that high, it will sound worse. Many of the people who dig Hoffman's remasters don't always agree with his EQ choices but he does give you a very dynamic sounding CD. He does not believe in compressing the music. If every remastering engineer would stick to this, we'd get much better CDs. BTW, the worst thing about this recent trend of "maximized CDs" is that most people are keeping their ancient masterings. So now, people are forced to keep a first generation digital remaster that probably causes ear bleeding in some animals because the latest remaster is so maximized that you get fatigued listening to it after about 10 minutes. Want an example? The beautifuly clear-sounding Jimi Hendrix remasters from the Hendrix Experience team. They sound great. But yet, they have no dynamic range. It's all one wall of sound. No quiet parts, only loud. After a few minutes, I can't listen to them. It's worse with headphones. Kevin

Don't reply to the e-mail, that just tells them they have a live one! What I do is follow the link and log in as Screwu with a password of eatshitanddie. The next screen will come up with an entry screen for all kinds of stuff. Social Security number, mother's maiden name, etc. Have fun with it. I typically use sports figures for personal information. Father's name: Larry Bird.

I'd be willing to bet the music program you hear today was recorded a good two weeks ago. Formats like this cannot react quickly to a situation. They may have a Jackie Mac tribute in a week if you're lucky. BTW, I've only heard XM in my father's car and what I heard didn't impress me. Sirius Radio on the other sounded pretty damn good the few times I've listened. If I were to choose a satellite service based only on Jazz programming, Sirius would be it.

Let me ask those outraged at this lawsuit a question: What if the driver of the vehicle was sober? Would this lawsuit be "OK" then? Yeah, a drunk driver filing this lawsuit is pretty dumb if he thinks he's got a chance at winning, but someone's got to get the police to implement a policy change to stop this from happening again. Maybe it'll be your wife and child who gets killed when the next cop pulls a U turn on a highway? This cop pulled a U turn in the middle of a highway and got killed. He did screw up and he paid the ultimate price for this screw up. If this lawsuit gets a couple of other cops to think a half second before doing this in the future, then maybe something good can come of this moron's lawsuit. I've seen the police pull stunts like this and nearly cause multi-car pile-ups... at 7:30 in the morning and everyone sober. If a friend or family member got killed because of an asinine stunt by a stupid cop, I'd be pretty upset.

I can! (the cut off corresponds to ~0dB, the RED zone we were taught the tape deck meter should not linger) I sent a copy of this plot to Ron to get his opinion of it. He's been pretty responsive in the past. I'll let you know if I hear from him. BTW, I've let him know in the past when people have complained about some of his remastering work and this is one of the first times that I was able to show him what you guys were hearing. Kevin

I haven't heard anything from Michael to tell me that these won't be done by Ron McMaster. They seem to use Ron for anything that's a simple tape transfer. Malcolm Addey is used when they need a new mix so maybe he'll get that Evans disc if they need to re-mix from three track. I'll try to ask Michael about it today. Kevin

Lon, I hope you realize that there are a lot of us here who are pulling for you & your wife as you go through this difficult time. We're here for you. Given my wife's family history, I live in fear of finding myself in a similar position. If I ever do have to face this, I hope I am able to handle as well as you. Kevin

This is terrible news. I know Jackie wasn't a young man and that this event happens to us all, but it doesn't lessen my sadness. Jackie was something to see on a stage. I was fortunate to see him many times. The thing that always amazed me about his playing style was how "solid" it sounded. Jackie really blew that horn. No microphones were needed. I'll always remember that show at the Vanguard a few years ago. I made Josh Heisler sit with me at the table in front of Jackie's microphone. I could read the "Jackie McLean" etched into the bell. What a show!! Jackie with Cedar, David Williams and Smilin' Billy. Now half that band is gone. But they gave me a memory that I'll always have. Thanks Jackie. RIP.

http://www.capitolstudios.com/capitolmastering/mcmaster.html

Chuck, quite honestly, I rarely listen to all of the Carmell Jones Select and when I do, it's almost always the small group dates with Harold Land. Yeah, I missed him there. I don't follow guys who stick to large bands too much and my CD collection reflects this so there are probably a lot of these great session players that are totally unknown to me. This Connoisseur CD may rectify this for good ol' Blackburn. Kevin

Ditto here for the Evans reissue (about time). I am listening to "Lester Leaps In" from New Bottle Old Wine and either it's my computer speakers or when the band is blasting it sounds like an old LP, so let's hope for that sonic upgrade. F I've read somewhere (forgot where) that the tapes were in a pretty poor condition, so I don't think a sonic upgrade will be possible. Let's hope it'll not turn out to be a sonic downgrade, with lots of compression, loudness and high-end boost... I just heard back from Michael Cuscuna about the sound on the Evans CD. He replied: "The old CDs were from stereo tapes. There were a lot of drop-outs in Great Jazz Standards, but I found the three-tracks and that eliminated that problem. The sound is improved, but both of those sessions were strange recordings. Some unusual balance choices and sudden peak distortions. A real drag because the music is so unbelievably great. We did the best we could." So I would think at least "Great Jazz Standards" ought to be improved since they used the original 3 track masters? Kevin

FWIW, I E-mailed Cuscuna about this Fresh Sound CD and he says he's gonna kick their release in the butt because he has the source tapes *and* has an extra track. Kevin

Don't have a clue, but would guess you don't know Freddie Hill either. I definitely don't know Freddie Hill either! Is he Benny's brother? This Blackburn CD looks good. I like the AMG description of his playing style. Kevin

I picked up the CD/DVD-Audio combo pack the other day and I agree it's a very nice date. Very much like Fagan's other solo dates and definitely in that patented Steely Dan mode. The 5.1 24/96 DVD-Audio is very well done too. Nice mix without some of the "gimmicks" that 5.1 mixes can have. He seems to have spread the individual instruments around with some bleed so that it really puts you into the sound. Kevin

I called Michael Cuscuna to ask if he was working on the next batch of Connoisseurs and he surprised me... apparently, the June batch is already decided and well on their way to release. Drum roll please\./.\./.\./.\./.\./.\./.\./.\./.\./.\./.\./.\./.\./.\./.\./.\./.\./ Jackie McLean – It’s Time (6 tunes) Art Blakey – Holiday For Skins (8 tunes) both albums on one CD Lou Blackburn – The Complete Imperial Sessions (19 tunes) Andrew Hill – Pax (7 tunes) the session with Joe Henderson and Freddie Hubbard - "One for One"? Gil Evans – The Complete Pacific Jazz Sessions (15 tunes) Solomon Ilori – African High Life (9 tracks) - includes three usable tracks from unissued session Woo hoo! I am soooo glad I didn't pay those insane eBay prices for "New Wine Old Bottles"! Forgive me people, but why have I never heard of Lou Blackburn? It looks like Fresh Sounds already issued this material too. That's gonna hurt sales. That Hill session must be the date that made up half of the two-fer "One For One" that was recorded Feb 10, 1965. Was that in the Mosaic box? Kevin

I may buy one just to support the cause... I'll just give the CD away at work. I work with several smooth Jazz fans and I'm sure they'd appreciate it. Cancer isn't a laughing matter in my book, and I like to laugh. Kevin

I always wondered if Miles' comment to Alfred wasn't left in there to tweak the honchos at Columbia. Wasn't there some controversy that Miles' contract prevented him from doing this date?

I noticed that about the design myself. It's pretty funny that they chose to copy "the Blue Note look"... it's not like Blue Note's artwork is worth copying in the CD era, unless you want "Fixed cover to follow" on it. BTW, I highly doubt RVG could "remix" these dates. They all direct to two track or even mono. The most he could do is narrow or spread the stereo sound. "Mix" isn't quite the word for merely varying the stereo spread. Kevin

Where did I come off as some kind of Microsoft basher?? I like Microsoft. What I don't agree with is *anyone* who uses *anything* except EAC to rip CDs. EAC is the only tool out there that accurately pulls the music off of the CD. When used in combination with LAME and a high VBR rip, the results can't be beat. Matched maybe, but not beat, at least to my ears. I wanted to make it clear to users of Microsoft Media Player that you must go through the settings to use it without contacting Microsoft. BTW, if you want to get me going on "bashing" a ripper program, start talking about iTunes! I hate that program. Kevin

I don't know exactly what it means but if you look through the preferences, there are several that mention going to Microsft with one of them saying, "Update music files by retrieving media info from the Internet" and another that says, "Acquire licenses automatically for protected content". This last one is the one that will probably give you trouble with copy protection. BTW, in EAC, under the "Compression Options" menu, I have -V 3 --vbr-new --add-id3v2 --pad-id3v2 --ta "%a" --tt "%t" --tl "%g" --ty "%y" --tn "%n" %s %d in the "Additonal Command Line Options" entry. Make sure "Parameter passing scheme" is set to "User defined encoder" and check "Delete WAV after compression" or else you'll have some huge WAV files clogging up your hardrive. Kevin

I've recently switched to using EAC with the latest LAME encoder set to VBR q3 mp3 which is approx. 192 kbps. While slightly larger than my old CBR 128 kbps, they sound exactly like the source to my ears. Be warned that Windows Media Player futzes with the analog if you use it to burn CD-R back-ups. In particular, find the tab where they default to having normalization "on". Shut that off pronto. Also, be forewarned that by default Windows Media Player reports back to Microsoft when you stick a CD in there. It's set by default in several places. It looks for "licenses", which is a buzzword for "copy protected". Windows is big on copy protection. Kevin