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Why do my rolling stones albums sound bad?

When I first got into vinyl a few years ago, I purchased a few stones albums. I thought they sounded good at the time but now that I have collected quite a few more records the stones albums sound bad in comparison. A few that stand out to me are the sticky fingers re-issue by mobile fidelity and let it bleed by abkco circa 2003.I am really disappointed with both of those.
The MoFi pressing sounds like the vocals are in the background and it sounds overall muddy. This surprised me because of all the MoFi pressing I own of various artist, this stones album is the only one I was not satisfied with. Really sub par compared to the rest of their work I have. I don't own the original so I can't compare the two. I would hope the original sounds much better.
The abkco pressing is a DSD. I didn't know this at the time of purchase or I might have avoided it. I do own a few other DSD pressings of other artist and they sound pretty good. Let it bleed from abkco (2003) sounds like mick is singing underwater. The instruments sound really flat in this one as well.
I also own hot rocks from abkco (2003) which is also a DSD. It sounds a bit better than the let it bleed album but still nothing to be impressed with.
I thought the MoFi pressing would sound better because it is mastered from the original tapes and done AAA. In my opinion it has the worst sound quality of the pressings mentioned here.
I would love to have some stones albums that sound great but, I have been reluctant to purchase any more of them for fear of getting the same sound quality of the other pressings. Are there stones albums out there that sound really good? I want something I can be impressed with. What would you guys and gals suggest. What stones albums do I need to be on the lookout for. Thanks in advance.

Andy
andyprice44

Showing 10 responses by mapman

mapman's avatar
mapman
21,838 posts
 
It's true that most RS records will only sound really good LOUD, as designed.
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,838 posts
 
I should say that the only way they can sound best is LOUD. You also have to have a system that can deliver the goods accordingly. Rolling Stones records sound largely average to poor on many systems. They can be very nice and involving on a good setup however, especially at louder volume. If most RS material sounds very good in a more "organic" sense and gets your foot tapping (they might never or rarely be considered reference type recordings)that is probably a good indicator that your system is up to snuff to bring out the best in many less than reference quality recordings as well.

I remember when I first listened to many older stones records as a kid, I too thought many that sound fantastic to me today were some of the worst recordings out there on the grand scale of things.
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,838 posts
 
Also, it might help to focus the discussion on specific Rolling Stones songs or albums. There is a good bit of variability in the sound of thei recordings over the years, so being more specific might help.
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,838 posts
 
"The play as if they are just in a drunken/drug induced haze while pissing on their listeners..
Not to my liking.."

Liz, seriously, it may not help, but I found Maggies are not the best speakers for getting the best out of most stones recordings because of macro-dynamics. At least that was the case with my 80's vintage Maggies. Maggies may be better with macro dynamics these days, from what I have heard at the dealers, which is a big part of enjoying the stones for me. You gotta be able to feel the rhythm section......

With more dynamic speakers they might sound more like they are more suitably pounding on their listeners rather than merely excreting although the drunken/drug induced part may require further tweaking on the listeners part to remedy. :-)
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,838 posts
 
"The play as if they are just in a drunken/drug induced haze while pissing on their listeners..."

And the bad part is?????

Must be a guy thing....
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,838 posts
 
What else would one expect from the anti-Beatles?
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,838 posts
 
Agree with Loomis.
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,838 posts
 
Most of their 70's + later studio recordings I have heard (I've heard most but not all) are decent to quite good I would say. Exile is a unique case, more like those early Chess Records like recordings, which BTW have a unique sonic charm of their own when done right, like many blues recordings of that era.
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,838 posts
 
Emotional Rescue ( I have both vinyl and CD) has a lot of good mainstream type sound on it.

Sticky Fingers and Exile are the two most problematic soundwise as I recall.

The older more blues-centric stuff can sound quite nice. The original master "Hot ROcks" and "More Hot ROcks" collections on CD are not bad. I never cared much for my vinyl copies of these back in the day. There may even be more recently digitally remastered versions of those collections or other albums that could be better. I have not done enough comparison to say, other than most Stones stuff I listen to these days sounds quite good enough for me.
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,838 posts
 
"Get the Japanese SHM-SACDs. Yes, ridiculously expensive, but you've never heard these records like that before!"

When did price ever stop anyone here from getting their next fix of good sound????

O-o
\_/
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