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***GROUP PARTICIPATION***SYSTEM CRITIC & COMPARE***

I’ve had this idea kicking around a while but never had time & couldn’t think of the right song to start it with...
The premise is this:Every week(7 full days)I will post a link to a song on Utube.I will provide my listening thoughts & hopefully Agoner’s will do the same based on their systems.I’m really hoping this takes off as I would love to see how my system & room compares..
The first song comes from what is widely hailed as one of the most beautiful recordings ever produced.Weather or not you agree is a different subject.I assume 90% of everyone reading this has heard of the record so I won’t go into much detail..What I find most interesting is that this tonally beautiful recording was Digiatlly based,
"according to recording engineer Peter J. Moore it was actually recorded on a Sony Betamax SL-2000 video cassette deck connected to a Sony PCM F-1 digital/analog convertor, using one single Calrec Ambisonic Microphone"...AMAZING,a mid 1980’s DAC & Freaking Beta Max hahahahahahah...
Sweet Jane is a languid remake of the Lou Reed hit that highlights Margo Timmins voice with 3 instrument support.I listened to the song about a dozen times..
When the song opens 2 things I notice right away is echo from the drum stick on the rim,way up iPAST where I have treated & killed all the echo,& the very slight distortion dialed into the guitar..
The band is close,I can see them from just about mic distance.Guitar to the left and sounds slightly lower than Margo.Drums offset back right,bass slightly ahead & farther right but close to the kit...Margo appears about 10’ back.
It’s hard to talk about the guitar as there isn’t much to say.It never calls attention to itself.The midrange purity of tone of finger strummed metal strings yields loads of string detail as the fingers slide across.
The bass is also low key.Good depth & tone but I swear sometimes it has a very very slight Sennheiser veil.I have a feeling the bass amp was partially obscured at times because as the vocals shift with Timmins movement bass texture becomes cleaner & clearer.
And last but not least Margo Timmins vocals.Right away I hear bad sibilance!Oh god I hope this is in the recording.It must be because "T’s"are perfect & I never heard it before..It is in the recording isn’t it(finger crossed)...The most striking thing to me is Margot’s middle & lower registers,OMG the midrange papability here is off the charts...
So that’s it boys & girls.Hope you play along..https://youtu.be/Fa9nN3G2CSg
freediver
jtcf's avatar
jtcf
1,589 posts
 
I have the cd.Through my system I can hear sibilance that naturally occurs when pronouncing k,s,t,etc. but not excessive at all.I don't stream so can't compare.
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
Imo, lousy recording, and sibilance is an artifact of recording. Harmonica on next track is intolerable. :(
n80
2,101 posts
 
@douglas_schroeder : what source are you referring to?
n80
2,101 posts
 
I just got the CD in the mail. SQ is way better than my streaming set up/ YouTube/ Amazon Music.

Production quality seems generally good to me. Maybe not great though. The sibilance on the Sweet Jane track seems to be more of an issue there than on other tracks. I think it is largely just Timmins' voice, particularly how she is enunciating the word "sweet". It seems intentional almost. Could it be a microphone issue as well? I guess. But the truth is, I've listened to this song many times and never noticed or been put off by the sibilance, so it really isn't an issue for me at all.

The whole album is low key and less loud than a lot of productions. It requires a good bit of volume on my system.

I agree that the high pitched harmonica on Postcard Blues is intolerable but when he is playing in a lower register it is fine. I get the impression that this was intentional too. If so, bad choice. I don't like the song at all even without the shrieking harmonica. Will likely leave it off when I rip it.
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