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Does Steely Dan sound bright to you?

This is going to sound like a somewhat random question but I’m wondering how many of you find Steely Dan’s recordings to sound a bit bright. I’m particularly thinking of Gaucho, and Aja but some other recent recordings, too, such as Fagen’s Nightfly.

My typical media include streaming (CD and HD quality) and CD’s. I have not played my old vinyl because I’m presently without a turntable.

At first I thought it was my system and it was driving me a little bit mental; eventually, I decided it wasn't my stuff, it was their stuff. Because most other recordings on the same system with no other changes don’t typically have the brightness of Steely Dan.

Whether or not you’re a fan (I am) Steely Dan has often been a go-to for testing out equipment, so I imagine there will be experiences people have had about this.

P.S. Any other recordings which, for you are unnaturally bright?


128x128hilde45
hilde45's avatar
hilde45 OP
4,778 posts
 
Thanks for the answers so far. Since *everything* else sounds not-bright, I cannot think it has anything to do with physical factors. This narrows it down to the specific versions of the songs I'm playing. I need to compare the CD and the Amazon HD recordings again to see if perhaps it's the Amazon version. I may be misremembering it happening on the CD.
tablejockey
3,769 posts
 

"My typical media include streaming (CD and HD quality) and CD’s. I have not played my old vinyl because I’m presently without a turntable."

To my ears, those albums mentioned don't exhibit excessive highs on my LP's. Having heard  those albums on better digital setups, the only thing I experience is the ol LP vs digital "something's off" phenomena. 

jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,601 posts
 
no not bright... well balanced
spacecadet65's avatar
spacecadet65
54 posts
 
I’ve always thought that Steely Dan’s recordings are very good. I didn’t know how good until recently when I bought better equipment. However, there are times when the backup singers sound a bit nasal. I don’t think that is a result of bad recording and producing. It’s how they want it. An example would be in Kid Charlemagne. There is a little call and response between Fagan and the backup singers in the pre-chorus: "Did you feel like Jesus?"

It’s a technique that Fagan uses. On lesser systems it sounds very nasal to me. But it’s the way it was produced to sound.

Loved that band!
artemus_5's avatar
artemus_5
1,911 posts
 
Spring 2021: Added photos with mixture of deflectors (boards), diffusors (GIK, bookshelves), absorbers (ATS, GIK), and bass traps (Real Traps), along with some DIY (utilizing OC 703, OC R38 pink fluffy).

Got this from your system page. Did the problem start before or after this change? I fought brightness for years but never with Steely Dan & especially Aja. Is your streaming really HD? Sometimes HD is still lossy IE 320 kbps. Something is amiss and I doubt it is SD recordings. Good luck finding it
BTW, the brick wall throws up big red flags to me. hard surfaces bring about brightness.. But its still peculiar that everything else sounds good. Quite the mystery which usually  means it's a simple fix
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