Roots Archives Forum

I have been caught again. What looks like great re-issue from late 60's or early 70's comes up. You listen to the track on the net, via your ipad/pod/phone or PC's constrained speakers. Sounds great. Boom. 9 GBP for a 7" + postage: 15 GBP. It arrives home, and disappointment: doesn't sound nearly as great on a decent Hi Fi system.

I am convinced that as far as 60-early 70's jamaican music re-issues are concerned, internet has boosted sales by enabling sellers to create an environment that makes you hit the click button, whilst the real thing that ends on your turntable will often disappoint.

In the future, I will download these type of tracks from YouTube, and play via my ipad. Probably sounds closer to what jamaicans were experiencing back then on radio waves anyway.

vlad wrote: 9 GBP for a 7" + postage: 15 GBP. It arrives home, and disappointment: doesn't sound nearly as great on a decent Hi Fi system.

Could you give us some examples, please?

i try to at least check out a sound clip with a pair of headphones to get a better idea of what a record is going to sound like... everybody's been burned at some point with a re-issue. some are good, many are bad, and some just plain ugly!

I wonder - the sound clips, are they taken from the actual vinyl, or are they the from the digital files that were then put onto vinyl?

This makes a difference. Some modern vinyl pressings are awful. They might've only been pressed a couple of months previously, but they already sound like they've had a few years-worth of use.

You get this with punk and oi! stuff too...

Satta,

2 examples:

Justin Hinds, Sufferation 1969, Trojan re-issue as "Duke" 7" (this one for the price example)

Kunta Kinte, Pressure sound re-issue as Channel 1, 7"

The sound is optimized for computer and headphone listening, which can deliver the middle frequencies the best. There are no real high and low frequencies.
In vinyl/cd production they all too often don't care for a better mix anyway, and that is why your decent HiFi System does reveal the ugly truth: a very weak and flat sound.
This is not only the matter with reissues or Reggae music but with a lot of new music production.

But I never did care for music much,
It's the high fidelity!

Ok I think I can speak to this problem. The Pressure Sounds 45 was mastered from an old dubplate. On the CD edition of Drum Sound, "Kunta Kinte Version One" has audible signs of this - crackles, pops, persistent low frequency rumble. The dubplate was mixed to be played on a soundsystem and as such for the loudest cut. The low frequencies on the recording are extremely distorted, what can be heard of the highs are muffled a bit and distorted. I assume the master tape of this tune is long gone, or lost, and Pressure Sounds probably worked with the best dubplate they could find - understandably since it is a brilliant tune. PS will do this, see the Soundsystem Scratch series ,some of which is sonically unbearable.

As for the Trojan, I haven't heard it, but I have known them to re-master from vinyl and/or put out reissues with poor sound quality.

Strictly speaking, many reissues are mastered from vinyl originals with varying results. Often what sounds like crap sound quality is the result of vinyl distortion (which sounds fine on an analog system) being transferred into bits for CD. The distortion becomes somewhat nastier in my opinion, partially because digital distortion is nasty, partially because you "hear it more" on CD. I think this goes for the remastered vinyl version too.

regarding the trojan record i have it and the sound is pretty well spot on and it was mastered from master tape.
Nick

nickfa wrote:regarding the trojan record i have it and the sound is pretty well spot on and it was mastered from master tape.
Nick

Probably depends on the playback system - if the highs are very critical, it can give the impression of a poor recording, otherwise you know what to expect from the 60's/70's - Studio One recordings, for example, have poor low frequency extension and recessed highs. I generally agree with your assessment, and may I suggest to vlad, try EQ-ing the system when you playback those tunes. Maybe then the sound will be more enjoyable.

peace