jazzbo Posted September 16, 2006 Report Posted September 16, 2006 (edited) I don't have Red Garland's Piano on RVG. But the Prestige RVGs i have purchased I think have excellent sound. I guess I'll just disagree with a lot of the comments. I AM tempted by the Prestige RVGs because I find the sound of those I have desirable, and they have selected very good titles music wise. My guess is that the series is being successful, as it is continuing at a good pace. I see no reason why an 80 year old engineer should be banned from employment with results like this. (The RVGs produced now are quite different from the first batches of JRVGs, many of which I enjoy more than most seem to). And sure there is a lot of marketing hype at the core in both the Blue Note and Prestige series, but I suspect it takes marketing hype to reach a certain portion of the buyers; we longtime jazz fans aren't the target market per se, though I've become a part of the buying base as I can afford them. (I'm buying a lot fewer discs this past year and for the near future or I would have all the titles released so far). Edited September 16, 2006 by jazzbo Quote
jazzbo Posted September 16, 2006 Report Posted September 16, 2006 (edited) Personally, I don't even believe that any big-name company would trust an 80 yo man to do the remastering job. I suspect after the first RVGs they replaced him, and now he gets his share by selling his name. You really doubt that RVG is doing these remasters? I think that's rather silly. I have no doubt he's at the helm. Edited September 16, 2006 by jazzbo Quote
Parkertown Posted September 16, 2006 Report Posted September 16, 2006 I haven't bought any of the new Prestige RVGs, but have downloaded a few from emusic. The MJQ Django RVG is riddled with the image shifts like Claude describes above. Probably 10 or more throughout the album... Geez... Quote
jazzbo Posted September 16, 2006 Report Posted September 16, 2006 I don't have that one either (not that big an MJQ fan). I'm not sure I would trust the eMusic download to be exactly the same as the RVG disc though. . . . Quote
vodka Posted September 16, 2006 Report Posted September 16, 2006 Personally, I don't even believe that any big-name company would trust an 80 yo man to do the remastering job. I suspect after the first RVGs they replaced him, and now he gets his share by selling his name. You really doubt that RVG is doing these remasters? I think that's rather silly. I have no doubt he's at the helm. Yep, I honestly doubt that (no offence to RVG fans), and I don't really care if it's him or not. What I care about is that those beautiful titles are still around, RVG or no RVG. However, my preference goes to K2 and XRCD remasters. Quote
DMP Posted September 17, 2006 Report Posted September 17, 2006 Someone posted part of an interview with Van Gelder somewhere on here recently, and he talked about an assistant he has and how she has a lot of responsibility in all this - I think that was the gist of what he said... Whatever, hearing deteriorates with age, even for us listeners, and all this debate about remastering, K2's, compression, stereo spread and that kind of stuff won't matter much when you get around the age I am - I probably won't be able to tell the difference between SACD's and "Collectables" in a couple of years. Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted September 17, 2006 Report Posted September 17, 2006 Someone posted part of an interview with Van Gelder somewhere on here recently, and he talked about an assistant he has and how she has a lot of responsibility in all this - I think that was the gist of what he said... Maureen Sickler (Don's wife) has been doing Rudy's "prep work" for a number of years. Quote
Peter A Posted September 18, 2006 Report Posted September 18, 2006 I don't have that one either (not that big an MJQ fan). I'm not sure I would trust the eMusic download to be exactly the same as the RVG disc though. . . . More complaints about the sound quality of the Prestige RVG's (from the Steve Hoffman forum): Is anyone else getting fed up with the sound problems on some of the Concord Prestige remasters? There are a few I've bought that have sound dropouts or distortion. Some are minor, and others are quite bad (Django by MJQ, for example). I don't think I can blame RVG for this. His Blue Note remasters have been outstanding (to my ears anyway). So, what's the deal? Are the master tapes damaged, or is it just a lack of Quality Control on Concord's part? And, more importantly, if they're aware of this issue, are they doing anything about it? __________________ Darren See this thread Quote
Parkertown Posted September 18, 2006 Report Posted September 18, 2006 I don't have that one either (not that big an MJQ fan). I'm not sure I would trust the eMusic download to be exactly the same as the RVG disc though. . . . I don't believe MP3 encoding would cause all these image shifts though, Lon... Quote
Kalo Posted September 18, 2006 Report Posted September 18, 2006 Guess I won't be "upgrading" anytime soon... Quote
jazzbo Posted September 18, 2006 Report Posted September 18, 2006 I don't have that one either (not that big an MJQ fan). I'm not sure I would trust the eMusic download to be exactly the same as the RVG disc though. . . . I don't believe MP3 encoding would cause all these image shifts though, Lon... I don't know what to believe about that, to be honest. Have to say that I really like the sound of those cds I've bought (Lockjaw, Etta, Monk, Hawk, Miles, KD). These dropout and image shift problems. . . probably master tape problems. . . . I guess the question is: do we want what there is on the master tape, seems to me that could be a goal of the series, to get what's on the master tape, and I'll personally accept what's on the master tape, I think, when encountered. No one is forcing us to buy these, and my plan I guess is to get those that I most want the upgrade to, next on my list is the Lateef. Quote
Parkertown Posted September 18, 2006 Report Posted September 18, 2006 (edited) Oh, you're right Lon. I definitely believe it to be a "tape problem." But I just wonder if better results could have been achieved with greater care taken... A telling comparison would be to have someone check out the 45rpm set by Analogue Productions, mastered by Steve Hoffman. I wonder if his set has these problems? Perhaps the tape needed baking? I don't know, but am curious. Edited September 18, 2006 by Parkertown Quote
Parkertown Posted September 18, 2006 Report Posted September 18, 2006 Perhaps I'll start a thread on the SH forum, and see if Steve will respond about the condition of this master tape... Quote
jazzbo Posted September 18, 2006 Report Posted September 18, 2006 (edited) Go ahead. I avoid that place like the plague. I'm not interested in 45rpm sets and minutiae of the process or pronouncements by the Hoffman demigod. Edited September 18, 2006 by jazzbo Quote
Parkertown Posted September 18, 2006 Report Posted September 18, 2006 That's fine, Lon. But it would be an opportunity to get an opinion of someone "who's actually heard/handled" the master. The rest of us don't have that luxury... Quote
jazzbo Posted September 18, 2006 Report Posted September 18, 2006 That's fine, Lon. But it would be an opportunity to get an opinion of someone "who's actually heard/handled" the master. The rest of us don't have that luxury... It just doesn't matter that much to me! I'm not consumed with audiophilic passion for this sort of thing. I personally would guess that Maureen and Rudy are handling these masters quite well, and wouldn't necessarily trust what Hoffman says otherwise. Quote
robert h. Posted September 18, 2006 Report Posted September 18, 2006 That's fine, Lon. But it would be an opportunity to get an opinion of someone "who's actually heard/handled" the master. The rest of us don't have that luxury... It just doesn't matter that much to me! I'm not consumed with audiophilic passion for this sort of thing. I personally would guess that Maureen and Rudy are handling these masters quite well, and wouldn't necessarily trust what Hoffman says otherwise. Couldn't agree with you more about the Hoffman site - a vanity board to promote a talented, but marginally productive engineer that purports to make him into something bigger than the music. Lots of just flat out wrong information and a very heavily thought controlled environment - I've never seen so many moderators at any site, anywhere. There's a cult like atmosphre with a very heavy emphasis on ensuring nothing makes the host look slightly bad or conflicts with the view he promotes, in his own interest. And it's VERY middle aged male oriented, lots of girlie pictures and juvenelia amongst the avatars, the range of musical taste is very narrow also - as is Hoffmans. Too bad sites like that gain such a following, it shows the need for certain people to find a place where there's a leader that makes them feel like they belong - the Monnie cult of audio, in my opinion. I know a few 'name' mastering engineers who simply cringe at the mention of Hoffman's name - a guy who spends more time promoting and glorifying himself than the music. Read the Hoffman board with a HUGE grain of salt, it is extremely heavily censored and only exists to promote Hoffman. Quote
CJ Shearn Posted September 18, 2006 Report Posted September 18, 2006 interesting Robert. I thought his DCC Gold work on Wes' "Full House" was good, nothing really to make it stand out but clear and good. I don't like the SH board either, it caters to the type of audiophile where their personal insecurities are thrust way out in the open in the form of my cock is bigger than yours like our own banned Greg Maltz. I can't stand that. Quote
Parkertown Posted September 19, 2006 Report Posted September 19, 2006 (edited) We've heard how you feel about that board before, Robert H. I'm not sure why you feel the need to sound that same alarm every time his name is mentioned... What did SH ever do to you? Knock you down and call you "faggot"? (heh...) Whatever...I know I'm not a sycophant. And this board is so much cooler, what with everybody so eager to talk shit about anyone that they deem not cool. What's the friggin' point? You have a real nice day...and feel free to put me on your Ignore List. Edited September 19, 2006 by Parkertown Quote
monkboughtlunch Posted September 19, 2006 Report Posted September 19, 2006 I picked up the new Workin RVG. I was disappointed. I've never heard the bass sound distorted before. It's like RVG accidentally added excessive compression (beyond his normal amount of post production compression) and red-lined the meters. Quote
Parkertown Posted September 19, 2006 Report Posted September 19, 2006 I'm posting this for those that won't let their vitriol get in the way of hearing the opinion of someone who has handled the master tape and gets paid to make it sound good; unlike anyone on this board... SH did reply to my thread asking about the condition of the MJQ "Django" master tape. His reply: We chose the left or right channel for mastering, sometimes we switched right in the middle of a song to avoid the pitfalls or switched several times during the song. It must have taken up two weeks to cut this short album. Kevin Gray was ready to friggin' kill me when it was over. Great music but a real pain in the butt to master correctly. Glad we did it though and very glad we made a safety copy tape! You won't hear a single dropout on the Analogue Productions 45 RPM version thanks to our little tricks... Remember, this is one of the earliest Prestige albums that was actually recorded on tape. Not even an Ampex... The thread can be found here: http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthre...845#post2013845 So now with that in mind, be sure and support Rudy's lame-ass handling of this new Prestige RVG version of "Django." I'm sure you'll be very happy with it... But if you'd like to hear it sound good, you do have an option... Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted September 19, 2006 Report Posted September 19, 2006 I'm posting this for those that won't let their vitriol get in the way of hearing the opinion of someone who has handled the master tape and gets paid to make it sound good; unlike anyone on this board... I beg your pardon....................... Why are they playing a mono tape on a stereo machine? Quote
monkboughtlunch Posted September 19, 2006 Report Posted September 19, 2006 (edited) hoffman probably runs mono on stereo machine to give a false sense of "space" and "air." is it possible that his stereo heads on mono tape playback technique actually reduces dropouts in the mono source tape? i suppose it's possible if different portions of tape had uneven wear, and Hoffman switched between the better of the two channels. Edited September 19, 2006 by monkboughtlunch Quote
Parkertown Posted September 19, 2006 Report Posted September 19, 2006 No offense meant toward you, Chuck. However, I thought you were a record producer, not a recording/mastering engineer. Now I'm not sure why I even bothered...because the point you make is a valid one, regarding a mono tape on a stereo deck. I'm not sure how to posit your question to SH...I sure as hell don't want to direct him to this thread... Quote
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