BassDress Blog

David Bowie "Soul Love" Masters

Posted by Tony on 10/23/2014

The 40th anniversary edition of “The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars” was released this year, and I thought it would be interesting to take a listen to the mastering. What I decided was to look at the original pressing, the SACD, and the newly released 40th anniversary version.

David Bowie “The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars” 40th Anniversary Edition

I thought “Soul Love” would be the most interesting to compare as it has really good dynamics, and I love those big thick claps at the beginning.

First up is the original LP

The sound has a lovely roundness to it, great stereo separation and a very good dynamic range. When I say that I don’t just mean that the transients pop, I mean true contrast between the quiet and loud sections. It’s a little noised after 40 years of play, but it’s holding up well. The vocal in this sounds especially natural.

Next is the SACD:

The SACD isn’t bad, in fact I’m pretty sure it’s from the exact same master as the original LP. However, there’s muddiness to the sound now, like too much noise removal has taken away some of the air and energy of the recording. Or maybe the master tapes faded a little over time. Either way something is lost. Dynamically it’s really good.

And finally the 40th Anniversary Edition disaster

It’s crap. The dynamics are gone, the voice is not thin and brittle, and the claps really hurt my ears. Why the fuck would you master classic old rock tunes like this? Who listened to Soul Love and though “this needs multiband compression limiting and digital EQ”? What a fucking waste of time. Save your money, buy either the old LP if you’ve got the facilities, or look for the RCA release on CD [RCA PCD1-4702].

Another waste.

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Schiit Lyr Review

Posted by Tony on 10/22/2014

I don’t often review hardware, mainly because I don’t have a great deal of disposable income so I’m cautious in what I buy. This means I end up purchasing things that are either very well establish (and have a million reviews already), or are complete obscure (AKA, I’ve cheaped out and gone for the Chinese knock-off).

Sadly, about a year ago I changed a lot of things in the studio, primarily changing my main audio interface. I moved from an EMU 1820m (genuinely great unit, highly recommended) to a pair of MOTU 24I/O, driven from a PCI-424 card. This meant that I know had to find an external headphone amp to drive my well-worn Sennheiser HD 600 cans.

After lots of boring as fuck reading about headphone amps, I decided that the Lyr is probably the way to go. Nice build quality, lots of good reviews and seemingly lots of happy users. I also liked the idea of disconnecting it from my DAW, and running it directly from the output of my turntable (mmm… analogue signal flow, glowing tubes, lightened wallet).

The unit seems to match up quite well with the impedance of the 600s, and offers plenty of amplification headroom – useful for recording weird and quite stuff.

Sadly, the first unit I received was DOA. After weeks of dealing with the Schiit staff (apparently the UK isn’t serviced directly by them – thanks for telling me that when I purchased it), I finally received a replacement unit.

Problem is, it’s not that great. It’s very noisy (I know it’s tubes but it doesn’t seem to ground signals very well, so get used to that 50/60Hz hum), it get dangerously warm after only ten minutes use (it’s already damaged my table), and it ‘pops’ my earphones every time I turn it on or off. What the fuck?

I’ve owned the unit for a year and a half, and though out that time I have spoken to the ‘impossible to get a hold of’ staff at Schiit about 10 times. The last communication I have from them is the suggestion that the Lyr 2 is much improved, and maybe that’s where I should look for my next purchase.

How about FUCK NO.

Schiit Lyr Review

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Vladislav Delay "Visa"

Posted by Tony on 10/22/2014

A few weeks ago Vladislav Delay showed off a preview of his new album “Visa” on SoundCloud. In light of his recent releases on the Ripatti label, it doesn’t sound that groundbreaking but appears more of a revisionist approach to an older ideal. It is certainly a well honed skill though.

What I’m hoping for is an announcement that Uusitalo/Luomo will make a comeback using this as some sort of self referential feedback loop – just like the old days. We’ll see, I guess.

The good news is that it’s coming out on 12″, the full album to be genuinely pressed since “Anima” a mere thirteen years ago. It will be interesting to see if the mastering approach is different, I’m assuming it will be.

Vladislav Delay “Visa”

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Money > Sense > Time

Posted by Tony on 10/20/2014

Yes, I’m still alive and yes, I have pre-ordered the new Ripatti07 and the limited yellow Visa – although who knows when they’ll actually be released. 07 (or Ricky’s as it’s called) is pretty interesting, doesn’t seem to sound like much else. It reminds me a little bit of the Round One To Five records, but I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that or not.

Serviced a lot of gear, moved everything to Logic X (still learning), and I’m still looking for a good MIDI interface (although the MOTU Microlite will probably be what I end up with). Logic X is fucking solid, and the MPC 4000 is working a treat – in fact all my gear is currently working a treat.

Now I just need to find some time. Oh, and workout the pinout to an old Amphenol connector of an old spring reverb unit. Lucky for me I’m spending next week in Taiwan, then India, then Thailand, then Scotland, then Italy leaving all my gear to rot :-[

Money > Sense > Time.

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Fuck You!

Posted by Tony on 07/04/2014

Fuck you, shitty midi adaptor. You’ve never worked properly, and now I’ve accidently stepped on you and hurt my foot. We’re done.

Prick.

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Mokum Records

Posted by Tony on 07/03/2014

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The Internet

Posted by Tony on 07/02/2014

The internet changed a lot of things. Its impact cannot be overstated. And even now it’s continuing to develop and improve.

The internet has changed how we consume media, how we report events, how we hold politicians accountable. It’s the first thing we look at when we research, when we need basic guidance or technical information.

But most of all it has enabled me to buy records, in my underwear, drunk on a Wednesday night.

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Nas "Untitled"

Posted by Tony on 02/24/2014

There are two good Nas records, “Untitled” and “Illmatic”. That’s it. From his extensive catalogue he’s managed two good records. To be fair, they’re both masterpieces of hiphop and either would satisfy the creative expectations of any MC.

Illmatic is flawless and timeless, it’s the “Kind Of Blue” of hiphop. Ten tracks and an instantly recognisable babyfaced cover. “Untitled” is a little more pragmatic, to say the least. I wasn’t a fan at first. Releasing a record dealing with racism/slavery the impending election of the first black president is not a situation we’ll ever see again. Compounding the righteous intentions was the leaked artwork (Nas showing his whipped scarred back) and fact that the proposed title of “Nigger” had been given the spanish archer (El-bow) from Wal-Mart, and would now be referred to as “Unititled”. I mean, what kind of artist caves in to Wal-Mart? Fuck.

Anyway, the record came out and it was great – brilliant in fact. It’s one of the few pieces of modern hiphop to 1) Say something interesting (the writing in “Queens Get The Money” is outstanding, without doubt the greatest few verses in hiphop) and 2) not sound like utter dog shit. And that, is what this is all about really. The production, the mixing are all top-notch. It’s an excellent sounding record considering within what genre it lay.

Here’s the thing though, until now I’d only ever listened to the CD. The vinyl is mastered completely differently, and sounds so nice that it’s difficult to listen to the digital versions again. Just listen to the difference in Nas’ voice on track 10. “Untitled”.

Nas – “Untitled” Vinyl Master

Nas – “Untitled” CD Master

This CD/Vinyl master comparison thing will be something I do until I get bored or forget it was ever a “feature”.

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Octal Industries "Himinglæva"

Posted by Tony on 12/27/2013

I’ve been looking to purchase a record called “DeepChord vs. Octal Industries ‎– Arrival / Departure” for a while now. It’s quite a rare disc, limited to 100 or 200 copies I think. I fancy the translucent orange pressing, but they’re a bit thin on the ground at the moment (anyone selling?).

After the release of that particular record, DeepChord branched out and became the defacto dub-techno 2.0 act of 2011, with releases on major labels and the occasional interesting track (check out DeepChord HR-01!). Octal Industries on the other hand, seemingly disappeared into nothingness. – remembered only by sad techno heads with the 192kbps scene ripped MP3 (i.e. me).

As it turns out Octal Industries didn’t disappear as much as he pulled out of the scene to work on an album and a new disc. When I found this out I was optimistic, I snapped up the disc without as much as a listen to the previews. Therein lies my mistake.

Octal Industries “Himinglæva” isn’t a bad record, it’s just utterly unremarkable. Boring, even. Mr. Industries has forgotten that we loved the popping little beat that underpinned his most recognisable release, and instead has focused on dropping us into a reverb chamber of vst synthesis and unrealised ideas.

Monotonous and dull sounding, totally forgettable. Still, the packaging is very nicely done.

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Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo "DJ Fuck"

Posted by Tony on 12/15/2013

When I get bored, I tend to buy useless stuff. Morbid curiosity puts a constant strain on my pocket, and it’s most obvious when I’m shopping on the amazing Discogs.com. You see, it’s expensive to get records mailed to my house – a record I want may only be £0.99, but I’ll end up paying £4 in postage for it. Luckily, a lot of people on Discogs.com have weight ranges for their postage prices, which means I can usually get 3 – 4 records sent right to my door without increasing to price of postage. Not a bad deal.

This, however leads to me putting my chosen record in my basket, and painstakingly searching through the rest of the seller’s inventory to see if I recognize anything else. Usually I don’t. Usually I pick the stuff with the stupidest cover or title I can find. Cue Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo “DJ Fuck”.

It sat there on the screen, staring back at me. Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo proudly on the cover, arms around each other in a ‘lads on the town’ kinda way. I recognise neither Charly nor Theo. Fuck it, ‘add to basket’.

The week passes and I forget what I’ve order along side my copy of requested record.

Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo “DJ Fuck”

Sometimes we gamble and lose. A roll of the dice is often a desperate move, but sometimes you hit the fucking jackpot! Not only is this record so crazy it strides past avant garde and walks right into insanity, but I bloody recognise the track titled “Ultimate Sextrack”.

Believe it or not, in 1994 or 1995 “Ultimate Sextrack” was the track to have. Its council scheme hardcore at its best. I used to jam to this – at school discos. Let that sink in for a minute. I remember this FROM SCHOOL DISCOS.

I grew up in a wonderful time.

This is a real record. Its hard to believe, but it’s not a parody of bad music, nor is it a hipster produced ironicly inclined production. Seriously, we thought this was cool. Part of my still does.

Track 2 has yodeling 🙁

Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo – DJ Fuck