Adele 25 in Hi-Res?

[Sonus]

The music is good except for the fact that it's had the volume raised to the point of distortion. There is no need for that. I see no reason that the maximum volume cannot be under the distortion level.

 

I agree, but that should not stop anybody from listening to it.

[Vocalpoint]

I agree, but that should not stop anybody from listening to it.

 

Cannot understand why anyone would want to actually spend any time on music that has been crushed - but that's your call.

 

VP

[PopPop]

I would never turn away a piece of pie because it needed more sugar.

[Vocalpoint]

I would never turn away a piece of pie because it needed more sugar.

 

You could have a slice of pie with Adele!

 

VP

[PopPop]

Nice! ?. I have just discovered her music. I like the vocals and she seems much more a real person than many pop icons.

[JSWolf]

Cannot understand why anyone would want to actually spend any time on music that has been crushed - but that's your call.

 

VP

 

It's a question of how the compressed sound sounds. Does it sound compressed? Can you tell where it should have more dynamics? Does the distortion put you off if you find the rest of it acceptable?

 

The problem is this is sometimes the only way to get the music you want to listen to. What a lot of people do these days is download some tracks from a CD to listen if they want to buy it given that quality is all over the place and most reviews don't do a proper job of reviewing the sound quality.

[Vocalpoint]

It's a question of how the compressed sound sounds. Does it sound compressed? Can you tell where it should have more dynamics? Does the distortion put you off if you find the rest of it acceptable?

 

Yes. Totally. Without question.

 

The problem is this is sometimes the only way to get the music you want to listen to. What a lot of people do these days is download some tracks from a CD to listen if they want to buy it given that quality is all over the place and most reviews don't do a proper job of reviewing the sound quality.

 

Well - speaking personally - there is no problem - since I will never have any desire to listen to it. But not because I do not like Adele. The DR analysis tells me all I need to know and I am not losing any sleep over that fact.

 

The bottom line is that since I get to choose what goes into the collection and by what measurement - so called "great music" will never outweigh poor mastering/presentation for me - the annoyance/fatigue factor is simply too bothersome to waste time on.

 

VP

[Axiom05]

That's a shame, the music should always come first.

 

Are you going to tell me that it sounds "good" are your system? I mean sitting down and seriously listening, not in the background. Unfortunately, sometimes you cannot separate the music from the SQ. Often allowances can be made but I have found that after a while the "music" is not really compelling enough to overcome the poor recording. This is what I have found with recordings such as "21" and Cat Power's "Sun." Both of these recordings are really very poor. You and others may feel differently, and that is fine, musical taste after all is very personal. However, I will not be buying "25."

[PopPop]

 

The bottom line is that since I get to choose what goes into the collection and by what measurement - so called "great music" will never outweigh poor mastering/presentation for me - the annoyance/fatigue factor is simply too bothersome to waste time on.

 

VP

 

I agree. It annoys me a bit when I am told that it it a false value to prefer truly great music over SQ and presentation. Maybe I'm just shallow but I have never found a deep appreciation for scratchy old mono recordings of jazz classics.

 

I have plenty of old vinyl but as my digital library grows (selectively) the dust continues to accumulate on the crates of vinyl.

[JSWolf]

Yes. Totally. Without question.

 

 

 

Well - speaking personally - there is no problem - since I will never have any desire to listen to it. But not because I do not like Adele. The DR analysis tells me all I need to know and I am not losing any sleep over that fact.

 

The bottom line is that since I get to choose what goes into the collection and by what measurement - so called "great music" will never outweigh poor mastering/presentation for me - the annoyance/fatigue factor is simply too bothersome to waste time on.

 

VP

 

Just remember, that dynamic range does not tell the entire story. That could be how it was played.

[JSWolf]

I agree. It annoys me a bit when I am told that it it a false value to prefer truly great music over SQ and presentation. Maybe I'm just shallow but I have never found a deep appreciation for scratchy old mono recordings of jazz classics.

 

I have plenty of old vinyl but as my digital library grows (selectively) the dust continues to accumulate on the crates of vinyl.

 

I've heard some great music that's not wonderfully recorded because back then recordings were not able to be better. I would take some of those recordings over some of the stuff we have today.

[PopPop]

Fair enough, perhaps I am a bit envious of someone who can make that distinction better than I.

 

I guess what I am trying to say is that it takes time for those performances to become "legendary". In the mean time I will be selectively collecting recordings that are best suited to my aesthetic sense and the technical capability of my system. There is a lot of really good music being recorded that suits both needs.

[Vocalpoint]

Just remember, that dynamic range does not tell the entire story. That could be how it was played.

 

As a voice talent and audio/sound pro myself - I can tell you with probably a 100% certainty that this record was not recorded with DR4's and 5's as the "final" mix.

 

That destruction of dynamic range came at the mastering stage where the idiots (at Sterling Sound no less!) took what was most likely a great sounding album (with tasty dynamics) and ruined it by applying range limiting to simply drive the volume up and distort the crap out of every song to make it "competitive".

 

Competitive with exactly "what" is a total mystery as Adele has no competition in this space. She could have recited Mary Had A Little Lamb with a DR of 12 and it would sell.

 

Too many potentially excellent records are falling prey to this clear (and ignorant) lack of knowledge or care. I may be one guy - but I won't be supporting it in any way.

 

VP

[wwaldmanfan]

As a voice talent and audio/sound pro myself - I can tell you with probably a 100% certainty that this record was not recorded with DR4's and 5's as the "final" mix.

 

That destruction of dynamic range came at the mastering stage where the idiots (at Sterling Sound no less!) took what was most likely a great sounding album (with tasty dynamics) and ruined it by applying range limiting to simply drive the volume up and distort the crap out of every song to make it "competitive".

 

Competitive with exactly "what" is a total mystery as Adele has no competition in this space. She could have recited Mary Had A Little Lamb with a DR of 12 and it would sell.

 

Too many potentially excellent records are falling prey to this clear (and ignorant) lack of knowledge or care. I may be one guy - but I won't be supporting it in any way.

 

VP

 

You are not alone. I once paid $50 for a used CD of Brian Setzer's "The Knife Feels Like Justice" on Discogs.com because it was an original 1980's CD pressing without DR compression, and the only copy that I could locate in the entire USA. All the subsequent reissues were compressed and brickwalled. On that particular record, he plays a Rickenbacker guitar which sounds unbelievably grating to the ears when the volume level is boosted to clipping levels.

[Sonus]

Are you going to tell me that it sounds "good" are your system? I mean sitting down and seriously listening, not in the background. Unfortunately, sometimes you cannot separate the music from the SQ. Often allowances can be made but I have found that after a while the "music" is not really compelling enough to overcome the poor recording. This is what I have found with recordings such as "21" and Cat Power's "Sun." Both of these recordings are really very poor. You and others may feel differently, and that is fine, musical taste after all is very personal. However, I will not be buying "25."

 

For me it has always been and will be about the music, if the music is good i will listen to it even on an AM radio and still would be able to enjoy it.

I prefer HQ music, but i will never not listen to a piece of music just because some sound engineer has no idea what he is doing.

 

As i see it my 2ch audio system is there for the music not the other way around.

[EuroChamp]

You are not alone. I once paid $50 for a used CD of Brian Setzer's "The Knife Feels Like Justice" on Discogs.com because it was an original 1980's CD pressing without DR compression, and the only copy that I could locate in the entire USA. All the subsequent reissues were compressed and brickwalled. On that particular record, he plays a Rickenbacker guitar which sounds unbelievably grating to the ears when the volume level is boosted to clipping levels.

 

You are not alone There is some very good music out there, which is definitely not listenable, because of the very bad SQ. At very low volumes, it is possible to listen to it, but please "never" crank up the volume. I for myself get a terrible headache after some minutes. An other example are some albums of Alanis Morissette (and others).

Or the newest: If I Can Dream (Elvis Presley with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) [24/96]. With a DR5 it was wasted money. Solutions: Because I really like Elvis, I listen to other albums (with very good masterings).

 

I try to understand, why the sound engineers like / prefer / choose this kind of mastering? I am sorry, I find no answer.

 

I wish the download sites could resell vinyl rip with good dynamic range. Without a turntable I'm out of luck :~(

 

Why not buy the LP and ask a friend to rip it?

[CatManDo]

For me, the sound quality determines how I listen to the music.

 

I have some bootlegs and radio concerts and also some very compressed productions in my collection. I don't sit down in front of the speakers to listen to those, but I put them on my smartphone to listen on my way to work. The hifi system is just too revealing for poorly sounding recordings.

[wisnon]

You are not alone There is some very good music out there, which is definitely not listenable, because of the very bad SQ. At very low volumes, it is possible to listen to it, but please "never" crank up the volume. I for myself get a terrible headache after some minutes. An other example are some albums of Alanis Morissette (and others).

Or the newest: If I Can Dream (Elvis Presley with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) [24/96]. With a DR5 it was wasted money. Solutions: Because I really like Elvis, I listen to other albums (with very good masterings).

 

I try to understand, why the sound engineers like / prefer / choose this kind of mastering? I am sorry, I find no answer.

 

 

 

Why not buy the LP and ask a friend to rip it?

 

Vinyl opinion from another forum:

 

Just played the vinyl and expected at least some semblance of a decent recording. Unfortunately it's abysmal. God only knows how bad the CD is by comparison.

Never liked the vinyl of 19or 21, the live at RAH was not much better.

I had the pleasure of seeing Adele at the Union Chapel with Damien Rice as support in the early days and as a Dalston/Hackney boy love Adele.

However her voice is now much higher in pitch and relentless. She used to have depth, now just wails.

 

By comparison, listening to Justin Bieber in 44/24 and the production is tight, clear and modern with great expansive soundstage. Just shows what a producer can bring to the party. It really is a great modern pop record.

 

So disappointed in 25.

[ianshepherd]

Hi All,

 

Great to see this topic being discussed !

 

I've had a quick listen to the CD versus the vinyl and can confirm that there are (some) more genuine dynamics on the vinyl - it's not just the numbers.

 

I'd like to do a YouTube video about it, but the vinyl transfer I have is very poor. Does anyone here have a clean transfer of "Hello" they could share with me, please ?

 

Thanks for reading !

 

Ian

 

 

PS. You do need to be careful making judgements based on DR values - DR6 really can "expand" to DR11-12 if you run the audio through an all-pass filter, causing phase rotation. To confirm the dynamics you need to listen and maybe measure with a loudness meter. In this case though, the vinyl really is more dynamic.

[EuroChamp]

Vinyl opinion from another forum:

 

Just played the vinyl and expected at least some semblance of a decent recording. Unfortunately it's abysmal. God only knows how bad the CD is by comparison.

Never liked the vinyl of 19or 21, the live at RAH was not much better.

...

 

Dear Wisnon,

 

I agree again. Even the vinyl version is far away from great SQ. But it is definitely possible to listen to it with some satisfaction!

 

Adele is not the genre of music I like and I am not a fan of her, but my girlfriend is. And I wanted to make her a present (and in fact - my ears too) I really hoped, they would sell a good 24-bit on qobuz.

 

Bernhard

[JSWolf]

Dear Wisnon,

 

I agree again. Even the vinyl version is far away from great SQ. But it is definitely possible to listen to it with some satisfaction!

 

Adele is not the genre of music I like and I am not a fan of her, but my girlfriend is. And I wanted to make her a present (and in fact - my ears too) I really hoped, they would sell a good 24-bit on qobuz.

 

Bernhard

 

My guess is that if a 24-bit version was sold, it would be from the compressed over-volumed source as the CD.

[maelob]

I totally dont care about DR whatever - i just listen to it and if if sounds good to me the. it sound good to me. i swear i listened to Hello on Tidal and sounded good.

[tonyking]

The single Hello had a DR9 and on the album is DR5 so confirming they have crushed the album presumably to 'enhance' iTunes purchases. A wasted opportunity to promote hi-res audio by a major act.

[Vocalpoint]

I totally dont care about DR whatever - i just listen to it and if if sounds good to me the. it sound good to me. i swear i listened to Hello on Tidal and sounded good.

 

Each to their own. That's the beauty of music.

 

For me - DR is the primary measurement before any album gets any further with me. I constantly stand back in amazement when I really think about how these little numbers have literally saved me thousands over the years.

 

And it never lets me down either - as I haven't heard any song with a DR higher than say 8 (DR 7-6-5-4 etc) that ever sounded "right". Regardless of style, artist or actual release.

 

For the life of me - I still do not understand the need for the excessive volume. We all have volume controls if the source is too quiet.

 

VP

[CatManDo]

DR measurement is just a tool to detect problematic masterings with excessive dynamic compression. If the loudness war didn't exist, nobody would care about DR.

 

You can also not care about about bathroom scales, but that won't make your excessive weight go away.