AC/DC Hi-Res Is Finally Here.

[sphinxsix]

 

It's been a long wait for the fans but finally the entire AC/DC discography has appeared in 24bit version (among others on Qobuz).
Someone heard these remasters?
What do you think?

 

 

[JediJoker]

Samples make me think these are just the CD remasters at higher resolution... Meh.

[One and a half]

Like the Led Zeppelin's remaster to hires,  no thought just wind up the compressor make it louder. Total waste, egg on face that still sticks.

 

I'm only going to download one new album and analyse, next couple of days , not holding out too much hope of something magical.

[christopher3393]

regarding Back In Black:

 

"[Mutt] Lange's production for the album had an enduring impact in the music industry; "to this day, producers still use it as the de facto paint-by-numbers guidebook for how a hard-rock record should sound", Harrington wrote. In the years after its release, studios in Nashville would use it to check the acoustics of a room, while Motörhead would use it to tune their sound system."

 

--- Wikipedia, World's Foremost Authority on SQ

 

Back In Black is "the apex of heavy-metal art", comparable to Led Zepellin's best according to some guy from Rolling Stone quoted by some guy on Wikipedia.

 

My early listening to Back in Black was mostly singles released on radio and in juke-boxes in bars and pool halls. It sounded great to me. Go figure.

[AudioDoctor]

Great, now I can get speeding tickets in Hi-Res!

[sphinxsix]

2 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

Great, now I can get speeding tickets in Hi-Res!

I guess you don't have Pantera in hi-res, those guys always used to turn me into Colin McRae   But seriously I quit playing heavy and fast stuff like this at some moment in the past as I was speeding not being aware of it. I used to be a fast and safe driver, now I'm only safe  they say tickets in NL are the most expensive in Europe..

 

5 hours ago, JediJoker said:

Samples make me think these are just the CD remasters at higher resolution... Meh.

For me the format makes a difference. Some would add - even with music like that. Of course it would be better if they remastered the material in a masterful way.

 

3 hours ago, christopher3393 said:

Go figure.

Yeah, I'll probably check out 'Highway to Hell' and 'Back in Black'. Thanks for this interesting quote. I actually have never used the later one as a test recording, in my case this was the other 'Black' album - by Metallica. 

 

[AudioDoctor]

The Hi-Res does sound a bit more Hi-Res to me.

 

 

[AudioDoctor]

keeping the party going...

 

 

[Matias]

Goodbye dynamics as usual... Why can't they keep the same dynamic range??

[sphinxsix]

38 minutes ago, Matias said:

Goodbye dynamics as usual... Why can't they keep the same dynamic range??

Don't you know we have a war.? 

 

1 hour ago, AudioDoctor said:

keeping the party going...

We actually used to dance to this one while in high school..

 

BTW Writing about AC/DC while exploring pre-Bach German Baroque is for me a new experience 

Going back to Schütz .. no party today.

 

[AudioDoctor]

2 hours ago, Matias said:

Goodbye dynamics as usual... Why can't they keep the same dynamic range??

 

You have measurements or is this an assumption?

[Matias]

2 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

 

You have measurements or is this an assumption?

Most compressed until now.

http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list?artist=&album=Back+in+black

 

foobar2000 1.5.4 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2020-07-18 23:33:09

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: AC/DC / Back In Black (Remastered)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR         Peak         RMS     Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR7       -0.50 dB    -8.92 dB      5:13 01-Hells Bells
DR7       -0.50 dB    -8.93 dB      5:18 02-Shoot to Thrill
DR7       -0.50 dB    -8.88 dB      3:36 03-What Do You Do for Money Honey
DR7       -0.50 dB    -8.49 dB      3:32 04-Givin the Dog a Bone
DR7       -0.50 dB    -8.80 dB      4:16 05-Let Me Put My Love Into You
DR8       -0.50 dB    -9.90 dB      4:16 06-Back In Black
DR8       -0.50 dB    -9.72 dB      3:30 07-You Shook Me All Night Long
DR7       -0.50 dB    -8.91 dB      3:59 08-Have a Drink on Me
DR7       -0.50 dB    -8.77 dB      4:06 09-Shake a Leg
DR8       -0.50 dB    -9.94 dB      4:16 10-Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks:  10
Official DR value: DR7

Samplerate:        96000 Hz
Channels:          2
Bits per sample:   24
Bitrate:           3223 kbps
Codec:             FLAC
================================================================================

[sphinxsix]

 

9 hours ago, Matias said:

Most compressed until now.

 

I believe there were quite many CD versions with similar numbers (and also the early versions with DR 12, I haven't heard them for a very long time but back then I actually didn't like back then the way they sounded).

 

What about other aspects of sound? 

Anyone.?

 

[One and a half]

'Baby Please don't Go' CD from 1987 first released 1974, has DR5. The new remaster DR4, according to Roon.

The remaster sounds muddled / confused, the opening guitar riff and drums distinguish the difference.

Won't be bothering for the rest of the 2020 remasters, majority of CDs are SHM-CD, kept all of the Bon Scott era, and a couple only thereafter.

 

[Matias]

12 hours ago, sphinxsix said:

 

 

I believe there were quite many CD versions with similar numbers (and also the early versions with DR 12, I haven't heard them for a very long time but back then I actually didn't like back then the way they sounded).

 

What about other aspects of sound? 

Anyone.?

 

It does sound better. Better textures, cleaner voice, splashes and hihats. It is technically a better recording, well mixed. A pity they could not keep these with the original compression...

 

PS: same goes with the Onkyo Iron Maiden remasters, but there the compression was stronger.

[auricgoldfinger]

2 hours ago, Matias said:

It does sound better. Better textures, cleaner voice, splashes and hihats. It is technically a better recording, well mixed. A pity they could not keep these with the original compression...

 

+1

[sphinxsix]

On 7/20/2020 at 2:45 AM, Matias said:

It does sound better. Better textures, cleaner voice, splashes and hihats. It is technically a better recording, well mixed. A pity they could not keep these with the original compression...

 

PS: same goes with the Onkyo Iron Maiden remasters, but there the compression was stronger.

 

On 7/20/2020 at 4:49 AM, auricgoldfinger said:

 

+1

 

Same here. I actually asked an old friend of mine for a lossless Barry Diament's rip (I have a later digipack version and BD's remasters are generally regarded as gold standard versions on Steve Hoffman forum) and did a quick late night comparison with the new hi-res version of 'Back in Black' using only my headphones, which I must say are not as revealing as my main speakers. The 24bit material sounds much more open in the midrange, the highs are also more open and more extended and there is more 'air' in the recording.

Sorry guys but for me the DR tells only in 30% what a given album sounds like. BTW out of curiosity I have compared DR R-128 factor (Dynamic Range - JRiverWiki ) of two tracks from the album and in both cases the hi-res versions actually proved to be better  

 

@Matias As for the Iron Maiden Onkyo remasters - IMO the compression in their case has simply crushed the music. 

 

[auricgoldfinger]

1 hour ago, sphinxsix said:

Sorry guys but for me the DR tells only in 30% what a given album sounds like. BTW out of curiosity I have compared DR R-128 factor (Dynamic Range - JRiverWiki ) of two tracks from the album and in both cases the hi-res versions actually proved to be better  

 

I have never understood the obsession with DR.  It is simply one of multiple factors that determine the overall sound quality of a recording and useless as a stand-alone metric.

[#Yoda#]

Statement from Highresaudio.com on Facebook about the AC/DC remasters:

 

"AC/DC Remasters: as predicted and unfortunately the following albums are up-sampled: "Blow Up Your Video", "The Razors Edge", "Ballbreaker", "Stiff Upper Lip", "Live at River Plate" and "LIVE" (Collector's Edition). Please note, that will offer the albums in its native sampling rate of 48 kHz, 24-bit. The provided 96 kHz version was up-sampled and offers no audible value!

We will not offer the album "Backtracks". There are to many tracks that look very suspicious. No further comments. 

That is truly a very disappointing result - considering that this is the biggest rock band in the world - and still playing. Celebrating 50 years of AC/DC should deserve much more respect for fans and music-lovers around the world."

 

Even if I don't think that AC/DC is "the biggest rock band in the world", I can only agree with the rest of the comment.

 

By the way, why did the "large" quality management team at Qobuz.com not notice this? Unfortunately not an isolated incident!

[sphinxsix]

59 minutes ago, #Yoda# said:

Celebrating 50 years of AC/DC should deserve much more respect for fans and music-lovers around the world."

 

Even if I don't think that AC/DC is "the biggest rock band in the world", I can only agree with the rest of the comment.

+1 

BTW I didn't buy and didn't plan to, none of the mentioned albums.

 

59 minutes ago, #Yoda# said:

By the way, why did the "large" quality management team at Qobuz.com not notice this? Unfortunately not an isolated incident!

+1

 

59 minutes ago, #Yoda# said:

Please note, that will offer the albums in its native sampling rate of 48 kHz, 24-bit. The provided 96 kHz version was up-sampled and offers no audible value!

Not very clever of them - they should leave the 96kHz versions and raise their prices, due to the upsampling cost.. 

 

[JediJoker]

On 7/21/2020 at 6:49 AM, auricgoldfinger said:

I have never understood the obsession with DR.  It is simply one of multiple factors that determine the overall sound quality of a recording and useless as a stand-alone metric.

 

It isn't useless. It also isn't the be-all, end-all.