Back catologue in 5.1 / DTS

[King of Snake]

Originally Posted by Jan

So to match STITI's volume to that of OWB or AHDO, I applied a 6 dB boost with a limiter. For fair comparison, I applied ReplayGain correction to all files after that.
Some pictures:
Confusion the Waitress (original)
The left channel appears to be clipped a bit. To explain, this is just a result from a 0.82 dB boost applied by ReplayGain to allow fair comparison. There has been a limiter applied so the sound difference to the STITI version is neglegible.
Rowla (original)
Here you can clearly see the kickdrums (zoom). Most of the dynamic range available is just used for the kickdrum.

If STITI had been mastered today it would probably look like this. Again the shots have been taken after PG correction:
Confusion the Waitress (compressed)
Rowla (compressed)
You can see how the kickdrums are "cut off" at around -6dB.

not sure what's going on with your files but your originals seem to have a strange DC offset. Notice how the waveforms aren't centered anymore so that would definitely not lead to any kind of decent result when you start limiting.
I'm sure they could make STITI be louder without it starting to sound like crap. With good professional equipment and a good mastering engineer you can make something reasonably loud without completely destroying it. Just compare STITI Pearl's Girl to the version on 1992-2002. The latter is definitely louder but it still sounds good to me.

In any case I think the way they mastered OWB is definitely a sign that UW care about dynamics and sound quality over loudness.

[Jan]

I used this copy of STITI for the comparisons:
http://www.discogs.com/release/12154

This is not DC offset, the drum machine simply exhibits that behaviour. I'm quite sure that a TB909 for example has this. Do you know with what kind of filter one can bring those "spikes" back in line with the rest of the waveform?
It may be that other versions have been mastered slightly differently... I'll check this with my UK copy...

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

dubno in need of serious repair? Really? Honestly I've never had much of a problem with it, except in order to play "River of Bass" loud, you need a really good system or it sounds like garbage. But it's fine either way. I too noticed that STITI was a good deal 'quieter' than my other CDs. Honestly I prefer it that way. I really don't think there's any problem with UW's releases sound-wise. They are some of the best sounding CDs I own.

[King of Snake]

Originally Posted by Jan

I used this copy of STITI for the comparisons:
http://www.discogs.com/release/12154

This is not DC offset, the drum machine simply exhibits that behaviour. I'm quite sure that a TB909 for example has this. Do you know with what kind of filter one can bring those "spikes" back in line with the rest of the waveform?
It may be that other versions have been mastered slightly differently... I'll check this with my UK copy...

well if you look at the pic I posted earlier you can see that Confusion the Waitress does not show that offset there. And while I'm not a technician, it certainly looks like a dc offset to me. Even if "the drum machine simly exhibits that" (which I doubt) it's still a dc offset. It's more likely that whatever processing you did introduced the offset. A good wave editor (I use Steinberg Wavelab) should have a "remove DC offset" option.
Also there's no such thing as a TB909 (it's either a TB303 or a TR909 with B standing for Bassline and R for Rhythm)

[Jan]

I don't know what drum machines UW use exactly, but I do know for sure that their drum machine shows that behavior. Here is a closeup on a kick of Crocodile. You can see how the waveform suddenly drops down and up again. Both Rowla and Confusion have very prominent kicks, thats why I used them in the comparison. And it's surely no DC offset because the waveform is perfectly centered. The pic of the waveform is a bit misleading. Here is a better one.

May I ask what CD your waveform is from?
I've just checked, and all my copies of STITI have that.

[Jan]

Also, I'm no expert at mastering. So if anybody thinks he can boost Rowla by 6dB fairly transparently, please try.
I don't think it can be done.

[negative1]

Originally Posted by galama

I honestly doubt that UW would willingly treat us to such horror.
I think OWB has received the best treatment in the studio. BF is OK but Dubno deserves some serious repairing.

actually there are differences (slight) between the vinyl version
of 'oblivion with bells' and the cd also.....so don't go by that either..
i haven't checked with the other cds vs vinyl....but so many tracks
from each one have been rereleased in different countries/singles
etc...so its hard to tell which is better...

http://www.darktrain.org/dirty/forum...on+bells+vinyl

later
-1

[negative1]

Originally Posted by King of Snake

BF was a lot more "in your face" and quite loud. For OWB on the other hand they seem to have really tried to keep the dynamics and even on the dance tracks there's none of the usual "square block of sound" if you look at the waveforms (see Crocodile top right)

actually, it is just as bad for 'oblivion with bells' tracks on cd,
(but not on vinyl).......check out what happened to
'beautiful burnout'...

http://img34.picoodle.com/img/img34/...sm_caa593f.jpg

also, see my previous link, for more information on it..

later
-1

[joethelion]

just to put my two cents in...

it is a bit frustrating to try and throw in an older UW track into a mix set (especially from Dubno... and well - I've only ever tried using "Rowla" off of STITI) only to find how incredibly quiet the tracks are, and even when you up the gain (a lot) there's still not that much 'power' in the tracks, compared to more recent works

you really don't notice it when you're just listening to Dubno, or hell - even other electronic albums from that time period, but when you compare the 'classics' to more contemporary stuff... it's a bit of a difference

[lowbit]

I'd setting for the Riverrun suite being released in something a little higher quality than MP3, like FLAC or (dare I say it) actual, physical CD media. I mean, MP3 at the higher bit rates is decent for a lossy format and all, but this is Underworld we're talking about here, not the Boredoms. Fidelity matters.