CD Rip Quality Variations

I can't really answer,  other than agree that some CD's in that era where pretty dire.  But you don't say & your post made me wonder what file format are you ripping to ??  FLAC, WAV ??  & have you tried ripping to another to hear if anything changes.  I don't expect it will but as you don't say in your post,  it just raises a thought.     

I rip to FLAC but have tried WAV also and no discernible difference 

What software package are you using to rip the Cds dbPoweramps?

What was the original Talk Talk CD you ripped? What Track?

If you believe the Hoffmen the original Bowie RCA Cds are better than any remastered versions and many people rave over the original Island label issues. 

AndyP19 posted:

What software package are you using to rip the Cds dbPoweramps?

What was the original Talk Talk CD you ripped? What Track?

If you believe the Hoffmen the original Bowie RCA Cds are better than any remastered versions and many people rave over the original Island label issues. 

 

I’m ripping directly on the Innuos Zen, have ripped to a USB drive on a laptop in the past using dB and it’s the same, Colour of Spring was the Talk Talk album in question but it’s just an example of many 

Mike-B posted:

OK,  just a thought.  

I don't know the Inios ripper,  I would be tempted to try ripping on your computer/laptop using a know ripping software like dBpoweramp,   I have a whole load of CD's from 80's & 90's & although they are not fantastic recordings, they are not that bad.

Yeh maybe I’m expecting too much but there seems to be a big contrast versus more current cds, as I said, ones that sound poor are equally poor on Tidal so I guess it’s just the way they are but I’m quite surprised. I suspect somehow if I listened to them on a good CD player into a good amp they’d be fine. My Spendor A7’s don’t take any prisoners so the old adage of sh**te in sh**te out comes to mind! 

As Mike suggests I would try dbpoweramps which will give you a confidence check in the rip status.

If it was an early Talk Talk album I was going to dig it out but I know Colour of Spring is a fine digital recording on CD and my rip sounds wonderful.

AndyP19 posted:

As Mike suggests I would try dbpoweramps which will give you a confidence check in the rip status.

If it was an early Talk Talk album I was going to dig it out but I know Colour of Spring is a fine digital recording on CD and my rip sounds wonderful.

Thanks Andy but no difference with dB 

FWIW - some of my older albums that I have ripped do not have the same impact as my memory of them from years ago. Definitely some of it is musical tastes have changed, others I do believe they sounded better on a lower quality hi-fi system and the current system is exposing the differences. I would even say that some of the older CD's sound better when played in my car on road trips then on the in-house system after being ripped.

seakayaker posted:

FWIW - some of my older albums that I have ripped do not have the same impact as my memory of them from years ago. Definitely some of it is musical tastes have changed, others I do believe they sounded better on a lower quality hi-fi system and the current system is exposing the differences. I would even say that some of the older CD's sound better when played in my car on road trips then on the in-house system after being ripped.

Thanks, yeh that pretty much concurs with what I’m experiencing, car included!

Is the Nova a good enough source with 3k speakers?

Absolutely! Don’t know about the Spendors, but I’ve heard it powering ProAc D30r (£5k) - effortless, detailed, balanced. 

Guinnless posted:

Is the Nova a good enough source with 3k speakers?

I haven't heard the Nova,  but if the Nova's baby brother the 40W Atom driving Focal Sopra-1's (£6000) in a large demo room was anything to go by,  the answer has to be yes.   

Guinnless posted:

Is the Nova a good enough source with 3k speakers?

A fair question and one I’ve considered since upgrading from the A4’s but having said that a lot of material sounds great so the Nova is well capable of delivering it’s just that it seems some source material is below par and the A7’s are showing it up for what it is, would it sound any better on a higher speced system or would it be exposed even further? Anyway, 3k speakers is not exactly ott. 

A lot of CDs from the 90s can sound just plain awful. It’s primiarly down to how they were mastered (and recorded to a lesser degree). 

So a badly mastered CD, ripped well, will still sound like a bad CD

Yep, totally agree with Adam, and excessive relatively primitive compression was a ‘feature’ used in many masters in the late 90s and 00s masters which resulted in bland sounding CDs, which thankfully due to better technology is not used to the same degree now .. and these tended to rob the track CD of vibrancy.. I believe it used to be called the so called ‘loudness wars’ based in getting a track noticed on FM radio, which used to be the main play  and marketing channels.

Thankfully these days of YouTube and MP3/AAC/Ogg streaming, such compression is usually not attractive and indeed to those of us with good replay systems it’s not attractive either... compression is usually, in my experience,  far more effectively applied now , with effective use of frequency based chaining etc where average power levels are still increased (so look the same to basic dynamic range tools) but the track usually  retains PRaT and vibrancy .. in fact these attributes can be enhanced through modern compression techniques used in mix mastering.

I'm only surmising here as I've occasionally had the same thoughts as you! Could it be that the quality of our equipment is such that it's now showing shortcomings in the recording process that lesser equipment hides. As an example 'Take a walk on the wild side honey' now very clearly shows the layering process of the recording, still love it though! Rich 

If you use EAC or dBpoweramp to do the rip, it checks the resulting track data against a database of values from other people who've ripped the same release of the CD, so it can confirm if the rip is accurate and without errors in the final data recoded in the file.

If the rip IS accurate (and most are) then anything you are now hearing is because of your very much improved replay equipment showing the defects in the recording and mastering processes, whereas your previous replay equipment simply wasn't revealing enough to show the defects in the recordings.  On the other hand get a well recoded piece and the new system will give you additional insights into the piece that the previous equipment would crush into oblivion.

Rich 1 posted:

I'm only surmising here as I've occasionally had the same thoughts as you! Could it be that the quality of our equipment is such that it's now showing shortcomings in the recording process that lesser equipment hides. As an example 'Take a walk on the wild side honey' now very clearly shows the layering process of the recording, still love it though! Rich 

Absolutely.. on a good replay system you can hear often how the track was mixed and engineered to get it to sound like it does.. and yes you can hear the odd clipping or error.. I personally love this with produced recordings, from the Beetles, Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin, Johnny Cash prison concert recordings, you name it  ... in a way these production techniques ars as part of the creative process as playing a musical instrument... (as Joe Meek and Les Paul discovered in the 60s with the start of the creative production process techniques)

But yes, lesser equipment tends to gloss over these subtleties to give an overall feel or impression, which I suspect is the main intent anyway, just like they would tend to gloss over the subtle  style of a drummer, or the technique of a bass guitar player..

Talk Talk, Colour of Spring is on HD Tracks 24/96. Download a copy and see if it is different. I’m listening as I type and the only comment I would make is it sounds a bit flat

I've always thought Colour of Spring to be a fine recording but unlike some recordings (Shelby Lynne - Just a little loving for example) it doesn't flatter a system and is very useful test album when dealing with system setup or room issues. Get this wrong and this album can sound a bit unforgiving, especially on tracks such as 'Life's what you make it'. In this respect it reminds me of Elbow's  Seldom Seen Kid - very percussive and dynamic but somewhat hard sounding if things aren't right. 

There are two versions of "Talk Talk - Colour of Spring" on Tidal.   The "MQA" version sounds flat, the other version says re-mastered in 1997 mastered and sounds fine to me, plenty of detail and dynamics.  The re-mastered Album ID is 1486039.

I agree Talk Talk’s Colour of Spring is rather flat recording lacking in vibrancy in the two different masters I have  .. and on the whole not appealing to listen to, very much a product of the late 80s pandering to the then fads... sounds ok in the car though with the levels  boosted... and I suspect that is how it was meant to be enjoyed.... or with bass boosted Walkmans...

I realise Simon that you don't have Tidal, and I don't have Qobuz but the OP has Tidal and if the album ID I mentioned still sounds flat then there may be other issues.

I have a CD version of the Colour of Spring.. and I had played a Tidal version .. not bothered since I had Qobuz.. but the CD and a Tidal version  sounded roughly similar from memory .. ie they both sounded rather flat.. perhaps I will listen on Qobuz.. off to village church for carol singing now.

Enjoy your evening Simon  ???? ????

I have a copy of, The Colour Of Spring and it used to sound very good on my old Marantz CD54 (1985), Marantz CD63mk2(1996) and  Teac T1 / Arcam Black Box 500 (1998) but didn’t play the album for a long time until I found it ripped it on my PC using dB Poweramp and it sounded awful so did a bit of ‘mixing’ using the dB pweramp Graphic Equaliser feature and after some time fiddling with the sliders the album does sound a better and I can listen to it now with no ear fatigue.

The earlier CD replay gear mentioned above especially the Teac/ Arcam produced a nice warm detailed sound but now playing the same ‘pimped’ up Mr Paws version album on my SuperUniti / Rega RS5’s there is a more ear friendly sound with emphasis on slightly warmer midrange  more low bass and I reduced the treble a bit too.  I know this is sacralidge but I’m happier with the results.

Yep I do remember the crappy 80’s mastering going on and some early ADD and DDD recordings sounding just dire..