Hey everyone! First off I'd like to thank everyone for the kind words and support - I'm so glad people have been enjoying these ghetto-fabulous remasters. I know I do! It's a lot of work but I enjoy it and figure I should do it while I have the free time....which won't be forever, but let's keep this thing going for a bit, shall we?
I feel a little status report is on order, so I'll rattle off a few thoughts. First, thanks for utilizing the request page. While I do sometimes randomly flip through the AUDs in my collection and choose one myself, it's nice working on shows you request because it lets me get to know shows that I either haven't heard before or haven't heard in years. In terms of how I go about choosing which requests to fill, it goes like this:
I put every request into a spreadsheet and organize them chronologically. If a show is requested more than once, I note that (but please don't request the same show multiple times! No worries if you've already done that but going forward it would be better not to. I want to have an accurate idea of whether several different people want a certain show done). Then I think of a year to select, since I like to mix it up and not do too many consecutive shows from the same year (although I will say, this blog will be pretty '97-'00 centric for a while, since I have been way into that period lately).
If the original sources I have for the given show are remaster material, I do it up. If not, I try another request. For the shows with multiple requests, the only times I hold off on them is if I don't have good sources to use OR if I have a project in the works that I plan on doing. For example, I've gotten multiple requests for 6/28/00, 6/29, and 6/30 so I'm planning on doing the whole Holmdel > Hartford 2000 run in one post. Look for that one hopefully soon. The shows I choose on my own are usually ones coming from years that are un(or under)represented on the blog, like the recent '93 selection and the upcoming '90 show. I realize these may not be as popular, but I think it's good to pay respect to eras past and have a good variety to select from.
Second, I wanted to toss out a heads-up that I may be a bit less productive with the blog during late April and mid-May, as I have some vacations coming up. I'll try to post a remaster right before leaving, but I won't have constant internet access to answer queries and deal with any technical difficulties. But hopefully I'll time things well and you won't notice any differences while I'm AWOL. I also may slow things down while the boys are on tour, since I spend all of my listening time on the current shows when they are on tour and I would assume many folks do the same.
And finally, I want to reiterate that I welcome feedback, good and bad. Just make it constructive if it's bad, please :). Just about all the comments I've received have been positive, but don't hesitate to speak up if there's something that irks you or a better way for me to do things. I've already been asked about using Mediafire but the 200MB file limit would be a hassle, so Megaupload it is until something better comes along. Anyway, the comment link of this post would be a good place to post general feedback. Thanks!
7 comments:
Love the site and excited you're gonna do the 2000 Holmdel>Hartford run. Please consider adding the Camden shows! Especially 7/4! That jibboo was epic..
All us phans appreciate the music you provide. Given the time, please continue to share!
Thank you so much for the time and energy you've devoted to producing sonically pleasing source material for the community. I appreciate your focus, effort, and perspective. It's a model for how the community should operate as we becoming-elders shape the Phish community in the years to come.
That said, I do have a constructive criticism. Having listened to three of your mixes on high-fidelity equipment (Sennheiser HD600 headphones, and alternatively a Musical Fidelity X-series / Paradigm Studio 60 combo), I think they tend to overemphasize the high-end of the frequency spectrum. This wouldn't be a problem so much as a difference in taste, except that I find the mixes to be fatiguing after even relatively short periods of listening.
Fish's high-hats, for example, tend to already have significant emphasis in board mixes and FOH PA, so I don't really see a need to make them more crisp or present. Boosting the high-end also imparts an unnatural sound to the mixes.
Fish's hi-hat is just an instance of the general overemphasis on the high-end that I've found in the remasters. The other parts of the frequency spectrum sound great. Accordingly, the most important thing for me to emphasize is: thank you! You are doing fantastic work for the community.
Cheers,
D
Thank you so much for all the hard work! Love the South Park pic
Aphanisis -
Great points all around, and thanks for the reply! There's no doubt that i emphasize the high end in these "remasters". There are times when I post a new one and then think, "hm...I may have made that a little too bright". So I'm trying to moderate that a bit - for example the recent 11.19.97 remaster shouldn't come across as bright as some others.
I would like to point out that you're a very good example of the type of listener who may not like my versions too much or consider them upgrades: you have the kind of high-end gear that will better minimize what the average listener considers downsides of many AUDs, and furthermore will tend to exaggerate the changes I've made . I can fully see how you could get ear fatigue if you're not inclined toward brighter mixes.
I will say, though, that the most frequent complaint I hear about non-ideal AUDs is that they are bass-heavy and not clear or "sharp" enough, and it's hard to hear the nuances. So in a way, I'm catering these remasters to the majority opinion of what folks would like to see improve in their AUD listening experience.
You mentioned that Fish's hi-hat, among other high-frequency sounds, already have significant emphasis in the board mixes and FOH PA. I would say that's true, but that's a completely different story than with AUDs, which is all I'm concerned with. Just listen to the opening seconds to the original source example of Dog Log that I included with the 9.17.00 remaster. Fish's hi-hat is very muffled in the recording, as is most of the high end of the frequency spectrum. Perhaps I went a couple db's too far in boosting the high end on the EQ, but I would think most people would agree you can hear his nimble work a lot better now, as well as improved clarity in the vocals. Listening back i do think I could've tamed the high end on that one a bit, but I still enjoy the sound of it alot better than the original.
I think if you were standing front and center at a show with the PA stack pointing right at you with minimal sonic obstacles in the way, or if you were listening to a SBD, then of course there would be no need to boost the high end because there would be little to no sonic obstacles between the music and your ears. But many of these AUDs are in such large spaces with so much sound diffusion by the time the sound waves hit the mics, and the end result is usually a "soft" or "muffled" sound quality.
Also, (and I understand this is a "sad but true" feeling amongst many in the audiophile community), the inevitable trend in personal music listening is moving strongly toward portables + headphones (which is for the most part earbuds), or small computer speakers, and to a lesser extent cars...with ultimately home hifi stereo systems to a much lesser extent.
There is also a trend of creating playlists and skipping around from one album to another, and a declining trend of listening to albums or shows all the way through. With those trend in mind, I have chosen to aim these remasters toward the end result of louder (if the original source's amplitute peaks are several db's below the clip zone), clearer, "crisper" if you will, versions of AUDs. With some of these original sources, you need to crank the volume so high to get it to a normal level that if you were to suddenly skip to, say, a studio track, you wold blow out your eardrums. Part of what I'm going for is a more consistent listen. And FYI - I never normalize track by track. I manually adjust the volume of the whole show at once.
How do other folks feel about this? Do you think I'm going off a bit too much on the high end frequency boosts? Some remasters more than others?
Hi Kenny-
That's extremely useful information regarding your approach to the remasters. The general situation is, as you suggested (at least for me), sad but true. That said, I'm optimistic that the quality of musical reproduction will catch up with the quantity and convenience afforded by relatively recent advances as the audio technology develops.
Thanks again for your dedication and hard work!
Very well said Aphanisis!
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