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I went to the big records sale event yesterday and among other LPs, bought a near-mint copy of "Aqualung". Took it home, washed and vacuumed it carefully, and sat down for a listen. It sounded real nice, but I was taken aback by the prominent lack of bass. For some reason, the bass was mixed very quietly, I had to strain my ears to hear it.Is that a faulty pressing, or are all other pressings of "Aqualung" also this lean on the bass?
Edits: 04/10/17Follow Ups:
By far the best of these is the Classic Records Clarity Vinyl 45 RPM box set. That was the red box series from Classic Records. Classic Records also released a 33RPM version sourced from the same master tape. Ian Anderson provided his copy of the Stereo master tape to Classic Records for the production of the Classic Records 33RPM and 45RPM red box set.
Ian Anderson's stereo master makes for a better pressing than other sources I have heard but it is also lacking in bass. Any pressing with more bass had to be added during mastering. I have a mint copy of the MoFi pressing and it definitely had the low end pumped up (and the master tape needs it).
Lets be realistic here. When a record is being mastered there is an opportunity to compensate for any weakness in the stereo master tape. From a purist perspective it should not be messed with but mastering a LP is not a job for the purist.
Making LPs is a business and anything that makes the LP sound better is a plus. MoFi did not make it sound better, IMO, and they should have used about half of the bass boost that they employed. If that were the case we would all be talking about how the MoFi is the pressing to own.
Ed
We don't shush around here!
Life is analog...digital is just samples thereof
That is what the bass control on your preamp is for! Hehehe
nt
We don't shush around here!
Life is analog...digital is just samples thereof
Decisions, decisions. Audio does have its compromises.
Well written. The albums ills are more than just the bass. Maybe the other master is just the ticket.
This is one of the top rock and roll albums. There are lines in this album which are priceless. One of my favorites."Salvation a la mode and a cup of tea."
Enjoy the ride
Tom
Sitting on a park bench, eyeing little girls with bad intent, hey Aqualung.
I just listened to the MoFi released years ago not a current MoFi and it's not terrible and has decent bass. I found it at HalfPrice Books several years ago.
Beatnik's stuff http://web.me.com/jnr1/Site/Beatniks_Pictures.html
Makes the rest redundant.
Classic Records produced a couple of remasters for Aqualung. One at 33-1/3rd. The other, a two disk set at 45rpm. I have those. Both have as much bass as the original tape masters contain.
I have a blue/white Chrysalis pressing from the seventies. It has slightly less bass than on both of the Classic Records remasters.
Your system list indicates Magnepan MG-1 electrostatic speakers. These are not known for reproducing deep bass. That being said, I don't think you're going to find much in the way of satisfying bass on that Aqualung Lp, any version.
-Steve
Get the MOFI version. I has killer bottom end! May be EQ'd up but who cares it is a blast!
..
I have all the various pressing including the MOFI. Do you have or have you ever listened to the MOFI?
"I have all the various pressing including the MOFI. Do you have or have you ever listened to the MOFI?"
No. I haven't heard the MOFI. I have many other MOFI Lps from that period in the 1980's. They did tend to "eq" the bass. And I've also noticed on many of these that often there was a sense of cleaner, articulate and clarity that original pressings could not match.
-Steve
Yes MOFI eq'd the bass up, and the top, on a lot of recordings. This was one. It has spectacular bass and I don't care if they boosted the bass. This particular master tape needed it. The DCC reissue is terrible but Steve Hoffman claims it sounds like the master tape. Well clearly the master tape needed some bass boost because it is lifeless and anemic sounding without it if the DCC is any indication.
The DCC reissue of the greatest hits album was just as bad but again Steven claimed this is what the master sounded like.
I am no purist. If the master tape sounds fantastic then yes transfer it with minimal EQ, compression, etc. But when the master is a lifeless dud then yes make it sound better at the mastering stage. That is their job and the point of it all.
Agree on all points noted.
Should a Mo-Fi Tull/Aqualung make itself availble to me, I'll likely snag it. Although I suspect that this one will command a significant fee in today's market.
I was happy to get the two Classic Records remasters. Those are better listens in comparison to original pressings. I do recall in several different online discussions re: Aqualung sonics it always comes up that the album just happens to be bass shy.
-Steve
Have the bought new when it was Current album.
Sounds OK ..Not great, but hardly awful either.. Decent bass by the way.
WHAT? are you playing/listening to it thru?
"Have the bought new when it was Current album.
Sounds OK ..Not great, but hardly awful either.. Decent bass by the way.
WHAT? are you playing/listening to it thru?"
See my system description. Or see link to my system page at The Analog Dept. Thanks for asking. Btw. I've enough bass in the current system for the room I'm in. It can pressurize the space.
-Steve
Dunno what to say?
My Thorens runs thru my F6 amp to my Tannoys.
NO issues whatsoever.
No standoffs for My speaker wires tho :-)
"Dunno what to say?
My Thorens runs thru my F6 amp to my Tannoys.
NO issues whatsoever.
No standoffs for My speaker wires tho :-)"Actually I chose not to argue on the point of whether or not original pressings of Aqualung are lacking in bass presence. There has been so much discussion in this very issue in the past that I really feel no need to defend my position against yours. The general consensus is nearly 100% against your impression.
Search the vinyl/asylum using the key words: Aqualung bass
That said, I've no doubt that your Tannoys do produce lots of bass. Differences in all the various systems we use will result in different impressions. But I think you're off the mark on this one.
-Steve
Edits: 04/11/17
That said, I've no doubt that your Tannoys do produce lots of bass. Differences in all the various systems we use will result in different impressions. But I think you're off the mark on this one.
I feel it's silly to divert the discussion in the direction of 'what system are you listening on?' Obviously, all of us complaining that Aqualung is shy on bass are not complaining about any other album in our collection being shy in the bass section. Meaning, we are completely satisfied with the way our system pressurizes the room with bass tones. So why would Aqualung all of a sudden be traceable to an issue with our systems?
..
Your system list indicates Magnepan MG-1 electrostatic speakers. These are not known for reproducing deep bass. That being said, I don't think you're going to find much in the way of satisfying bass on that Aqualung Lp, any version.My speakers are not electrostatic, they are planar. And they reproduce MASSIVE bass! Most people are shocked at how beefy and full bodied the bass is on my speakers (because they are not boxed, hence no coloration).
On any other LP that I play through my speakers, the bass is massive and magnificent (even on Jethro Tull "Stand Up"). But for some reason "Aqualung" lacks the bottom part of the spectrum.
Edits: 04/10/17
..
Your only real bet for a better low end in the vinyl realm is the Mobile Fidelity issue from long ago. They really goosed the bottom end on it such that on "Wond'ring Aloud" it sounds like a cement truck was running outside the studio. Aside from that, you might prefer this issue.
Ripple
The Asylum archives are a wealth of information.
Aqualung's notoriously weak bass has been talked about many times. There's nothing wrong with a follow-up question, if you have one, but the posts in the link below will give you a lot of information about various pressings of this iconic, but (in my opinion) poorly recorded LP.
I'm posting only because you sounded surprised by Aqualung's bass, which made me believe you hadn't done any reading on the subject.
I hope you find a copy with better bass, and if you do, please let us know!
Thanks for the suggestion. I apologize for not doing proper due diligence and checking previous threads on this topic -- I find it very hard to make heads or tails from the audiosylum's user interface. Any time a do a search, I end up with what looks to me as an alphabet soup of links that I just cannot easily follow.
I suggested it mainly so that you'd likely get more information on the subject. Often I see someone post a question which has been covered many times. They might get two or three replies. But if they did a search, there might be 200 more they're missing out on.
In reading some of the replies in the Auqalung link I posted, it seems I could be doing a lot better than my US Reprise copy (bought new in 1971) too. The answer Eddie T gave you sounds promising. Thanks Eddie!
The Asylum "Find" isn't the greatest, I'll agree. I seem to have the best luck with it when I keep the entry simple. In the case of the link I just posted, I entered "Aqualung bass", and gave you the link.
The original American pressing was not very good and had anemic bass. The UK was better. I've never heard what I would call a great pressing of this fabulous LP. Open to suggestions.
-Wendell
I've never heard what I would call a great pressing of this fabulous LP. Open to suggestions.
That is very disheartening to hear. I have a number of digital masters of Aqualung transferred from various sources, and they all sound horrifically bad. Anemic is the right word. I was hoping that getting a good LP pressing would remedy that problem. Alas, I was wrong.
Such a shame, because the music on that record is just, as you said, fabulous!
Try the recent 're-mastered by Steven Wilson' LP which is available on Amazon. It deals with a lot of the problems of the original mix, and cleans up the sound.
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