Rocky Road

From Classic Rock to Progessive to hip hop to today's hot new tunes!

Return to Rocky Road

Message Sort: Post Order or Asylum Reverse Threaded

The latest Audio Fidelity gold CD trainwreck...

207.35.190.71
Posted on September 24, 2009 at 13:30:26
astralnavigator
Audiophile

Posts: 985
Location: North York, Ontario
Joined: June 28, 2009
 got my copy of the new Audio Fidelity 24k gold CD of The Pretenders first album yesterday, "remastered" by Steve Hoffman.

What an absolute trainwreck!

Two songs, maybe three are missing overdubs. Another, stop Your Sobbing, is at the wrong speed!

To make it worse, limiting has been applied and this sucker is loud.

Can it get any worse for Audio Fidelity and Hoffman? You would think that Hoffman would at least listen to an earlier CD or LP of a title he is remastering, and if not, that someone at Audio Fidelity would do some basic QC?

Adding to the now lengthy list of AF fiascos, from Morrison Hotel (digital noise), Soft Parade (compression), The Band (copy tape used) and Deep Purple In Rock (digital clicking on the first track), you's gotta wonder what's going on there, and if they can get their act together.

A waste of $25 on this thing, gang, so if you're thinking of getting it, think again.

 

Hide full thread outline!
    ...
RE: The latest Audio Fidelity gold CD trainwreck..., posted on September 25, 2009 at 05:32:20
oasis02


 
They're all absolutely brutal.

The Cars "Heartbeat City" is a joke. I bought a 3-pack of The Faces,Bad Company, and the Cars. None were worth the money. The Faces and Bad Co are slightly better than the prior versions, Heartbeat City is not.

 

RE: The latest Audio Fidelity gold CD trainwreck..., posted on September 25, 2009 at 16:49:29
13th Duke of Wymbourne
Audiophile

Posts: 2800
Location: Orange Co., Ca
Joined: September 19, 2001
 AstralNav,

it is curious that though you don't like Steve Hoffman or his work you buy the CDs! The AF & DCC titles I've heard are pretty good so I feel confident in saying that Hoffman does good work, though I haven't heard the titles you quote. If I was a cynical man I'd say you have an axe to grind rather than a sense of altruism to your fellow inmates.


Regards
13DoW

 

RE: The latest Audio Fidelity gold CD trainwreck..., posted on September 25, 2009 at 17:50:24
astralnavigator
Audiophile

Posts: 985
Location: North York, Ontario
Joined: June 28, 2009
 You don't dispute the substance of my post.

I buy them so that i can assess and comment from experience. Is there a problem with that?

The DCC titles are virtually all very good. The Audio Fidelity in it's 2009 reincarnation has been a mess of QC mistakes at an amateurish level.

The Pretenders is just a mess that no reputable label would let get out the door.

How do you justify mastering at the wrong speed and mastering minus overdubs?

 

RE: The latest Audio Fidelity gold CD trainwreck..., posted on September 25, 2009 at 18:11:50
13th Duke of Wymbourne
Audiophile

Posts: 2800
Location: Orange Co., Ca
Joined: September 19, 2001
 No problems, if I kept spending $25 on stuff I didn't like I'd be upset too. But I think it's fair to raise the question whether you dislike man because you dislike his work or vice versa, then people can decide how best to use your advice.

Regards
13DoW

 

RE: The latest Audio Fidelity gold CD trainwreck..., posted on September 25, 2009 at 19:06:07
astralnavigator
Audiophile

Posts: 985
Location: North York, Ontario
Joined: June 28, 2009
 The individual matters little to nothing to me. I've never met Bernie Grundman but I always find his work exceptional. I've never met Shawn Britton at MOFI either but I have no hesitation to put my money down on a MOFI disc. I have never met George Marino but I do approach titles mastered by him with caution. I've never met Joe Reagoso at Friday Music, but after buying two of his vinyl remasters, I'll not waste my money again. I've never met Hoffman, although unlike other mastering engineers, he does have quite a negative reputation out there, and has a board that is distasteful, so those aspects I dislike. So even though it is I suppose possible to form an opinion of what kind of person he is, that doesn't influence whether I buy or not - if it's great stuff, but comes from an asshole, I won't deny myself great sound becuase of it. I never hesitated to put my money down for a DCC title. I have no problem putting my bucks out for a Music Matters or Analogue Productions Blue Note LP.

So far fully half the titles released by Audio Fidelity in 2009 have had glaring, amatuer errors on them. Not a question of taste, or system, or YMMV, or anything else - just flat out screwups.

And claims as to source and mastering that have factually been proven false.

Never happened at DCC.

Sometimes, based on past experience, we go a long way with stuff like this expecting that the prior standard will somehow be restored.

It's gotten so bad with Audio Fidelity that is no longer justified.

After writing the first post, another member sent me a link to a statement that the Audio Fidelity engineer made on the Pretenders fiasco.

Basically, it said - The disc is FUBAR. If you want to keep it as some type of strange collectors item, do it. If not, send it back as defective. We really don't care becuase the whole run is sold out.

That more or less killed it for me, that attitude of - we've got our money out of this, so we don't care what you do.

Companies like Audio Fidelity sell subscriptions, the latest high end marketing technique for completists or just flat out obsessive types who lush after serial numbers on slipcovers and that type of thing.

To me, soliciting subscriptions is an implicit trust matter. The company is asking customers to buy completely on faith, on an implicit guarantee of a certain standard and consistency.

That is not what is happening here. They don't even bother with rudimentary QC, and run to the bank based on that implicit trust and the gullibility of a significant segment of the audiophile market.

 

RE: The latest Audio Fidelity gold CD trainwreck..., posted on September 25, 2009 at 21:08:11
lukesky


 
Hoffman posted the Pretenders is FUBAR and you can return for a refund. Hope that helps.

 

Inexcusable for a premium priced project, posted on September 26, 2009 at 09:55:36
padreken
Audiophile

Posts: 8518
Location: San Diego
Joined: November 28, 2000
 In the case of The Band, it's my understanding that the master tape is MIA, but that still doesn't excuse them from marketing it as a "from the original master tapes" product-Hoffman should have either scrapped doing the title altogether or been honest up front about the original master's inavailability.











 

RE: The latest Audio Fidelity gold CD trainwreck..., posted on September 26, 2009 at 13:08:24
Squonk
Audiophile

Posts: 1886
Location: Indiana
Joined: August 17, 2005
 Yes, I have a few DCC remasters that sound damn good. I think my Elton John collection is DCC remasters and they sound very good.

.
Photobucket

 

RE: The latest Audio Fidelity gold CD trainwreck..., posted on September 26, 2009 at 15:00:54
13th Duke of Wymbourne
Audiophile

Posts: 2800
Location: Orange Co., Ca
Joined: September 19, 2001
 Astral,

this is the second thread I've seen of yours where you start off flame throwing and then up with a rational post. Make the last post your first one and I think you'll get the message across to more people.

Shame about AF. I have not been interested in any of their titles but I was curious about The Pretenders - I'll give it a miss. Do you have the link you referenced?

Regards
13DoW

 

RE: The latest Audio Fidelity gold CD trainwreck..., posted on September 26, 2009 at 16:33:59
astralnavigator
Audiophile

Posts: 985
Location: North York, Ontario
Joined: June 28, 2009
 The link doesn't work anymore, the Hoffman board censors have removed it. It contained a statement from Hoffman that says the Pretenders CD is "FUBAR" (his phrase) and that dissatisfied buyers should "return as defective", and that the "run is sold out".

There had been an earlier thread there, as buyers received their discs and one by one discovered the errors, and that thread was deleted as it spiralled into territory such as the use of compression on the disc and other matters that clearly conflicted with the brand image. The later message from Hoffman has now apparently been deleted also.

 

RE: The latest Audio Fidelity gold CD trainwreck..., posted on September 28, 2009 at 19:45:28
Eric B
Audiophile

Posts: 312
Joined: October 11, 2001
 You come across as very pretentious. As far as I'm concerned, Astral 's initial post was his opinion based on his buying and listening experience with recent Audio Fidelity releases. Do you have a different opinion regarding the Audio Fidelity releases he disliked? Labeling his post as a flame and questioning his motives for disliking the CD, Steve Hoffman, or Audio Fidelity is ridiculous. By the way, who the heck are you to be giving posting lessons?

 

Hoffman's post is..., posted on September 29, 2009 at 09:09:17
jeffmathers
Audiophile

Posts: 384
Location: SE Michigan
Joined: March 22, 2005
 supposedly here. And I don't know what all the fuss is about the Hoffman forum not allowing comments like this. Plenty of criticism of the AF Pretenders disk at the thread below:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=195320

Jeff

SMAC website:  http://www.michiganaudioclub.com

 

original master?, posted on September 29, 2009 at 11:53:42
John Greenwood
Audiophile

Posts: 185
Location: NYC
Joined: April 22, 2005
 I have "The Band" and like it a lot. (It's third CD version I've bought.)

When Steve Hoffman announced the project he stated the following:

"The Band-Self Titled, their second (and most beloved) album aka "The Brown Album" has been a favorite of ours for many years. We tried to do it for DCC but couldn't for technical reasons. A loan of the master tape will insure our version will sound amazing."

Do you have some basis for asserting that the statement is inaccurate?

 

RE: original master?, posted on September 29, 2009 at 12:22:29
astralnavigator
Audiophile

Posts: 985
Location: North York, Ontario
Joined: June 28, 2009
 The master is in the posession of Levon Helm and is the subject of litigation, being owned by EMI. It would not be possible for Hoffman to obtain that tape from Helm, even if he were inclined to do so, without the tape going through EMI and that litigation being resolved.

MOFI had right of refusual on this and other Band titles but passed of "The Band" for that exact reason - no way to shake the real master loose.

Hoffman himself has never stated precisely where he mastered this title from.

That all has nothing to do with whether you like it or not! I have it, and I think it's fine - I'm not too fond about Hoffman's recent remastering 'style' as I find it rather clinical, not at all like the warm, big sound DCC typically had, but there's nothing wrong with it sonically.

The issue around that particular title is simply whether the advertising claims are truthful.

 

Page processed in 0.025 seconds.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]