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Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven (5:45-5:50)

post #1 of 23
12/18/11 at 4:31pm
Thread Starter 

AKG Q701 - NuForce Icon HDP - FLAC - Laptop
 

I've been looking for the "best" recordings for LZ. So far I have listened to the 1980 Barry Diament masters and the Complete Studio Recordings. I am going to listen to the Definitive Collection (I believe this is the newest remaster) shortly. I prefer the Complete Studio Recordings over the original but I haven't really compared two side by side yet.

 

Anyways, I found that in the two versions of Stairway To Heaven at 5:45 to 5:50 (even a little before that) but there's this really annoying "buzzing" "cracking" sound. This really turns me off from one of my fav song. I'm really sad. Do you guys hear this as well? Or is it something wrong with my setup?

 

And one more question. Which version of recordings do you guys prefer in terms of purely sound quality?

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post #2 of 23
12/18/11 at 9:43pm

I have it track 15/15 on vol.1 of Led Zeppelin Remasters, I also have Mothership but I haven't actually listened to that on anything good yet.  Have to find the cd to rip some flacs...

 

My version of Stairway doesn't have that though.  I listened very carefully and can't find any hint of it. 

(hd598 - e9 / e7 - flac - pc)

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post #3 of 23
12/18/11 at 10:59pm

Since this is right before Page's climactic solo, are you sure no one is flicking lighters anywhere around when you're at this part of the song?

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post #4 of 23
12/18/11 at 11:28pm
Thread Starter 

It starts at 5:35 actually.. "...lies in the whispering wind~~~~" then it goes dum dum *dum // dum dum *dum // *dum *dum *dum. (where I put * is there the distortion occurs. I'm sorry but I am not sure how else to describe the sound but it is major turn off.

 

I'm really scared that you guys do not hear this. Man I wish I had another headphone to listen to see if it's the track or my setup. I hope my fairly new headphone isn't blown.. I've been listening pretty loud (~80dB).

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post #5 of 23
12/19/11 at 3:11am

I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist the obvious Stairway joke.

 

I listened to my rip, which was an old mp3 VBR rip  from the "Digitally Remastered" CD and, yes there are static transients, especially on the right channel.  I've re-ripped to lossless and they're still there but not quite as prominent.  Congratulations, you have found the downside to quality audio gear: mass market CD discs, bad mastering or poor signal chains on the recording side will become extremely obvious under the high resolution microscope.

 

And the worst part, you can't un-hear it.  You'll be expecting those dropouts everytime you hear the song from now on.  

 

My pet peeve is the opening lines of The Doors "The Crystal Ship" there is a sloppy edit in "Before you" ~edit~ "slip into unconsciousness" where the whole room ambience changes around Morrison's voice.  Everytime I hear it, I'm just cringing.

 

There was a whole thread in this forum about these kind of moments. I wouldn't recommend it unless you want more classics ruined for your listening pleasure.

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post #6 of 23
12/19/11 at 3:29am

try to listen to it backwords you'll hear the engineer say LET'S PUT EVEN MORE LOUDNESS ON THIS ONE...

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post #7 of 23
12/19/11 at 11:50am
Thread Starter 

Ah I see the thread you are talking about now.. almost same title. I'm sorry about double thread posting.. should have searched more which I usually do and find.

Thanks for the help guys.

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post #8 of 23
12/19/11 at 7:11pm

I can't hear it on my copy either (Oppo95 -> Audio Research D70 Mk. II all tube power amp -> HiFiMan HE-6).

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post #9 of 23
12/20/11 at 10:19am

I can hear it in my 1999 copy of the Early Days: The Best of Led Zeppelin, Vol. 1.  In the "*dum // dum dum *dum // *dum *dum *dum" piece there almost sounds like a horn (your buzzing) in the background playing along with the guitar. 

 

Edit: I'm listening through the 1999 remasters again...there is no shortage of extra noise and distortions in the other tracks.  LZ was way ahead of their time in a lot of ways, perhaps their sound was too much for the technology and engineers in the 60s and 70s.


Edited by Captain Kracker - 12/20/11 at 10:49am
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post #10 of 23
12/20/11 at 10:45am

On my "Mothership" collection version, at 5:49.5 seconds a hear a slight defect in the "treble" part that last for a small fraction of a second. That is the only problem I hear in that version.

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post #11 of 23
12/20/11 at 12:42pm
Thread Starter 

That is weird. How come some people not hear what I am hearing when it is so apparent. I can clearly hear this on three different versions: Original (1980), Complete Studio Recordings (1993), Definitive Collections (2008). What am I doing wrong here.... so confused.

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post #12 of 23
12/20/11 at 2:50pm

Do you have any "tinnitus" at all? Sometimes certain higher frequency sounds can "interact" with a tinnitus condition for short bursts depending on the frequency involved.

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post #13 of 23
12/20/11 at 6:58pm
Thread Starter 

I googled tinnitus. I don't think I have this condition but I might, who knows. I only hear these distortion on this specific track. If I listen to some other song with better sound quality and with high frequency, I don't hear this distortion. So I suspect that the problem is with this song. But when I hear some of you who don't hear what I (and many others) hear, I am not so sure.

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post #14 of 23
12/26/11 at 10:40am

I hear it on both my Mothership in FLAC and IV in 320kbps on most of my headphones and even speakers. I do not hear it on my car speakers though.

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post #15 of 23
12/30/11 at 4:58pm

I've got the original mastering on vinyl.  I'll give it a listen now.

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