[luckybaer]

I picked up 3 AC/DC CDs in the past couple of weeks:

Highway to Hell

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

Back in Black

In case no one knows, these are remastered versions, and they sound freaking great! They didn't allow their stuff to fall victim to the "Loudness War!"

It is an effin' disgrace to listen to some of the bands today (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters are a couple in my collection that come to mind) and their HOT CDs. I've picked up the AC/DC stuff and greatest hits compilations from Motley Crue, Lynard Skynard, Def Leppard, and Guns N Roses, and they ALL sound way better than recent stuff that I have. Also, I'm kinda bummed about the Rhino remastered versions of Fragile and Close to the Edge by Yes. I think they could have been done much better. Maybe I'm nitpicking? I don't think so. What do you guys and gals think?

Anyway, I'm probably preaching to the choir about my frustration with the loudness war, so back to the AC/DC stuff!

If anyone out there likes hard rock and they don't have any AC/DC, I suggest picking up one of the 3 that I listed and giving it a spin. I'm going to track down High Voltage and Let There Be Rock when I get a chance. All three of the albums I picked up sound great and don't have a lame-ass track on them at all! If you told someone who didn't know better that any of those albums was a "Best Of" collection, they may very well believe you.

 

[JES]

I have all three albums and couldn't agree more. Dirty Deeds is my favorite, the last three tracks specifically. The guitar on Squealer sends chills down my spine.

I've had these albums since they were released, in various formats. I must have worn out five cassettes of Back in Black before finally getting a CD player.

Enjoy them all!!!

 

[markl]

Quote:

They didn't allow their stuff to fall victim to the "Loudness War!"

Erm, hate to burst your bubble, but these new digipack remasters are ear-bleedingly loud and have almost no dynamic range (though they still manage to sound quite good). Do a wave-form on them and you'll see.

You should hunt down the 1994 remasters, particularly the ones done by Ted Jensen. Those are the best-sounding versions, IMO. A bit of compression, but nowhere near as much as the Epic remasters.

 

[luckybaer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by markl /img/forum/go_quote.gif Erm, hate to burst your bubble, but these new digipack remasters are ear-bleedingly loud and have almost no dynamic range (though they still manage to sound quite good). Do a wave-form on them and you'll see. You should hunt down the 1994 remasters, particularly the ones done by Ted Jensen. Those are the best-sounding versions, IMO. A bit of compression, but nowhere near as much as the Epic remasters.

I didn't find them ear-bleedingly loud, but that might be because I've got some crap at home that truly is horrible.

I took some waveforms, and I guess I need some help interpreting them.

The top spectrum is "Back in Black," the middle is "Storm in a Teacup," by the RHCP, and the bottom spectrum is "Rock of Ages" by Def Leppard off their "Vault" greatest hits compilation.

Are all of these ear-bleedingly loud? I mean, the RHCP album certainly is to my ears, but the other two sound good to me. Maybe it is just because the RHCP album is HOTT, HAWT and Freaking Hot? Maybe my standards are too low?

I'd really like to hear that 1994 remaster job. Bob Katz mentions it in his list of well-engineered CDs. If I think the Epic remasters are OK, I can only imagine what the 1994 remasters sound like!

 

[calcajun]

Know whats funny? I did a search for the 94 remaster and one of the first things came up was the quote below. Just read the description.

Amazon.com: Back in Black (Deluxe Digipak): Music: AC/DC
This newley remastered edition of "Back In Black" now on the Epic Label surpasses the older 1994 remastered version in that the volume is pumped up higher, ...

 

[markl]

Hi, you need to do a wave-form of the volume levels.

 

[luckybaer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by markl /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi, you need to do a wave-form of the volume levels.

Any help interpreting these things is appreciated.

 

[markl]

Good Lord, even worse than I expected. It should not look like that at all. Totally compressed, digital clipping up the wazoo, almost no dynamic range.

 

[luckybaer]

Can you put up a waveform (dB) that looks good? PReferably one that is from a similar genre of music. Or, if you have the 1994 remaster, it would be cool to see what that one looks like.

 

[markl]

Let's see if this works.

The top wave form is from RHCP Stadium Arcadium CD. The second screen shot is the exact same track from Steve Hoffman mastered vinyl LP version. Steve Hoffman does not employ any compression in his masterings for LP or CD. The top version has been shrunk and level matched to the LP:

You can see all the spikes and peaks on the second wave-form are complete and intact, not shaved off buzz-cut style to make everything LOUD. There's A LOT of dynamic range that is inherent in the original master tape that the CD version simply does not have because whoever mastered it was forced to make it LOUD to "compete" with everything else on the market.

 

[Pm@c]

Cant see your pic.

On another note, I have all of AC/DCs CDs, I can say they all rock, but my favourites have to be:

Back In Black (duh!)

'74 Jailbreak

Powerage

Let There Be Rock

I really love the song "Sin City" on Powerage, it definately is a wicked title. But Back in Black is obviously AC/DCs most popular album, undisputed.

 

[luckybaer]

I can't see the picture.

I have mine stored at the Head-Fi Photo Gallery (http://photo.head-fi.org/index.php), and I just insert them by clicking the picture with the mountain and moon/sun (that's in the above the posting window) and pasting the url.

I'm really jonesing to see the comparison!

 

[luckybaer]

"Back in Black" is really cool, but I really liked the "character" that Bon Scott brought to the AC/DC vocals. He was really good at projecting a mischievous kind of leering tone in his songs. Brian Johnson sure can belt 'em out, though!

I can't wait for the next payday so that I can pick up a couple more cds!

 

[Masonjar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by luckybaer /img/forum/go_quote.gif I picked up 3 AC/DC CDs in the past couple of weeks: Highway to Hell Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap Back in Black

It's hard to believe it's been just over a quarter century since I first heard these albums..

little did I know then that they would turn out to be such classics..I used to get teased for listening to that "satanic" music... Now I go tot he mall and I see 12 year old kids wearing AC/DC shirts, and I think.. that's funny I was wearing AC/DC shirts when *I* was 12..

crazy world..

btw, my favorite is still LET THERE BE ROCK.

-jar

 

[GTRacer]

AC/DC are really fun to listen to. It's a shame I only have one CD of theirs (Back In Black).