[groovyd]

Purchased American Boy from iTunes store and it appears to have a huge amount of Bass distortion which pulls the whole spectrum down with it... Is it a bad track or does my amp need an upgrade?  Same distortion with both HeadRoom Ultra + T1 or LCD-X or WA7.  Great song but sounds like crap... Anyone else please verify for me.

 

[TMRaven]

I wouldn't call it a distortion due to bad recording or engineering.  The distortion used in this song seems more like an artistic liberty to make the song sound distinctly low-fi.  I don't think it pulls the whole spectrum down with it either, as the bass is still multi-textured.

 

[groovyd]

I guess I didn't phrase my question correctly.  I wasn't interested in if others think the distortion is nice or not, more interested in if it exists or not or is just my amp being underpowered.  Distortion is also the wrong word.  What I am hearing is when the bass hits everything else gets distorted like what happens normally if your amp can' handle the power.  But other songs I listen too with the same magnitude of bass don't have this happen on my rig.  Is this a power issue or is it just recorded that way?

 

[TMRaven]

It's hard to put a nail directly on what you're describing, but I'd wager it's not your amp and just the song.  It's a very deliberate thing in the recording.

 

[groovyd]

  It's hard to put a nail directly on what you're describing, but I'd wager it's not your amp and just the song.  It's a very deliberate thing in the recording.

It's that kind sound you hear from a really cheap stereo cranked way too loud where the bass hits and everything else just falls apart.

 

[TMRaven]

There are a couple of times where the clipping from the bass affects the vocals too during the bridge of the song, but that's about all I can hear.

 

[groovyd]

yep, that's it... same here.
 
just got my D100 and it does the same thing so I suspect it is part of the recording... shame because I think the song could really kick ass if it was a better recording.  don't get me wrong, i like the distortion but not the bass clipping bringing the rest of the vocals down with it.  i prefer to crank it and just blaze through the beat strong. danza kuduro is a nice track for that.

 

[TMRaven]

Well as I said earlier, the distortion is so apparent and blunt that I'm inclined to think it was an artistic liberty taken by the artists themselves.  In that sense it doesn't bother me.
 
Now of course I wasn't there in the studio when Kanye and Estelle decided to record the song, but it just strikes me as something that doesn't seem farfetched.  I know that Kanye in particular has quite a few songs where he makes them distinctly low-fi for artistic reasons.

 

[groovyd]

i get it... just wish it weren't so... but i think the conclusion here is that yes it is part of the recording and not my gear.