[wab]

Finally! The long (5 years) awaited Drukqs is out. It's a 2CD set with 30 pieces of pure electronic bliss!

An audiophile ultra-high-quality vinyl version will be out in december but the CD version sounds awesome allready.

recommended!

 

[tktran]

You do realise that the vinyl version is not "audiophile ultra-high quality version" don't you?

The reason it's on vinyl is that it's more accessible to the disc jockeys.

How electronic music is ever described as "audiophile quality" I'll never understand.

 

[zoboomofo]

Actually, wab is right about the audiophile quality records.

Taken from Warp Records website:


The heavy (180g) vinyl boxset on sale now is some of the best and most amazing-sounding vinyl we have ever cut, but there will be ANOTHER vinyl format released later this year that will feature 4 discs of higher grade vinyl (the best audiophile vinyl available, made at a single plant in California, with higher quality control and made of virgin vinyl, not recycled) that will cost around £40.00, the artwork and box will be identical.

Thanks for the heads up mate. I'm enjoying the demo mp3s right now.

 

[tktran]

Marketting ******** I say.

Electronic music of the likes of Aphex Twin are almost completely made on computer/electronics. When the 98% of the original source came out of hard and softsynths, recycle, wavelab, protools etc... how can putting it onto vinyl make it audiophile quality?

And after working with sounds on his computer, monitoring it through digital equipment day in day out ie. his music/sounds remained/existed almost solely in the digital domain, why would he put it onto onto vinyl, so that playback would ultimately change the sounds he so painstakingly created? Isn't that shooting yourself in the foot?

It is the record companies that decides to release electronic music onto vinyl, and therefore must master the electronic music differently (to CD) so that when it's played off vinyl it will sound as close to the original (digital form) as possible.

So of course you'd need the best grade vinyl. But it isn't going to make it sound any more faithful than thel original digital format.

Unlike some other forms of music, electronic music exists on vinyl only for practical reasons.

Don't be fooled.

As a DJ I receive new releases from electronic artists. If its for previewing/auditioning most artists prefer to send it on CDR. But often they will cut a few discs or acetates. And they're willing to sacrifice musical fidelity, because it will mean that it'll get a better chance of having it played out at a club...

 

[zoboomofo]

I don't know. The audiophile quality of the records sounds like a plausible claim. The mp3 samples that I heard from this release do contain straight synth sounds, but there are also some lovely stringed instruments and pianos with a nice live sound to them (or maybe midis just sound that good

). These mp3 files sound much better than my Thievery Corp cd which has got to suffer from some of the worst compression I have ever heard. Yes, electronica does not need to sound good (especially when you're most likely to listen to it on some noisy dance floor under the influence) to sell. But, no, I don't agree that it sounds bad by definition. Electronica has come a long way, even in the last 5 years, when I've come to realize that its not all techno and robot sounds. Take, for example, Moby's Play. This album is not exactly audiophile, but if a record company decides to release this kind of stuff for audiophiles, then let your ears be the judge regardless of what kind of processing goes on.

 

[ai0tron]

Why is it so hard to grasp that there would be an audiophile electronica release?

 

[zoboomofo]

Hey c'mon, man. I'm trying to be diplomatic here

.

 

[Ross]

I just bought this. I really liked Selected Ambient Works Vol 1, but this sounds like a double CD of industrial noise. Am I missing something?

 

[tktran]

[Why is it so hard to grasp that there would be an audiophile electronica release?]

I'm not arguing about an "audiophile" release, but I am arguing that electronic music released on vinyl (analog) form doesn't make it any closer to the original.

Because the original was digital!

Get it?

 

[wab]

Quote:

I just bought this. I really liked Selected Ambient Works Vol 1, but this sounds like a double CD of industrial noise. Am I missing something?

Yep, you missed something allright. Selected Ambient Works contains songs from 10-16 years ago!

I recommend listening to "Selected Ambient Works Vol 2", "I care Because You Do", "Richard D. James Album" and "Come To Daddy EP".

Aphex Twin is quite noisy nowadays but his music is still as beautiful as ever IMHO.

 

[Ross]

Quote:

I recommend listening to "Selected Ambient Works Vol 2", "I care Because You Do", "Richard D. James Album" and "Come To Daddy EP".

I have all of these (except the last) and, to be honest, I don't much like these either. I keep buying them because I keep reading how good they are, but there's something I'm obviously missing. I suppose I should stick to stuff I like instead.

 

[ai0tron]

but 16bit pcm is still a compressed format.

So while the original might be digital it is still concievable that the vinyl version sounds 'better'. Especially if mr twin uses lots of analog synths with phat fuzzy sounds.

 

[tktran]

Not going to argue with analog/vinyl purists. It's been done over the years.

Now when the original source is digital, they still insist the analog/vinyl transfer may be better. Coz who cares if it doesn't sound like what the artist intended, when it might sound "better"
<sigh>

And if you create your sounds ONLY from true analog synthesisers, then yes vinyl/other analog medium may be better than digital. But few people (if any) in the past 10 years have done so. Digital synthesiers or analog modelling synths are opened up a whole new world of sounds...

I wish some people would look into the WHOLE process of creating electronic music before shooting their mouth off.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Quote:

Originally posted by tktran I wish some people would look into the WHOLE process of creating electronic music before shooting their mouth off.

Hmmm...methinks you should take your own advice. Aphex Twin, in particular, is famous for using a lot of analog gear. In fact, he invents his own modules. So in his case, it is not largely digital.

Also, even if you stick entirely with digital, a lot of digital synthesizers are higher than 16/44.1 these days. Mix them together (using a system with higher capabilities also, of course, such as a current version of ProTools), and you could conceivably come up with something even higher, hence resulting in a final mix far surpassing the capabilities of CD.

PS Hint: decaf.

 

[tktran]

[In fact, he invents his own modules.]

When was the last time he made a module? Or made extensive use of a module(s) in his works?

I am briefly familiar with Richard James' works. Sure he may have tinkered with electronic gadgets and made a few on his own in 70/80s, but these days he works almost exclusively on a DAW.

Today few people have the technical know-how to make brilliant synthesisers to compete with those of Roland, Yamaha, EMU etc and even if they could, investing all that effort into making a device takes a lot of time (a lot of musicians are more concerned with MAKING music) when it can be bought off the shelf...

As for software synthesisers- I have no knowledge that RJ has created his own.

[Aphex Twin, in particular, is famous for using a lot of analog gear"]

Which analog gear?

If you asked him what gear he uses, I suspect he will reply that today he is uses some kind of DAW, professional digital synthesisers and "analog modelling" synthesisers (which in fact are a REALLY digital synthesiers, but use advanced algorithms to mimic the old analog sound), and a few software synthesisers.

I would be VERY surprised if he still uses traditional analog equipment...

[a lot of digital synthesizers are higher than 16/44.1 these days.]

Which synthesiers?

I know of DAWs use 20/24/32 bits for higher internal mixing precision. But their sources are usually at 16bit/44.1Khz. In fact a lot of samples are of lower bit/sample rate than this.