Review batch #1: Psy trance (very fast trance).
Infected Mushroom - The Gathering
Transparency: 5.7
Speed: 9.5
Mid-bass: 8.9
Detail: 4.9
Soundstage: 5.0
Overall: 6.80
Those "smurfs" talking are a bit transparent.
Often has annoying slow "speed" sounds (track 2, 07:30) where you don't need fast headphones, like 1-2 speed rating. This is probably made on purpose for listening with more forgiving and slow equipment so it can sound "cool". Though the edges of those sounds are very sharp and it sounds annoying with my K1000.
Often fast bass but not as heavy as Astral Projection.
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Infected Mushroom - B.P. Empire
Transparency: 5.2
Speed: 9.5
Mid-bass: 6.8
Detail: 8.2
Soundstage: 6.3
Overall: 7.20
String instrument is good quality.
I enjoyed this album more than The Gathering, because of the larger soundstage and because it didn't sound so annoying.
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Also rated my old albums at the same time:
Astral Projection - Dancing Galaxy
Transparency: 4.95
Speed: 9.5
Mid-bass: 9.2
Detail: 4.625
Soundstage: 5.10
Overall: 6.675
I got impressed after I upgraded my system and heard improvements in detail which I did not expect! This album has sort of like cymbal sounds and weird sounds in track 3 like thick rain drops (00:53 - 01:33) and triangle sounds (01:34 - 01:59).
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Astral Projection - Another World
Transparency: 4.7
Speed: 9.9
Mid-bass: 10
Detail: 4.2
Soundstage: 4.5
Overall: 6.66 (oh, a devil album
)
Not a big soundstage but very cool with the sounds going around in circles. Track 9 is the slowest track but is cool where you can hear the sound coming from the floor BEHIND you and fly right up to where you sit!
Very bad quality but I can still enjoy this album because of the complexity.
Oh, and the bass is so good it makes me curse.
Revision december 16 2005
Astral Projection - Another World @ 768 khz upsampling
*Transparency: 6.5
Speed: 9.9
Mid-bass: 10
*Detail: 5
*Soundstage: 7.25 (Size: 4.5 / Accuracy: 10)
Overall: 7.73
T: 768 kHz upsampling makes it much more transparent and it feels more real.
D: I hear things I never heard before.
SA: In track 9 both sounds fly up from the floor (in a circular fashion from the left) behind you to where you sit on both sides of your body, and they stay there hovering for 1 second and slightly fall down a few cm. There are subtle sounds that keep hovering up and down all the time which I have never heard until my last power cord upgrade.
In most tracks there are multiple sounds that keep hovering around the soundstage, these sounds blend together if upsampling isn't used. This is a very complex album that NEEDS the best audio system to show its limit.
After upgrading my system a little more I can hear more improvements in this album than any other, classical music gave the smallest improvement.
I always knew there was something special with this album, I was right. All it needed was some more resolution to show it!
After I listened for a few hours to my HDCD reference classical recordings (at 768 kHz) and switched over to this album I was shocked, it was higher quality and not as much muddy! Psy Trance definitely needs higher resolution more than any other genre.
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Astral Projection - Amen
Transparency: 4.85
Speed: 9.8
Mid-bass: 9.7
Detail: 4.5
Soundstage: 4.8
Overall: 6.73
Great mid-bass similar to Another World, but not great on all tracks. On lesser equipment the bass sort of never stops (track 2 and 6), it just goes up and down in frequency. But on my rig they are in fact small fast beats! There are also normal heavy beats on top of that.
Edit: Bass sounds faster after upgrading my system!
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Astral Projection - The Astral Files
Transparency: 4.4
Speed: 9.5
Mid-bass: 9.2
Detail: 4.2
Soundstage: 4.1
Overall: 6.28
Not as heavy bass but "rounder" with a bigger impact. I noticed on some tracks there were beats in between the beats. For example in track 6 at 03:00: At first listen it goes "BOOM-BOOM+cymbal-BOOM-BOOM+cymbal", when listening closer it sounds: "BOOM-pause-pause-pause-boom-boom-cymbal-boom-boom-boom-BOOM-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-cymbal-boom-boom-boom-boom". The small beats go in a melody like in Another World. The BPM is around 144 for this track. So it's about 8 tiny beats per second at the fastest parts. With my rig those beats don't blend together at all, so lesser equipment can be used. These "thin" beats in track 6 sound similar to those in Another World track 4, except they are super-heavy.
This is one of the worst quality albums from Astral Projection.
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Astral Projection - Trust In Trance
Transparency: 4.43
Speed: 9.1
Mid-bass: 9.0
Detail: 4.25
Soundstage: 5.07
Overall: 6.37
Weak bass but sometimes fast.
Not as many speed sounds as other albums by this group.
Soundstage and detail is higher in the beginning of CD but then gets worse.
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As you can see, upgrading the audio rig is only worth it for the bass and speed. I am listing the equipment and the rating of them also:
Mid-bass
Nordost Valhalla power cord: 10
PS Audio xStream Statement Power Cable: 9.9
Krell power amp with large transformer like Krell KAV-500i: 10
Cary 303/300 CD player: 10
AKG K1000 earspeakers: 10 (80+ Hz only)
Graham Slee SOLO headamp: 8?
Speed
Nordost Valhalla interconnect: 9.95
AKG K1000 earspeakers: 10
Krell power amp: 9.9
Cary 303/300 CD player: 9.9
AKG K501: 9.5?
K501 + Graham Slee SOLO would be the best combo for most trance albums, however not for Astral Projection. Spending 25 times more for a K1000 rig is a bit extreme but it was definitely worth it for Another World album alone!
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Update: (September 26 2005)
Hallucinogen - The Lone Deranger
Transparency: 5+
Speed: 9.7
Mid-bass: 9.5
Detail: 7+
Soundstage: 5
Overall: 7.3
B: Very fast mid-bass, close to Astral Projection.
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Hallucinogen - Twisted
Transparency: 5+
Speed: 9.9
Mid-bass: 8
Detail: 7
Soundstage: 6
Overall: 7.2
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Infected Mushroom - Converting Vegetarians CD1
Transparency: 5.5
Speed: 9.6
Mid-bass: 9
Detail: 7+
Soundstage: 6
Overall: 7.4
B: Mid-bass gives me a headache.
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Shiva Chandra - Change Of Air
Transparency: 6
Speed: 9+
Mid-bass: 9
Detail: 7
Soundstage: 7
Overall: 7.6
B: Great fast mid-bass.
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Double Impact - Zero
Transparency: 5
Speed: 8.5
Mid-bass: 7
Detail: 5
Soundstage: 4.5-
Overall: 6
B: Fast mid-bass but too linear with no beats in between.
Very boring album, zero fun.
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Digital Talk - New Age Surf
Transparency: 5.5
Speed: 9.6-
Mid-bass: 8.5+
Detail: 5-
Soundstage: 5
Overall: 6.7-
B: Fast mid-bass.
Beginning of album is highest quality, but then gets very bad.
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Update: (October 6 2005)
Oops, forgot to review these albums too:
Infected Mushroom - Classical Mushroom
Transparency: 5.5
Speed: 7
Mid-bass: 8.5
Detail: 8+
Soundstage: 5
Overall: 6.8+
B: Sometimes the bass makes my face vibrate (track 6).
D: Detail like B.P. Empire.
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Infected Mushroom - IM The Supervisor
Transparency: 5
Speed: 9
Mid-bass: 9
Detail: 6
Soundstage: 5
Overall: 6.8
B: Heavy and fast bass similar to Astral Projection. Sometimes makes my face vibrate (track 8).
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I do it differently this time, I compare these albums and rank them. This list will change after I have listened to them more.
From here on I will do the ratings based from memory.
(The highest overall quality album on top.)
Shiva Chandra - Auricular
(subtle transparent sounds)
Astrix - Eye To Eye
(6 soundstage)
Shiva Chandra - Gecko
1200 Micrograms - 1200 Mic's
Shiva Chandra - Lunaspice
Shiva Chandra - Subsonic
Shiva Chandra - Positive
Shiva Chandra - Spicy Moments
Dark Soho - Light In The Dark
Electric Universe - Unify
Space Cat - Power Up
Space Cat - Beam Me Up
Planet B.E.N. - Test
Compiled by DJ Dusk - Urban Awakening
Invasion From Hyperspace
Indoor - Progressive Trance
S-Range - 2001
Psysex - Hardcore Blastoff
Total Eclipse - Violent Relaxation CD2
(very deep rear soundstage)
MFG - The Prophecy
(9 bass)
MFG - New Kind Of World
(9 bass)
A Devils Mind Compilation - Refused
(9 bass)
Tandu - Multimoods
Etnica - Chrome
Logic Bomb - Unlimited
Total Eclipse - Violent Relaxation CD1
Etnica - Alien Protein
Atmos - Headcleaner
Chi-A.D. - Infinitism
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Shiva Chandra - Auricular
Transparency: 9.0
Speed: 9.9
Mid-bass: 8
Detail: 6+?
Soundstage: 5
Overall: 7.58
T: Many of the subtle sounds are very realistic. Scary.
S: Weird sounds I never heard before. Like ripping pants and whining door type of sounds.
B: Heavy but slow bass.
D: Weird new invented sounds which need a good system to show the detail. Good decay and timbre of the system is needed.
S: Nothing special. Subtle sounds around soundstage and bass in middle.
Minimalist Trance seems to be the winner here. It also sounds cleaner than normal Psy Trance. Shiva Chandra has invented new sounds that are audiophile friendly.
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Electric Universe - Unify
Transparency: 5.5
Speed: 9.8
Mid-bass: 8.5
Detail: 6
Soundstage: 5.5
Overall: 7
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Shiva Chandra - Gecko
Transparency: 8.6
Speed: 9+
Mid-bass: 8.2
Detail: 5+
Soundstage: 5+
Overall: 7.16+
T: Scary.
B: Heavy but slow bass.
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Compiled by Dj Dusk - Urban Awakening
Transparency: 5
Speed: 10
Mid-bass: 9.5
Detail: 5
Soundstage: 5
Overall: 6.9
S: A true reference album for speed. It has many different speeds for every system, slow to fast, it even has electric guitars (8 score) for those with Grados.
Track 7 is the fastest where the speed sound matches my system perfectly. The "increasing speed sound" starts blending together very late. That sound usually hovers somewhere between 9.7 and 10.1. The whole track has that sound and variations of it!
B: Bass has lot of information. This album has many different forms of bass, it's great to test your system with!
Here is what is says on
Psyshop.
"Mastered at 4cn studios up to the highest standard of quality to pull every punch right out of your speakers"
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Invasion From Hyperspace
Transparency: 5.2
Speed: 9.5
Mid-bass: 9.6
Detail: 4.9
Soundstage: 4.9
Overall: 6.82
T: Very few sounds sound like they are inside my room.
B: Great complex fast bass.
