[Sound Eq]

When I started getting into head fi few years ago, it was on a thought that I will be able to enjoy music from the 80s, I was very naïve with my thought.

most of the 80s bands I adored when I was in my teen years, listening to them now is impossible to enjoy, but I remember in my teen years in the 80s I just had a cassette player and some unknown headphones or speakers, and I used to literally enjoy the sound recording of those bands.

Now its literally impossible for me to even think to listen to them. I wonder why?

examples
1- the cure
2- depeche mode
3- def leppard
4- new order
5- ultravox

and the list goes on

nowadays I ventured into different music, as listening to those bands and their albums released in the 80s is not giving me any joy, the recording quality is so anemic and kills the buzz to enjoy them.

 

[Nago]

For several reasons probably:
- Human change and with them their taste.
- You probably spent a good amount of your ealier years listening to those bands. Hence it's possible that you heard their songs too often.
- Last but not least it might be partially your gears fault. Good gear makes some genres shine while others become "boring" and "unexcited".

 

[Death_Block]

Are you saying you don't enjoy the 80's, or the recording of music from the 80's? I love the 80's, and yes, their albums sound different to stuff recorded more recent but that's just the way it is. That's why vinyl still exists. People want to remember the way it used to sound.

 

[Sound Eq]

Are you saying you don't enjoy the 80's, or the recording of music from the 80's? I love the 80's, and yes, their albums sound different to stuff recorded more recent but that's just the way it is. That's why vinyl still exists. People want to remember the way it used to sound.

the recording quality is intolerable for me, its not like I used to remember it, I used to literally enjoy listening to them in my teens

now all I think bout when listening to my fav albums from the 80s, is dam the recording is so sterile

I remember when I got my first audeze headphone and the hopes I had while driving back from the store to my home, that now I will be able to enjoy my fav music, but it was a slam in my face to discover the opposite, once I arrived home unpacked the box plugged in my headphone, i said dam still things sound bad compared to my recollection of past memories, it was then when I learned bout sound quality and all the ins and outs

 

[Silver]

i remember i said i dont enjoy listen PULP on Sony MD and their respective earbud MDR-E888, high school 20 years ago approx

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Joined Dec 25, 2001 Posts 510 Likes 12






I find Pulp's His 'n' Her, Diffrent Class and This is Hardcore sound really thin with my MD rig- Sony MZ-R900 w/ E888, which made me can't appreciate their albums when compare to the solid quality I got when listening to Radiohead stuff... Anyone have similar problems with Pulp records?






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[geek707]

snarky reply: That was 40+ years ago, you have changed.
Not so snarky: Early digital is not the same as modern digital. I come from a photography background, and am very aware how digital files have changed over the years.
If the music was recorded on an analog device and the media is still around and something to play it back is still around, there's a chance that someone will remaster using modern electronics and software. I have raw Nikon digital files from 2004-2005 that when processed by modern software, can look very good.
That said I know nothing about audio recording, and have no clue about what digital format a recorder of that time used.

 

[bigshot]

It isn't the sound quality, it's the music. You don't read the same books or eat the same food you ate when you were 16. Why should you listen to the same music? Tastes should grow and change.

Geek707, some of the best sounding albums ever recorded were recorded in the 80s. Steely Dan and Dire Straits in particular. 80s digital sounds as good as modern digital. It just wasn't as flexible.

 

[71 dB]

When I started getting into head fi few years ago, it was on a thought that I will be able to enjoy music from the 80s, I was very naïve with my thought.

We all are naïve before getting wiser.

Most of the 80s bands I adored when I was in my teen years, listening to them now is impossible to enjoy, but I remember in my teen years in the 80s I just had a cassette player and some unknown headphones or speakers, and I used to literally enjoy the sound recording of those bands. Now its literally impossible for me to even think to listen to them. I wonder why?

Back in the 80's you had heard much less music and all the music and recordings done after the 80's didn't even exist! You are demanding significantly more than back in the 80's. You also have now significantly more transparent audio gear able to tell apart good and bad recordings easily. Back in the 80's your C-cassette player and crappy headphones/speakers made all recordings sound the same so you didn't even pay attention.

examples
1- the cure
2- depeche mode
3- def leppard
4- new order
5- ultravox

and the list goes on

I never listened to the music of the 80's that much myself. I got into music in late 80's and it was mostly electronic dance music (e.g. Acid House) rather than pop/rock. Later I have got into some more 80's music including New Order in your list. For me the somewhat clumsy way how this music was produced using mostly analog gear and fairly limited amount of tracks is part of the fascination. I don't even expect the level of production one can hear in newer music. No wonder if the distortions created by C-cassette can make the sound richer!

Nowadays I ventured into different music, as listening to those bands and their albums released in the 80s is not giving me any joy, the recording quality is so anemic and kills the buzz to enjoy them.

Well, listen to the music that gives you joy, whatever that is. Who says it has to be 80's music?

 

[jagwap]

One possible reason: A lot of 80's music used synths and electronic drums. However as time has past they are showing their age. Many had crude harmonic structures compared with more mature or acoustic instruments. Splashy, crashy, & brash. If used well they can be fine, but many bands, they couldn't get enough of them (Depeche Mode - oh dear). The remaining instruments and vocals would tend to join the mode, making things quite unsubtle.

There were producers and artists who made the best of it and didn't go over the top. Dave Stuart of Eurthmics started with modest beginnings and usually made it come out OK, even by today's standards, as an example of the genre.

I kind of agree with your list. I liked several of them at the time, and they get less plays now. Some of it is because of above. But also there is the genre shift. It takes me a while to get back into some genres if I haven't visited them for a while. Like early Genesis. Great stuff, but it takes a few tracks to get me "there" again ("Me I'm just a lawnmower, you can tell me by the way I walk." - Peter Gabriel, really?)

If you want to try something late eighties that still sounds good, try Thomas Dolby - Aliens Ate My Buick (bare with me, really. Heard it used as a sound check in big live shows many times), or Colour of Spring, by Talk Talk. Talk Talk went on to make some seriously out there albums after this, but these became hugely to many and are worth your patience.

 

[bigshot]

Talking Heads Remain In Light

 

[ST33L]

I know that some of the stuff on your list wasn’t recorded very well, and good gear will expose their flaws, but I’ve found that most of Depeche Mods recordings are done very well.

 

[Death_Block]

I feel this generation will think the same about autotune. /Gross

 

[gregorio]

I remember in my teen years in the 80s I just had a cassette player and some unknown headphones or speakers, and I used to literally enjoy the sound recording of those bands.
Now its literally impossible for me to even think to listen to them. I wonder why?

Popular music of any era is a cultural phenomena of it’s time and was popular by comparison with other music at that time and earlier. Therefore, popular music of the 1980’s was both a reflection and driver of 1980’s teen culture, and as you were actually a teen in the 1980’s it’s hardly surprising that you identified/related to it, largely irrespective of it’s recording quality. Today, you are obviously no longer a teen, current teen culture/music has evolved considerably and so have you.

So when you listen to 1980’s popular music now, that popular culture to which you identified or related to, no longer exists and all you have is nostalgia and your evolved tastes/preferences and listening experience. So it’s not surprising that the recording quality that was largely irrelevant when you were a teen, you now take more notice of, or that it often doesn’t stand up well in comparison with some popular music recordings from the 1990’s and later. And obviously, that comparison wasn’t possible in the 1980’s, you could only compare 1980’s recordings with other recordings of the same time or earlier.

G

 

[odarg64]

The late 70s through 80s was the golden age of popular music in my view. From punk to 'new wave' (a disputed term; some bands mentioned above) to hardcore punk, there is just so much great music. I grew up in the 80s and didn't appreciate them until I was older as I was then stuck in the 60s/70s (now 'classic' rock) rut for some unknown reason. Yawn. I definitely missed out then. Recording quality itself has always varied considerably from garbage to stellar, given the technology of the time. That's nothing new and is still the case.

You could go down the rabbit hole of 80s hardcore punk alone and not emerge for years. Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Marginal Man, Minor Threat, Government Issue, Bad Brains, Minutemen etc. Start with Dischord Records and their boatload of DRM-free downloads (320kbps, though you won't know the difference). Beautiful, angry music played by a good number of virtuouso musicians. Then, if you want to work back to the proper 70s: Stooges, New York Dolls, Heartbreakers, Television, Richard Hell and Vodoids, Ramones etc.

For a 'new wave' sampler, look for the 'Just Can't Get Enough' series.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Can't_Get_Enough:_New_Wave_Hits_of_the_'80s

Fabulous.

Good luck!

 

[hakunamakaka]

I start finding well recorded music already from the late 1950's and I often test system imaging capabilities with old tracks like

MARC MOULIN ‎– TOHUBOHU - PART I (1975)
Yello Great mission - (1983)

which can make lots of modern music sound compressed. At the moment Milk and Honey by Jackson C Frank (1965) is playing in the background and I do not see it failing in terms of SQ against any modern music. There is lots of old, but very well produced music. You just need to know where to look