Hello and welcome to this new post.
I was at Pano's home the other day where we were discussing about possible new albums worth getting - having already a lot of albums, it is not easy to find something new worth buying it.
Then we realized that we haven't heard a Queen album for a long time, so we started listening to some tracks from a 24bit / 48KHz FLAC Hi-Res file we have through the E-MU 0404 USB with a custom made battery PSU. (Update: we also found some 24bit / 176.4KHz files, but they sound exactly like their 24bit / 48KHz brothers).
Even though the sound was not bad, we were missing something that it can be descried as "rock energy". The sound was not satisfying; even though there was nothing disturbing, it left us wanting more.
Wondering if it was a fault of the file we had, Panos remembered that he also has a couple of CDs - so we started a comparison test. Still, the sound coming from the CDs and the Pioneer transport / Parasound DAC was almost the same with the sound of the Hi-Res files. No winner, both media left us wanting more in sound quality.
Maybe we found a new case like Dire Straits and Michael Jackson, where if you really want to enjoy their music, you have to go vinyl. Panos decided to make an investment, so the Kind of Magic LP album (Virgin EMI 180g vinyl, mastered at half speed, LC01846 0060254720) was bought.
Before continuing reading, I suggest you reading this post; this way you will understand why we are not dogmatic about the media carrying our music.
So, we started a new listening session in order to compare the sound of the LP by playing some tracks that could also be found at the Queen Greatest Hits CD we had (570CDP7979712). Since the CD was sounding like the high res file, we decided that we didn't need them both. We choose to focus at "It's A Kind Of Magic" and "Who Wants To Live For Ever" tracks. For first time readers, let me say that after a long experimentation, both our systems are capable reproducing various media in a balanced way; neither the systems nor we are dogmatic about the media. In this case, the turntable is a Dual 505-4 Audiophile edition perfectly set up with an Ortofon Super OM30 cartridge and the CD digital end is consisted of a Pioneer PD-S707 transport and a tweaked Parasound D/AC-1500 DAC.
I know that it won't help making this a fancy post, but I have to be straight and say it: practically both media were sounding the same. Panos felt that the LP had a slightly broader soundstage but that's it. The only useful conclusion we made was that listening at a Queen recording benefits from a higher volume; before you say anything this is not due to the system, we know that it can reproduce wonderful music at lower volumes without loosing on dynamics.
After this we decided to make the same comparison tests at my system where the most significant difference comes from the analogue front end; now the LP will be reproduced by a Technics SL-1210MK2, a Stanton 681EEE cartridge and a Japanese Jico shibata stylus.
The first thing we noticed at my system was the sudden appearance of very low end energy; a good example is at 00:55 of It's A Kind Of Magic track. We really wondered from where all this energy came from. LP was best at this, followed by the FLAC and then the CD. This time I also heard the slightly broader soundstage of the LP, however, there was a marginal trend of the LP to sound hubbub at complex refrains. Still, we felt a bit unsatisfied, needing something more in sound quality (I would say that what I miss is focus and control) in order to enjoy Queen the same way we enjoy the sound quality of a Dire Straits LP.
The differences described above are very small and are in no way a game changer; if for example you have the CD it is not worth buying the LP. If you have nothing and want to buy something, buy the media you feel your system is better at reproducing. Otherwise, if you want to go the emotional way, buy the LP; owning it gives more satisfaction. (Remember, in order to be able to listen to the low end energy I talked above, you have to have big floor standing speakers and strong amp(s).)
I assume that the limit at the sound quality of Queen comes from the master tapes and not the post production. Don't get me wrong, it is not that they sound bad, it is just that the sound quality is average + and certainly not equivalent to their name; it is in no way as good as the sound quality of Dire Straits or Pink Floyd albums.
As always, happy listening.
Chris
I was at Pano's home the other day where we were discussing about possible new albums worth getting - having already a lot of albums, it is not easy to find something new worth buying it.
Then we realized that we haven't heard a Queen album for a long time, so we started listening to some tracks from a 24bit / 48KHz FLAC Hi-Res file we have through the E-MU 0404 USB with a custom made battery PSU. (Update: we also found some 24bit / 176.4KHz files, but they sound exactly like their 24bit / 48KHz brothers).
Even though the sound was not bad, we were missing something that it can be descried as "rock energy". The sound was not satisfying; even though there was nothing disturbing, it left us wanting more.
Wondering if it was a fault of the file we had, Panos remembered that he also has a couple of CDs - so we started a comparison test. Still, the sound coming from the CDs and the Pioneer transport / Parasound DAC was almost the same with the sound of the Hi-Res files. No winner, both media left us wanting more in sound quality.
Maybe we found a new case like Dire Straits and Michael Jackson, where if you really want to enjoy their music, you have to go vinyl. Panos decided to make an investment, so the Kind of Magic LP album (Virgin EMI 180g vinyl, mastered at half speed, LC01846 0060254720) was bought.
 |
| Greedy audiophiles, need the same thing in several formats. |
So, we started a new listening session in order to compare the sound of the LP by playing some tracks that could also be found at the Queen Greatest Hits CD we had (570CDP7979712). Since the CD was sounding like the high res file, we decided that we didn't need them both. We choose to focus at "It's A Kind Of Magic" and "Who Wants To Live For Ever" tracks. For first time readers, let me say that after a long experimentation, both our systems are capable reproducing various media in a balanced way; neither the systems nor we are dogmatic about the media. In this case, the turntable is a Dual 505-4 Audiophile edition perfectly set up with an Ortofon Super OM30 cartridge and the CD digital end is consisted of a Pioneer PD-S707 transport and a tweaked Parasound D/AC-1500 DAC.
I know that it won't help making this a fancy post, but I have to be straight and say it: practically both media were sounding the same. Panos felt that the LP had a slightly broader soundstage but that's it. The only useful conclusion we made was that listening at a Queen recording benefits from a higher volume; before you say anything this is not due to the system, we know that it can reproduce wonderful music at lower volumes without loosing on dynamics.
After this we decided to make the same comparison tests at my system where the most significant difference comes from the analogue front end; now the LP will be reproduced by a Technics SL-1210MK2, a Stanton 681EEE cartridge and a Japanese Jico shibata stylus.
The first thing we noticed at my system was the sudden appearance of very low end energy; a good example is at 00:55 of It's A Kind Of Magic track. We really wondered from where all this energy came from. LP was best at this, followed by the FLAC and then the CD. This time I also heard the slightly broader soundstage of the LP, however, there was a marginal trend of the LP to sound hubbub at complex refrains. Still, we felt a bit unsatisfied, needing something more in sound quality (I would say that what I miss is focus and control) in order to enjoy Queen the same way we enjoy the sound quality of a Dire Straits LP.
The differences described above are very small and are in no way a game changer; if for example you have the CD it is not worth buying the LP. If you have nothing and want to buy something, buy the media you feel your system is better at reproducing. Otherwise, if you want to go the emotional way, buy the LP; owning it gives more satisfaction. (Remember, in order to be able to listen to the low end energy I talked above, you have to have big floor standing speakers and strong amp(s).)
I assume that the limit at the sound quality of Queen comes from the master tapes and not the post production. Don't get me wrong, it is not that they sound bad, it is just that the sound quality is average + and certainly not equivalent to their name; it is in no way as good as the sound quality of Dire Straits or Pink Floyd albums.
As always, happy listening.
Chris
I think it is the recording quality. Did you stumble upon better recordings? I find the queen audio quality already bad on the headphones output of my galaxy s8 phone. And that one is not really good lol.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed...
DeleteI've always thought that Queen's recordings lacked in openness, clarity, sound stage and dynamics, in fact it the music sounds very compressed;it's really irritating since I just know that there must be so much more. I wish that they would publish a uncompressed non clipped version of their music.
DeleteLet's hope for something from Analogue Productions or Mobile Fidelity.
Delete