Oh yeah loomis, Pet Sounds is the album that really kicked Paul McCartney into high gear in regard to album making. The other Beach Boys were on the road touring, and returned home to find Brian had the album’s instrumental tracks completely done (he not just wrote the albums material, but also orchestrated it, produced it, and conducted the orchestra players in its recording), waiting for their vocal tracks to be recorded. "God Only Knows" is, I believe, amongst the handful of greatest Pop songs ever written, an absolute masterpiece. For an insight into its brilliance, look for the You Tube video in which a music teacher sits at a piano, explaining the construction of the song while playing the chords and melody etc.
Beach Boys Pet Sounds by Analogue Productions
OK, so I was banned from the S. Hoffman site for saying I had a sibilance on my mono copy of AP Pet Sounds. I described that it had very lush mids and strong bass but was confused by the sibilance. So, I made a post asking people if there may be a problem with playback of mono through my stereo setup and...mentioned Pet Sounds! (had no idea there was a psycho lurking). I also asked if anyone else had been experiencing this because I wasn't getting it on other LPs. Long story short, after a couple of informative responses from normal people, Hoffman makes a very angry post that completely trashes me and hurls some generic insults. I gave it back to him because it was just so infantile of a response that I couldn't resist. I just instantly lost respect I guess. After a few back and forths, I sent a personal message asking that my account be deleted. Instead he banned me, and of course the thread was deleted, just like every other thread about Pet Sounds with any real content. Even though I'm banned, it looks like I'm still listed as an active member, I assume so that it's not obvious to other members that he got mad and banned someone for not praising his work. Unbelievable.
Long story short, the responses I got before the host got involved were positive, stating that others were not experiencing the sibilance that I was. What was weirder was that I had already stated that I was thinking that it was either my system or unique to the LP I received. Anyway, I was hoping it was safe to talk about this LP here...or does he control this site too? Hope not!
Long story short, the responses I got before the host got involved were positive, stating that others were not experiencing the sibilance that I was. What was weirder was that I had already stated that I was thinking that it was either my system or unique to the LP I received. Anyway, I was hoping it was safe to talk about this LP here...or does he control this site too? Hope not!
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The Pet Sounds album wasn't recorded very well (sonically) to begin with. Veiled, weak bass, muted highs, etc. It doesn't matter which pressing you get, they all sound that way. Now, the Surfer Girl album, that's a different story! All the early "Stereo" Beach Boy albums (up through and including Wild Honey, a REALLY poorly recorded album) are actually Capitol Records' "Duophonic" (electronically reprocessed Mono)---due to Brian Wilson being almost deaf in one ear, he mixed to Mono on one speaker---except, for some reason, Surfer Girl. Clean, crisp sound too. |
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Jokerman I agree with you 100%. I have the 40th anniversary of Pet Sounds in mono and stereo. It sounded bad and replaced it with the Analogue Productions version in 45rpm mono. Sounds horrible too. Using Ortofon 2m mono se cartridge. Always put on my Cole After Midnight LP on my system to make sure everything is ok with the system. That and the mofi Dylan’s sound great . Surprised to hear this after listening to AP release of Surfer Girl which sounds amazing. |
If you're hearing sibilance well then by golly you're hearing it! It's there for some reason and anyone who cares about this would have, should have, offered to help, not ridicule. Why there wasn't more interest in helping you solve it is beyond me. It is possible that that particular piece of vinyl wasn't quite ready for pressing, and for some reason the attacks on vocals are "vomiting" your cartridge as it hits those transients. If this doesn't happen with any other recordings, so please be honest here, then it is not your cartridge or table. Remember, mono recordings modulate only in the horizontal, there is no vertical motion of the stylus. Make sure you run at maximum VTF as recommended by the cartridge manufacturer when playing mono records. |
How do you adjust your anti skating? Why would you increase it for thick vinyl? For thick vinyl adjusting VTA is not a bad idea. Do you use a blank record to adjust your anti skating? A blank record is a record with no grooves.Buying a 3 sided album like 2nd Winter by Johnny Winter or Three Sides Live by Genesis will yield you one. Drop tonearm on blank record and adjust so tonearm travels the surface of the record from outside to inside at the same speed. If you drop your tonearm on the record and it just glides fast toward the end of the record you need to adjust,remember same speed from the outer to center to end.The fact that the music sounds better as the tonearm travels inward is an indication your VTA is off or as you say you got a bad pressing and if it isn't to late return it. |
jafant
Yes, one gets banned for any disagreement. This, very clearly, is a violation against our 1st Amendment Rights! What you describe is very clearly not even remotely a First Amendment violation. Sorry, but you need to read the Bill of Rights more carefully. The First Amendment offers protection from government censorship. It offers no protection from censorship by private entities. That's perfectly legal, and widely practiced. |
Yes, I knew I was going to get banned but that's me. I'm sickened seeing people kiss butt to moderators/dealers, etc. over their real opinions and that happens on pretty much all forums. I'm in same boat in that I'm not familar with the recording as much as others. The problem was that I had a perhaps naive, but very real question about an audio recording but forgot that Stevie Hoffman was the engineer and that he was very sensitive. I'm listening to it now and it's all over the place and it's not audiophile in most places. I DO understand though that it is prob the best version available. I have a friend who explained that the original recording kind of sucks. That is,the kind of info I needed! |
I'm a pretty regular participant there, but didn't see your thread. I'm not a huge Pet Sounds fanatic (I know some people regard it as a pinnacle album) and have that old Carl and the Passions twofer. As for Steve and being banned, I know that if you argue with a mod, let alone Steve over a warning, you will get banned. Whether that applied in your case, I have no idea. |
I check level of my TT every session and i usually increase my anti skate when I put on 180-200 gram albums. I'm only hearing it on this lp. I just listened to several thick albums (Dylan MFSL with harp and backup singers) and all is as it should be. I think I got one of the lsst albums from the first batch since it's gone into repressing recently. I still think mine is a dud somehow though. Its very sibilant. Did they do a hi res for this? That's a good thing about hi res since each repressing can be same as first. |
The Mono Beach boys album in which you speak sounds so lush in my system. I would suggest you check your tonearm settings,make sure your turntable is level. I had this happen to me and it turned out to be my anti skating setting. I only mention this because you have stated it is happening on other recordings. |
Hey, you were warned! And well, I hate to tell you this, but you’ve now been banned from Audiogon! Please do not post here again, ever! If you do, well, there is not much I can do about it, but I will sit in the corner and hold my breath until I turn blue and pass out!!! (That’ll fix you!!!) Sincerely, Steve Hoffman AKA SIR Steve Hoffman ;-) |
