Recording quality...


A lot of time here is spent discussing equipment, which is to be expected.  But even the best gear will not mask a lousy recording.  Let's face it, some labels use better recording equipment, microphone placement, mixing and so on to create stunning sound.  Other labels just don't sound as good.  

Case in point...when I purchase a recording, I'm looking for a recording date within the last five years.  I realize that some classic recordings took place years ago recorded with analog equipment, but it will still sound old on anything modern you play it on.  I'm not a big fan of remastering either.  Look, I realize that we can't bring back Miles Davis or get Pink Floyd back together to do a modern recording, but imagine if we could.

Once, when I was a kid, I was lucky enough to witness a live recording session in a real studio.  This was in the late 60s, when real musicians played real instruments.  They used these gigantic Scully tape machines with inch-thick Ampex 456 tape running at fast speed and a mixing board, which was the most modern recording equipment of the time.  Today, that equipment belongs in a museum, considering the modern tools that recording engineers have now.  

My point here is that great equipment is nice, but paired with a recent recording using modern tools, the sound is so much better.  Just my humble opinion.  What say you to this?
mikeydee

Showing 1 response by shadorne

Not true. The golden era of multi-million facilities and record companies sponsoring artists to spend months coming up with masterpiece (assisted by producers and sound engineers who are often great artists themselves) IS DEAD. 

Telarc folded a few years ago as people don't care for quality anymore.

Very little produced in the last five years sounds good compared to the golden recording era that started in the 60's and ended by the 90's. 
Compare Let it Bleed to the latest Stones release. Compare U2 Joshua Tree to anything they have done since. Compare Adele 19 to the latest Adele crap. Compare foo fighters or Nirvanna early stuff to the latest by Dave Grohl. 9 out of 10 sound worse than they sounded 30 years ago.