It's probably the mix on that track.Very few engineers seem to be able to get an entire album right.Just my opinion. |
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What you are hearing is the naturalness of the recording. The sound is true to the artist. Rickie Lee's voice is raspy and rough. I still enjoy her nontheless. If you are listening to the LP try to adjust your antiskate and cartgridge weight. If you are listening to CD you may want to listen to it through a good tube DAC.
Rickie Lee is one that you like or not like.... I like her and Pop Pop isn't my favorite but the guitar and acoustic instruments are recorded very well. Just my opinion. |
No, I don't find her voice irritating on that track. Perhaps you're listening too loud? In my experience with many audiophiles, all too many are cranking beyond the linear range of their systems. Not all, but many. |
i really enjoy this recording. i have no issues with it at all. it's quiet and clean throughout. i really enjoy her style and her interpretations of songs. another winner is "it's like this" lp or cd, both sound fantastic. |
Yes, "It's like this" on double 45 12" is awful! Both in sound as in performance as well.
Another admirer of RLJ's music... |
Love the recording and performance. Found that it really improves with a good destat from the Bedini. Rolls the rough off and opens up everything.
Have owned the album since its debut and found its sonic character to change dramatically depending on which system I've had at the time. |
I have many of her recordings and find her hopelessly mannered, with "Pop Pop" being among the worst. So why do I keep buying them? Beats me :-) |
I 've just finished to play "Pop Pop" again. The track in question, "I'll be seeing you" is, in my ears, not irritating or inconvenient at all. Instead it is true that RLJ puts a lot of energy in her voice when she raises it. Fast increase too.
The recording has caught it very well: naturalness, as Recordho already has noted. Together with it's kind of rawness (and the reverb in the mixing) her voice could cause dazzling sound in some systems with lesser resolution. This kind of irritation?
I'm not shure, what record of her is my favorite. I'm rather listening to a couple of tracks from various albums.
BTW: has "Traffic from paradise" ever being issued on vinyl? |
I went back and listened to the track in question on "Pop Pop" and I don't hear anything unusual either.
I just received the new MOFI of "Pirates". It's excellent. One of the best recordings so far of RLJ material.
I have a German copy, (might be a Dutch copy actually) of "Traffic in Paradise", so it was available on LP. |
I've had Traffic From Paradise on LP since it came out years ago. Its an import- same as Pop Pop. They both have excellent sound- nothing irritating about either one, so long as your arm can track it :) |
Female voice is a grueling system test.
Ricki's is one of the more difficult ones for an analog rig to negotiate. Don't think it's only your analog setup however. A female voice can send some horrendously challenging transients to torture an entire system.
The better things are dialed in (from stylus to loudspeakers), the better life is with her.
For years I thought the same thing about Ricki and how "hot" she's been recorded, and while it is on the razor's edge of being out of control, it's analogous to the risks she takes as a performer.
For this reason, I've always tolerated these minor transgressions - because I've been a big fan of most everything she's done.
Now that I have dialed everything in nicely, it doesn't bother me in the least.
Another tough one is the last reprise of "Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" on the reissue of Joan Baez's "Farewell Angelina". Unfortunately, I don't have the original to compare against.
To make matters even more challenging, these are the last few "grooves" on the record side.
While I'm an advocate of setting things up correctly, it's still a music first sort of thing with me. I find that many audiophiles in our tribe will completely overlook a rowdy audience at a live show, but give them one tick or pop on a record and they go absolutely ballistic. I'm not pointing out anyone in this thread (which was initiated out of a quest for knowledge), but rather pointing out the flaws of many of our brethren. We are a strange lot indeed ;-)
Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier |
What about compression on It's Like This side D "Cycles"?
The high notes sound not irritating, but I lose the 3-D quality, they sound machine-made rather than human. Anybody else hear this?
I don't hear this on Pop Pop, but I've got the Alto version. Are you talking about the ORG? Not nearly as good in my system at least. |
Thanks to all. What I do want to clarify is that I find the entire LP very well done except for her voice on that one track only. And I did notice I may have had it cranked a bit much on the ole volume knob, so I lowered it a bit. From what I can tell is that her voice on this particular track is a bit forward at times, but the accoustic instruments a stellar! Thanks again to everyone's input as I am a bit of a greenhorn when it comes to vinyl. |
I have the ORG version and there is some distortion on "I'll Be Seeing You" at the start of the words ...morning.., ...park..., ...always... and...day... It sounds as if she moves slightly closer to the mike and loads it up or ( put proper terminology
here) |
Samhar, that is exactly what I am hearing. I tried a cart change but it's still there. |
Before my first response I re-checked alignment with Mint LP Best Tractor adjusted VTF, VTA and anti skate. |
LOL! I bought this (CD) because I heard so much about it, but women talking baby talk is like scratching your finger nails on a blackboard to me. This is your problem, not the audio quality.
COULD NOT STAND IT!
Had to sell it ASAP. What pablum.
JK |
You don't like loaded women? I played side 1 once and put it in the never play again/sell pile until this thread. The quality of the vinyl recording is good so I'll keep it as a tool for setting up cartridges and arms (I'll Be Seeing You) in particular. I can't imagine what this sounds like digital! |
Hiya,
I also have one of the original pressings.
I agree, it's the recording. Not unusual with RLJ I notice.
However, It's much worse on her EP "Girl at Her Volcano". Real distortion on the higher frequencies.
SP |
