Maybe it's just me....

....but it seems like the mastering for a lot of Christian albums is just too muddy with the bass being too loud.  I've bought several reissues in the past year and one recently, and that is the same complaint I'd have from all of them  The bass is so loud that you cannot really hear the guitars.  I love some bass as I am a bass player.  But, I know that for music to truly be memorable, you need the vocals and lead instruments to shine through the mix.  If you bring out the frequencies for the bass and bass drum too much during mastering, you will lose some of the middle and highs.  You will lose part of the stereo spread.

I bought the new reissue of Revelation called "Spiritual Wind".  Yes, I know they were taken from cassette albums.  The bass is so high in the mix that it accentuates that these were nothing more than demos.  If they were recorded in a high end studio, then the mastering makes them sound like they were demos.

I may play around with the rips of the CD I made and see if I can excite the mids a little to see if I can hear the guitars better.  I may also stretch the stereo spread so that everything else cuts through correctly.

I'd say you can't polish a turd but Mythbusters proved that to be incorrect.

Sometimes the music is decent but the remaster renders it almost unlistenable.

It must be very hard to get a good balance between bass,guitar, drums.

For me, when mixing the hardest thing to do is get the vocals to sit right. It's very frustrating!

I can master and hear what needs to be done there.  With mixing, however, I struggle.  I wonder if I tried someone else's project instead of being so close to my own if that would help.

Whatever it is, it's always just you...

I just finished work on a review of the Guardian First Watch re-issue from earlier this year (on Retroactive).  This is the third version to the album, including the original Enigma release from 1989, the first Retroactive re-issue (with Steinhause re-mastering) and second Retroactive re-issue (Rob Colwell re-mastering).

First thing I did prior to writing the review was listen to each version side by side to see how they compare (my stereo equipment is pretty good and dates to the mid-eighties and includes top of the line Pioneer DSS-5 speakers and a Proton D540 power amplifier).  Here are my thoughts:

1.  Both Retroactive re-issues sound better than the original, which does not sound that bad to begin with.

2.  The Steinhaus and Colwell re-masters both pretty much do the same thing: increase volume levels and in the process elevate the low end and better bring out the background details.  To be honest, it is difficult to tell the two apart- so it pretty much is a 'wash' or 'photo finish' between the two.  So it sounds as if Steinhaus and Colwell both pretty much did the same thing, although those with a greater ear for detail might digress.

My advise would be to get the most recent re-issue due to the improved packaging that comes in a jewel case and includes a 12-page mini booklet.

Quote :

My advise would be to get the most recent re-issue due to the improved packaging that comes in a jewel case and includes a 12-page mini booklet.

Considering that I just file away new CDs after I put them on my MP3 player, buying anything for the booklet just doesn't make sense to me.  If I played that CD and really studied the booklets like I did in my younger years, it might.  I want an improved sound if there is a remaster.  If both Retroactive versions sound almost identical, then I will stick with the Steinhaus version.  With Coldwell's, he seems to like to make everything a bit too bass heavy which, to me, seems to muddy up the mix too much.

I feel as if too many Christian music projects are recorded on too low of a budget. I know Stryper had some state-of-the-art equipment for their more polished albums, but apart from them there's very little that sounds great, I find.

I think part of it is that some remasters are ripped from vinyl because of the absence of the original masters, which typically lowers the quality some.

It’s not just Christian it’s secular also. A lot of it is modern production that reduces the dynamic range and brick walls the sound. Back in the 80’s and earlier most albums were mastered with the range around 12 or higher. Most albums now are mastered around 8 or less. Check out this link of Stryper albums. If you want can search other artists or album titles.
http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list?artist=Stryper&album=

There's too much compression on everything now....it tends to cut the high end off of the signal and emphasize the low end.
I struggle with it playing live because FOH always wants to compress the snot out of my bass, which kills my dynamic range and makes my tone very bland.

The compression and brickwalling on most new music actually gives me a headache

dale434445 wrote:

The compression and brickwalling on most new music actually gives me a headache

Same here.  I notice that there is this wash of noise in the newer recordings and it seems much harder to distinguish the instruments compared to older recorded stuff.  I think that's the part that gives me a headache, especially if I listen to a few newer albums in a row.

Staybrite wrote:

dale434445 wrote:

The compression and brickwalling on most new music actually gives me a headache

Same here.  I notice that there is this wash of noise in the newer recordings and it seems much harder to distinguish the instruments compared to older recorded stuff.  I think that's the part that gives me a headache, especially if I listen to a few newer albums in a row.

That’s exactly the reason I have pretty much given up on new music. I had a remaster or Rolling Stones- let it bleed album with a dynamic range of around six that had plenty of bass but just didn’t sound that good. I rebought the original issue that has a dynamic range of around 12. It is amazing how much better the original sounds. Not harsh and youcan hear all the nuiances, it just sounds more natural.