Gotta say, when I did the switch, I never really felt that CD was inferior. I was happy with it. I'm not an audiophile so maybe that's why. But I really didn't feel any loss of quality, not that I can remember although it is yonks ago now. Maybe I was just so relieved to be shot of the physical annoyance of vinyl. But CD's are fine, imo.
Maybe the version McClain worked with was last reworked post thriller and thus not compatible with the T40 project?
From an objetive point of view, ignoring masterings, different mixings, bla bla yada yada yada, and purely from a technical stand point, CD is a million times better as a format than vinyl.
omg, we're still off-topic, I guess, but I have to ask, what do you mean? Bc I do absolutely love CD's but that conversation is never encouraged - and I don't care that much - so I usually leave it. But this is fascinating.
You know the answer lol
Aha! Now I'm beginning to understand. Bc I don't buy new music, hardly at all. My CD's are ancient. Maybe most of them are early generation and therefore better quality.
I do miss the quality control vinyl had which has been missing since. The loudness war is proof. If we had the same quality control and standards these days, oh boy...
I get that. After all, portability is one of the reasons which killed vinyl some decades ago.
True, especially when there's scratches and all types of dust and particles stuck in the grooves. Lucky are those who can afford to give their records some ultrasound cleaning.
Again, it's MJ and Quincy's fault it exists. It's been the B Side to the Girl Is Mine since 1982. It should just be on disc 3, end of discussion.
They do, they really do! but the thing is:
Even back then, the CD format, due to how new it was, didn't receive the proper care it needed, and what we've usually got on 80s CDs ends up being (most of the times) just raw transfers of master tapes, or copies of those, right in the middle of the 80s (so let's say 1986) is when people started to understand how to squeeze all the potential CD had, amazing dynamics, no artifacts and amazing quality, however, this is also when people started thinking "wait, this thing can hold 80s minutes of pure music... and speakers are now way more powerful...", thus since the 90s music on CD has been getting more and more loud, (and well, albums also got longer lol) and now as we all already know, most CDs from today sound terrible, not because of the format, but because that's what people want now, they just wanna blast their music lol
Guess I didn't make myself clear, but I was referring to the older, all-analog vinyl cuts. Needless to say current records cut from digital (re)masters are shite. Also, 80s and early 90s CDs are amongst the very best.
I get it!! I remember all of this. Had completely forgotten. I'm not a muso and don't read muso mags but I do remember these conversations. Yes, yes, yes, the frustration around all of this!!
They weren't gonna cannibalize the Michael album even worse than it already has been. No one ever has to listen to that album anymore, Casio tracks especially.
And I never did this. I didn't do the portable thing. god, this is so interesting.
Yes, but a lotta people did. For them, it wasn't about quality. It just had to be loud so they could hear it in their headphones, even in traffic.
Yep, exactly... this is still the case today obviously, even more with wireless earbuds, noise cancelling, people can just blast their music on the street, no wires to hold them back, and for this to work, their music obviously has to be as loud as it can without it distorting too much or otherwise they would notice and get mad lol
It's kinda a shame to me that even with automatic volume adjustment on all streaming services that people still compress the hell out of music. Compressed masters are on average made quieter than non compressed ones by this software so it's all pointless now.
I expounded in my comment. Almost Every song on Michael has an alternative version or the original demo available, most of them in superior quality to the way they were presented on the album. There's basically nothing exclusive there anymore.
Are we sure that’s the case? The majority of the vocals on this demo are the exact same, or eerily similar, to the 2010 mix. Even when they’re not, using alternate vocal takes doesn’t mean that a finished version exists. Remember, the original demo of “Do You Know Where Your Children Are” is slightly different vocally compared to the Timbaland or leaked version.
oh, I understand all of this. I just don't tune in to how other people listen to their music so I forget about the gap between what they are doing and what I'm doing.
There's entire stanzas missing here. It can't just be spliced right. The bit about "A two edged sword" "Throwin rocks at me", all missing.
Nice, are there some great mixes on youtube with the multitracks?
“Like a two-edged sword” is there. You are right that the “throwing rocks at me” is gone. But even so, one alternate verse that may exist in the archives doesn’t mean that there’s a fully complete version that just wasn’t used (though it’s definitely a curious situation).
Yeah, the demo just isn’t good in my opinion. The remix is top-tier though.
Well you can hear supposed acapellas mostly. Much Too Soon has been tuned a lot, strip away everything but the guitar and you basically have the demo.
“Much Too Soon” is another one that McClain really saved from mediocrity. The guitar/vocal mix is so devoid of interest. Beautiful song, but without orchestration it’s very stale imo.
Wasn't there a mix with orchestration dating back to 1994? I thought only the accordion and horns were added posthumously.
I'm listening to it now. It is there, you're right. It's everything after, the throwing rocks at me, that's missing. Because of the switching it around it admittedly is just harder to keep track lol. I just know there's a lot more humming. And I like the way he sings along with the robots.