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Author Topic: TSS and other SMiLE-related discs - suspicious noises and sound deterioration  (Read 1567 times)
zaval80
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« on: January 16, 2012, 01:39:05 AM »

This thread is mostly for attention of those who’d like their SMiLE recordings to sound as accurately as possible. Let’s discuss here the details of any SMiLE-related release with sonic anomalies – what you think could be a damage to the sound, that in your opinion shouldn’t be on the recording. Report here all kinds of suspicious noises, so a research could be made which of them are “benign” (should be left as they are) and which are “malevolent” (should be edited out).

First entry is:
Track 9 on TSS CD1 – Wonderful

Summary:
1.20 mark, sounds like a click on the voice – tape artifact, not to be touched.
1.29 mark, a rustling noise – 2011 artifact, not needed – an upgrade is made.

Thanks to Mr. Ralan who turned my attention to “Wonderful” on Barnshine’s TSS Companion. He asked me to declick the lone click at 1.20. This click I found to be a sequence of small disturbances which looked in the wave-editing software like belonging to the tape. It turned out to be present on the official releases: TSS CD1, the LP (I checked out the rip made by “son-of-albion”), GV box set too. So there is no reason in trying to correct this seemingly “benign” noise, although this can be done.

However, I’ve noticed a rustling noise in one channel at 1.29 in Barnshine’s “Wonderful”. When I compared that Barnshine’s track to the official CD and the “son-of-albion” rip (both are mono), this anomaly was in place on both, naturally in both channels. When I listened to the track on GV box set (mono) – it wasn’t there!

I started to investigate / eradicate what I thought to be the defective spots - on TSS CD1 - by manual declicking which I do when I want to preserve as much quality as possible. However, my efforts were not fruitful in the end. I think the noises became glossed over, or “embedded” into the general sound, when the sound was processed by the compilers, so I was not able to recognize them in the waveforms.  

I had to try then the most obvious approach and substituted the problematic range using the GV box. It worked like a charm after the smallest adjustment in volume, sounding spotless now! Those who want the corrected track – PM me.

Lastly, I would not want this thread to sound as if I don’t appreciate the sterling efforts of the compilers of TSS. My approach is purely practical – if there’s a possibility for improving what we have thanks to them, it must be pursued for the communal benefit.  
« Last Edit: January 16, 2012, 01:42:18 AM by zaval80 » Logged
zaval80
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« Reply #1 on: January 23, 2012, 12:28:08 AM »

Entry 2: Gee

Click at 0.19: this one is strange – heard on TSS quite clearly, but I cannot hear it with any sureness on GV box, though I cannot rule its presence there out either.

I was not able to locate it, and was not able to substitute a range – any range – from GV box either (for those interested in fine aspects of editing, it must be on TSS CD1 somewhere in the range 0.19.829-0.19.887). Every time I thought I did a smooth job at last, I heard a click, so I gave up. Problem is, GV box has more lower frequencies, so it sounds differently from TSS and any substitution must be suitably short. Maybe this click has more of these lower frequencies on GV box, thus, masked there.

Gee is full of other alien noises which should have been taken care of for a really smooth remaster – but all these noises are on GV box too, thus, they must be from the tape.

Entry 3: Barnyard

Click at 0.45: not on bootlegs of the instrumental track (which are of much worse quality). This click has been reported in another thread. It looks in the software like a bad digital edit. I’ve edited it out – an upgrade is made in two versions: box set track, Bruiteur’s track without piano. These are of exactly the same length and size as the originals. PM me if you want them.

Entry 4: YAMS / OMP

Click at 0.25: not on Mark Linnett’s mix on the bootleg, thus – a recent artifact. Edited out – an upgrade is made, of exactly the same length and size as the original. PM me if you want it.
« Last Edit: January 23, 2012, 12:30:36 AM by zaval80 » Logged
hypehat
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« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2012, 05:54:58 AM »

We've had a bunch of discussion on this. How are you analysing these? I and some other people have had issues when importing the discs onto the computer, more pops and clicks and distorted things of that nature.
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zaval80
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« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2012, 12:07:22 AM »

First, one should make sure the "import" of music into the computer is done right. The most sure method I know of - to do CD rips by finely-tuned EAC software (ExactAudioCopy), this is the only software I know that does rips IDENTICAL to what's on the CD. However, certain drives may turn out to be better than others, and the results may be slightly different when EAC tries to read the pit information on the drive which performs not as good as the other one. So, to be sure that the audio is captured in the bset mode, it makes sense to do such rips on two different machines, and to compare them. EAC allows to compare WAV files, reporting the spots where audio differs, even if by one byte only. So it's purely a technical problem.

It's true that great many SMiLE tracks have sonic artifacts of various kinds. If there were a person responsible for preparation of audio for the release at the record company, who'd take the trouble to listen to the whole thing in headphones at a leisurely pace, once or at maximum twice, we'd have much less of these sonic artifacts - at the very least those which are not inherent to the tapes they've taken from the archives. But nowadays, not all record companies do this. In fact, there's nothing to be complained aloud on TSS in this department, just minor quips. Other companies, like EMI, manage worse (recent box by The Hollies on EMI is catastrophic in this sense).

Now sonic artifacts on those TAPES, they are another matter. Some of them originate from the edits Brian has made with a razor, some are due to the tape deterioration, some are due to the recording process (say, some click which may be produced by a switch of a knob on an amplifier or on some other electronic device.

In my observations, I try not to focus on the latter ones, only on the artifacts which I cannot detect on other releases of the same material. I don't know why they happen on TSS, but obviously if they cannot be heard on older releases, there is no historical value in these sounds. On the other hand, any strange sounds which are reproduced from release to release - it must be the sole privilege of the official remasterer, to get rid of them. Sometimes they do it, sometimes not. For example, when they remastered The Beatles' catalogue in 2009, such track as "She's Leaving Home" has lost about a half of its artifacts, while the other half remained.

I analyze the audio in Soundforge 6, using a most common sound card and Koss PortaPro headphones - in my experience, my set up is quite good for detecting problems with audio.
« Last Edit: January 25, 2012, 12:16:04 AM by zaval80 » Logged
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