Posted on 02/02/2010 10:26:59 AM PST by Lancey Howard
I am hoping somebody can help/advise ...
I picked up the new Beatles box set and loaded the first CD onto ITunes. (I like to burn my own compiliations.) Here's the problem: When I play it back, the vocal tracks sound like they are in the background. The vocals are overwhelmed by the instrumental tracks.
I have heard this effect before (though rarely) and it usually seems like if the channels were reversed, it would sound right. In other words, it sounds like if the tracks coming out of the left speaker were coming from the right speaker and vice versa, the overall sound would have the right vocals/instruments balance.
Does anybody know anything about this, and is it possible to load CDs from this set with the channels reversed? (No, switching the speakers won't do it, ha ha. Pffft.)
These are stereo recordings originally made in the early '60s, when stereo tracking was a relatively new art form for producers and engineers. I mean, producers would have distinct tracks totally separated between the stereo channels back then. If you ever listened to old stereo records from the era, you might remember that if you played with the balance knob on your receiver you could hear totally different tracks from the same song from speaker to speaker.
Thanks in advance to anybody who can help with this problem. I have been looking forward to these remastered recordings and am disappointed that they don't sound right.
By the way, I tried loading the CD using my NERO program and had exactly the same problem.
FRegards, LH
By the way, I DID check my sound controls and all the ‘balance’ arrows are dead center. I never fool around with that stuff anyway.. And like I said, all my other music sounds great.
FRegards,
LH
By the way, I checked out the site below but didn’t really understand what they were saying. Apparently, I’m not the only person looking for a way to switch the left-right stereo channels.
But it’s not just iTunes. I can’t find downloadable tracks anywhere. Amazon doesn’t have them either. All I see are “tribute” bands performing their songs.
Thanks again. I'll check this link and read the article.
"We were having problems with iTunes – well not iTunes, EMI was the problem – with downloading, which we'd like to do because that's how a lot of people get their music," explained McCartney.
Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney this afternoon blamed record label EMI for any delay in making music from the band available through iTunes.
McCartney said that he wants music from The Beatles to be made available as downloads, and slammed EMI for the long wait so far.
For what it’s worth...
“The Beatles in Mono is a box set compilation comprising the remastered monophonic recordings by The Beatles. The set was released on 9 September 2009, the same day the remastered stereo recordings and companion The Beatles Stereo Box Set were also released, along with The Beatles: Rock Band videogame. The remastering project for both mono and stereo versions was led by EMI senior studio engineers Allan Rouse and Guy Massey.[2]”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles_in_Mono
______________________________________
“The Beatles Stereo Box Set is a box set compilation comprising all of the remastered stereo recordings by The Beatles. The set was released on 9 September 2009, the same day both The Beatles: Rock Band and the remastered mono recordings were released (see The Beatles in Mono). The remastering project for both mono and stereo versions was led by EMI senior studio engineers Allan Rouse and Guy Massey.[2]
This is the third complete box set collection of original Beatles albums after The Beatles Collection and The Beatles Box Set.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles_Stereo_Box_Set
But it’s not just iTunes. I can’t find downloadable tracks anywhere. Amazon doesn’t have them either. All I see are “tribute” bands performing their songs.
If it's not in the iTunes store, it's not going to be anywhere... LOL... The iTunes store is the largest music sales "outfit" in the world, anywhere with anyone -- "brick and mortar" store or cyberspace store...
But, you've already seen the problem, it's "EMI"...
Check the back of your stereo. Make sure that the RED out on your stereo goes to the RED in on your speakers — both sides.
If you attach RED-RED on one speaker and RED-BLACK on the other, you’ll get phase cancelation, and your center will be messed up.
Well, switching left and right channels is a bit different than what I understood you describing up above... but... if this is the problem (only that...) — then you can test it out rather easily and see if it works.
Just plug in some earbuds and switch the left and right earbuds and see if it “sounds all right” after you do that.
If it sounds all right and everything is corrected — then that’s obviously your problem, and then you can seek out a software solution to your problem of the left and right channels being reversed.
I sorta doubt that’s the problem, but the “sure-fire” method for testing it out — is — simply to switch your earbuds and see if it sounds okay... [no really... that will tell you... LOL...]
I had the same problem with iTunes yesterday. I burned some songs to disc for my 4 year old to listen to in the car, for whatever reason she loves “Day Tripper” so that was one of them. And it burned with no bass or drums, just vocals, guitars, and tambourine. It sounds perfect on CD and on the computer but not on the CD burned by iTunes.
Thanks again. Here is the text of the article you linked to:
*UPDATED: The Beatles blame EMI for delayed downloads through Apple’s iTunes
Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney this afternoon blamed record label EMI for any delay in making music from the band available through iTunes.
McCartney said that he wants music from The Beatles to be made available as downloads, and slammed EMI for the long wait so far.
Speaking to the NME, he said: “We were having problems with iTunes – well not iTunes, EMI was the problem – with downloading, which we’d like to do because that’s how a lot of people get their music.”
McCartney notes the band’s sidestepped the problem by getting involved in the new ‘The Beatles: Rock Band’ game, which is released tomorrow (September 9).
We also know that Apple will host a music-related special event tomorrow - with huge speculation that music from the band will be made available through iTunes.
We still don’t know, and McCartney isn’t telling us, saying only: “We’ve kind of bypassed that [download problems] because now you can do it in ‘Rock Band’,” he said. “I always liked that, when you’re told you can’t do something and suddenly there’s a little route round the back.”
We’re hoping Apple Corps. and Apple Inc. have also found their own backstairs route to shoving music up onto iTunes.
UPDATE: Stand easy, as it looks unlikely music from The Beatles will make it onto iTunes tomorrow, with EMI continuing to drag its feet, denying legal music downloaders the chance to purchase music from one of the world’s biggest bands. Speaking to the Financial Times, Ernesto Schmitt, EMI’s global catalog president, said: “Conversations between Apple and EMI are ongoing and we look forward to the day when we can make the music available digitally. But it’s not tomorrow.” ...”
http://www.9to5mac.com/the_beatles_paul_mccartney_EMI_blocks_Apple_itunes_deal
I suggest the first step is to play the CD in an ordinary CD player (non-headphone) A car stereo or home stereo would be best (something with some speaker separation.
If you still get the same sound then of course its nothing to do with iTunes or your computer.
As has been noted by many upthread, when ripping CDs strange things happen to the sound because of digital encoding. Such has to do with the way digital handles "peak frequencies"
So what sounds good at one digital encoding rate may sound like crap on another, Usually the bigger the sample the better but because the way digital deals with peak freq. sometimes smaller size will sound better due to changes in phase between channels.(not usually the case but it can happen)
I've noticed now some musicians savvy to such issues are starting to put different mixes/masters out for different formats.
You loaded the CD's upside down.......
Okay, I downloaded that copy of the CD that I think you were talking about... I went down to the 9th (??) CD on that list, which was “Please Please Me”... and it completed. I’ve got the other CD downloading now, too.
It’s a FLAC file so it’s an exact copy of the CD, lossless and thus no compression or differences from the CDs.
All I can say is that this is not the album that I remember... :-) [there are songs on there that I don’t remember being on there, but then again, this is the U.K. so they had different song combinations than Capitol Records did, in the U.S.A., back then.
So, I went to the songs that I remember... and I played them, and they sound good to me...
Are you sure this is the boxed set that you’re talking about, since someone else on this thread mentions three different kinds of boxed sets?
Give me an Amazon.com link to the boxed set that you got and I’ll go from there and check it out to what I’ve got downloaded... :-)
The download link I gave up above [ The Beatles Stereo Box Set [FLAC] ] is for the first link of these two, the stereo one.
And, I listened to the one labeled "Please Please Me" (I actually counted nine down on the alphabetical list, so I wasn't sure if this was the one you were mostly talking about...).
But, I'll have them all downloaded shortly and then I can listen to any of them. Let me know if switching the earbuds (left to right) made any difference, regarding that link you gave me up above, in which someone was discussing the left and right being switched, on that forum). I didn't think that was the problem you were describing, however.
At any rate, let me know and tell us how you're doing with it, about now... :-)
I have no idea if the U.K. Amazon can ship to the U.S. or not and/or if there are limitations for anyone outside of the U.K. buying these... :-)
This is done in FLAC format, and I am guessing it can be downloaded onto computers and iPods without restriction and no DRM...
I’m looking forward to your update, and to hear whether my suggestion in #48 helped out. What you’re describing sounds like “phase cancellation” (google that term) — either because the speakers are wired incorrectly (likely) or because one channel of the audio file has been inverted or shifted very slightly (very unusual).
This article explains the phenomenon a bit:
http://www.audiocourses.com/article1664.html
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