John Ralston, PSN vs iTunes Mix

[luke_m]

First off, no disrespect to anyone, if anyone gets mad, Remember I'm just one random guy on the internet, so no big deal. I'm just curious..

I have been going through the PSN podcasts slowly but surely, and came across number 22, Where they play "I Believe In Ghosts" by John Ralston.

Wow what a great song, I really love the mix, the sonics, the dynamics. Think its fantastic, had to listen to it over and over.

Jumped on iTunes to buy it, Previewed it, and sounded completely different, I've switched back and forth with the same ipod headphones, sonically its just not the same...

Was the copy on PSN not yet mastered, or an early mix? Or does iTunes master/squish the preview songs differently?

P.S. If no one can say anything at risk of offending everyone, fair enough.

[PSN Big Al]

I haven't compared the two of them, but the one that was
played on our show went through our mastering process, which
added some saturation and limiting. It might have sounded more
aggresive because of that. I would guess that the commercial
one is cleaner and a little more dynamic.

[Charles Dye]

The mix we played on PSN is identical to the album/CD/iTunes mix.

But are you saying you compared the iTunes "preview" to PSN? iTunes preview is real lo-fi compared to the actual download. The preview, as you said, squishes the mix. It's also gonna have less top-end, + be a bit grainier on preview.

If you do purchase it, it will be the same mix as PSN.

Glad you liked it. Thanks for your kind words. John Ralston rocks big time. Amazing talent. You can check out a couple other songs of John's here (http://www.charlesdye.com/music).

[EricTheKid]

Hey guys,

I'd just like to add that I swear I hear some graininess on certain downloads that I purchase from iTunes. Until I read this thread, I though I was crazy or that my ears were deceiving me. :icon_eek: I don't know what they're doing to these songs (perhaps the compression down to 128 kbps??), but my ears tell me it's there. It sounds like occasional distortion.

It seems random, though. Certain downloads I hear it, others I don't. I've secretly wondered if I had purchased a physical CD from a retailer (and extracted the uncompressed song files myself) whether I would still hear this "occasional graininess". I don't know.

Mind you, I'm all about taking advantage of technology. I have no superstitious feelings toward my computer. Perhaps this is an error in the iTunes programming?? Perhaps a bug??

But hey...I love pure, un-altered audio, and I'm not happy about it... :Mad:

ETK

[luke_m]

Sorry for the fuss, Purchased it in the end, and it sounds great, moral of the story, beware of the iTunes preview! ...

And yeah Big Al, the highs are a tiny bit different between the two, end one is clearer like you say (just not the iTunes preview).

Pretty incredible mix there Charles, hats off to you. (And thanks for that link)

I prefer vinyl myself EricTheKid, because of 1 reason, there is no such thing as sample rates! But then again, iPods are just so cool... And I do use Pro Tools.. So Checkmate :Yawn:

Well... I retire as being a drama queen, sorry again for the fuss!

[srvenable]

On the last CD my band recorded, I noticed a HUGE difference between the eval CD I had (burned directly from the .wav files) and the 128kbps mp3s I sent out to the rest of the band.

It was very noticeable with tambourine and cymbals.

Hey guys,

I'd just like to add that I swear I hear some graininess on certain downloads that I purchase from iTunes. Until I read this thread, I though I was crazy or that my ears were deceiving me. :icon_eek: I don't know what they're doing to these songs (perhaps the compression down to 128 kbps??), but my ears tell me it's there. It sounds like occasional distortion.

It seems random, though. Certain downloads I hear it, others I don't. I've secretly wondered if I had purchased a physical CD from a retailer (and extracted the uncompressed song files myself) whether I would still hear this "occasional graininess". I don't know.

Mind you, I'm all about taking advantage of technology. I have no superstitious feelings toward my computer. Perhaps this is an error in the iTunes programming?? Perhaps a bug??

But hey...I love pure, un-altered audio, and I'm not happy about it... :Mad:

ETK

[EricTheKid]

Yeah, the 128 kbps crap just doesn't cut it. In my opinion, even an "untrained" ear could hear the difference between these iTunes downloads and uncompressed WAV files extracted from a CD.

Anybody know where I can find the iTunes complaint box!?

Perhaps I just need to get off my @ss and go a real store (in person, the way we used to) and buy my discs. Hmff... :Roll eyes:

Peace,

ETK

[Dubnick]

I'm sure this is beyond obvious, but if stuff is sounding odd in iTunes but nowhere else, you might want to check the preferences to make sure Sound Enhancement option is unchecked. For some insane reason it's on by default and if you don't notice it, it can drive you nuts spending hours perfecting a mix, only to bring the file into iTunes and have it sound totally different. I'm sure you all know that, but I figured I'd mention it anyhow (be kind - I'm a newbie here:). BTW - love PSN!

[PSN Big Al]

I'm sure this is beyond obvious, but if stuff is sounding odd in iTunes but nowhere else, you might want to check the preferences to make sure Sound Enhancement option is unchecked. BTW - love PSN!

Thanks Dubnik, great to see you here! :grin:

You might also want to turn off the volume leveling feature
(Sound Check) so there's no alteration of your tunes when
they're playing back.


.

[otek]

Whoa.


I didn't know we had such unabashed hifi nerds on this forum.

128 kbps not good enough for you?!

Tsk tsk.

Next, they'll be saying vinyl sounds better than CD's....

[PSN Big Al]

Next, they'll be saying vinyl sounds better than CD's....

Vinyl!?! VINYL!?! :Roll eyes:

That's for amateurs! TRUE and ACCURATE analog sound may
only be had via wax cylinder! (Maybe a wire recorder, IF it's
the German-made one.) :Twisted:


.

[luke_m]

yeah i love thumbing though my wax cylinders, picking which tune to play at the club! .... .... .... :Yawn:

[PSN Big Al]

yeah i love thumbing though my wax cylinders, picking which tune to play at the club! .... .... .... :Yawn:

That's right!

"If you're gonna' sample, sample the wax!"
~ Big Al - Circa 1:30 AM this morning


.

[EricTheKid]

Whoa.


I didn't know we had such unabashed hifi nerds on this forum.

128 kbps not good enough for you?!

Tsk tsk.

Next, they'll be saying vinyl sounds better than CD's....

The first song you'd hear if you picked up my iPod and hit play...

"White and Nerdy" - Wierd Al

:Twisted:

[EricTheKid]

Finally got around to checking these iTunes settings back on my home system, guys...

I'm sure this is beyond obvious, but if stuff is sounding odd in iTunes but nowhere else, you might want to check the preferences to make sure Sound Enhancement option is unchecked.

Thanks for the tip, Dubnick. Good stuff! I hadn't previously looked into the settings (such as this one) - and I did turn it off. I'm not sure if this is something that everyone knows about - nice observation on your part! There was definitely a (subtle) sonic difference that I noticed on the before/after of songs I listened to in iTunes.


You might also want to turn off the volume leveling feature
(Sound Check) so there's no alteration of your tunes when
they're playing back..

I found this setting already turned off (a bit of a relief, admittedly). I'm not sure I would want iTunes "leveling" my audio. Know what I mean!? Thanks Al.

I appreciate the input, guys!! Happy listening to you both,

:Thumbsup: ETK

[MacGregor]

That's right!

"If you're gonna' sample, sample the wax!"
~ Big Al - Circa 1:30 AM this morning


.


These old fashioned antiquated analog guys....

Tss...

I use the latest Wax Cylinderz Plugz.

Gives your 192 kHz 24 bit recordings the analog warmth only
REAL wax cylinders can give you.

Available as VST, DXi, RTAS, AU and Gioia special ('ooh') (http://womb.mixerman.net/showthread.php?p=641#post641) plug in
in the store next to you.

Mac

[PSN Big Al]

Yeah, but you can't smell the plugin. :Twisted: