I just found that Qbuz will have it for sale as 24/96. I haven’t seen it listed on HDtracks or any of places I typically buy hi res music.
There are some tracks released but I’m waiting until Thursday till the album release so I can hear the complete album.
Well, I am looking forward to seeing if its a good recording. I find Mr. Springsteen’s recorded music hard to listen to. Almost always seems “congested” and a bit “un-musical” to me. If you are fan, do you have any favorite recordings (and in what format) that you consider to be really good recordings? Cheers.
Love the Boss when he is in singer/songwriter mode. Even a fan of some of his Arena Rock God stuff, though not all. Very much looking forward to this new album.
The remastered early analog recordings from a couple of years ago used the Plangent Process were pretty good. (typing this it makes me think of the Process as something out of a David Mamet film) which fixes subtle wow and flutter (at least what was incurred on the 2 track mixdown master). I like the solidity of the tone, but I also have various LP’s including 2 white label promos .
If you like Bruce and like some of his acoustic - get Ghost of Tom Joad. I think it is his best recording. The hi res version of Wild Innocent and the E Street shuffle is pretty good too off of hdtracks.
Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll do some Qbuzzing/Tidaling when I can to see if I can find something worth adding to my collection. Cheers.
I worry it will have been the victim of brick-wall mastering and ruined.
I have high hopes for the new album quality.
Not that they’re necessarily the same team, but the people behind the live show releases mix the multi tracks to DSD, which is a definitely a commitment to sound quality. They offer DSD to purchase as well as every other format.
When the early albums were remastered, they used Plangent Process, so clearly people at the top of the organization care enough about sound quality to pay for a remaster that fixes subtle timing fluctuations.
Jon Landau caught flac for The Brendan O’Brien production of Magic that people complained about online for overcompression and crunchy sound. I think they learned a lesson that people do care about Sonics. (I was of those complaining and it’s actually interesting to hear how the DS and it’s evolution sometimes makes even bad recordings musical.
And if nothing else, just getting true 24 bits is a big part of full color sound.
I’ve had Bruce on early vinyl / cd / remasters. Born to run - although a truly magical album - didn’t sound very good on vinyl/ half speed master/ original cd. The latest remaster doesn’t sound half bad but is nothing I would go to. I thought Darkness / E Street shuffle sounded good on vinyl - not so much in original cd. Greetings - the original album sounded good really on vinyl - but the mix sucked lol. Cd not good. River - I thought it was good on original vinyl - not good on cd. Nebraska on vinyl I was never impressed with. He recorded it at home on a cassette deck I think. Born in the USA - original vinyl was ‘ok’ - cd was lousy. As I said above - I think Tom Joad is a pretty good sounding record. So that’s my synopsis anyway. Haha.
So I bought the 24/96 version (HDtracks had it listed at the wrong sample rate but after emailing them they fixed it. (They also have a 20 percent off sale going on)
I also got a hold of a 44.1/16 bit and did some waveform and spectrum samples if anyone wants to look at the PDF I posted. - WAV is 24/96 and flac is 44-16
Would love Gus’s opinion of the mastering . It looks like there is info in the 24/96 well above the 44.1, but there looks to be some clipping of peaks but not sure)
CD arrived today. Burned it lossless to my Macbook Itunes and gave it a non-critical listen-through with a pair of Bose noise cancelling 'phones. This one is a folksy sometimes country tinged singer/songwriter affair. Nothing really jumped out at me on the first listen-through but my attention was divided between the music and the paperwork I was grinding away on. My first impression was that a few of the songs featured overly busy arrangements that would have been better served by being stripped down to just, Bruce, his acoustic guitar, and perhaps his harmonica.
Whatever I said before. This album needs a few listens. Now I’m getting into the tracks and am glad it’s not just him & his guitar. He’s got enough of those types of release (Neil Young too for that matter). Probably gonna listen to it on the QC35II’s while bicycling this week. Early in the morning along the bike paths here in Scottsdale/Tempe. By 11:00am, we’re easily hitting 98F - 105F (that’d be 35C-40C up North).
I have the HDtracks version and the Qbuz . Both are 24/96 and waveforms look the same , but Qbuz sounds better - no idea why.
Your assessment is totally on point rajugsw. After several listens it has proved to be a “grower”. This is pretty obviously Bruce’s homage to classic C&W singers and it works.
just listened to Bruce’s new album last night. not very inspiring music. and too polished for my liking.
skip skip…
Must be that MQA thinga ma jiggy. Personally, I’m a Qobuz person. Tidal not my cup of tea. Great album both listening at home and on the Can’s while bicycling around the bike paths here in Scotssdale/Tempe area.
It just grows on me every time I listen to it. Recording is a tad on the war side but very good songs none the less.
Following up…alas, another disappointment for me – at least so far. Some music does have a tendency to be more appreciated over time so I will give it some time. My initial impression was that the"art" (music) was average and the sonics were so-so. This is all based on my modest headphone rig. My next go-round will be on the “big-rig” during some quiet time in the house.
FWIW.
I’m surprised it’s not your cup of tea. I’m enjoying it tremendously. I wish some of the tracks were less compressed, but I’m hoping some live recordings emerge that will not squeeze all the life out the orchestra.
When my Wife, our Dog, & I drove back from Boulder to Santa Fe and back to Phoenix/Scottsdale, I listened to it twice. Once on the way up and again on the way back. To drive through all those midwestern highways with mountains all around and then watching the Pines and Evergreens turn into Cactus’ just makes the album more enjoyable.
“Sleepy Joe’s Cafe’ “…One Day
I read that Springsteen is releasing a film companion to the album since they are not going to tour with it. Hoping for possibly even better (less compressed) sound from that.