[gleeman]

So I'm digging The Eternal but the mix is killing me.....Its loud, but its swamped in bass, muddy and atrocious....had me wondering WTF?

Till I heard it.....Kim telling me to "Turn Up the Treble" , right there on the opening track.

Cranked the treble on my stereo and.....sweet! Suddenly it sounded like Sonic Youth.

Anyone else find the sound on this record odd? Why'd they mix it like this? Just to sound good on ipods?

[koolthing78]

That's an odd thing to say. I've been convinced that all my headphones suck. And/or that they did the weirder [subtle] things more subtly ["well then, that's just stupid!"]. But if it wasn't the headphones or the other one, was Kim dissatisfied with the levels and trying to subtly hint to listeners?

[mil_pl]

I'm still waiting for my Eternal CD, so I can't tell ya.

[Bal]

probably because they used some classic analogue gear to record and mix the whole album so it often has a remarkable mid range and cuts out some of the higher frequencies (if the mixboard is overdriven) to give the whole thing some 'warmth' ...
but thats just a guess. i havent heard the album in good quality yet

[dionysusundone]

I always turn up the treble anyway so it sounds perfectly fine to me. I hate midrange mixes, they bother me.

[atsonicpark]

"Turn down the volume!
Turn down the bass!
Turn up the midrange slightly!
Now turn up the treble!
Yeah!"

Originally Posted by Bal

probably because they used some classic analogue gear to record and mix the whole album so it often has a remarkable mid range and cuts out some of the higher frequencies (if the mixboard is overdriven) to give the whole thing some 'warmth' ...
but thats just a guess. i havent heard the album in good quality yet

if thats a reason I would be a sucker for it...cant wait

[nicfit]

I guess it sounds different based on the system you play it on anyway.

[SuperCreep]

If anything, this is probably the least "iPod-friendly" SY album next to Sister, which is a good thing. I thought RR was mastered way too loud. This one sounds just fine.

[greedrex]

Originally Posted by nicfit

I guess it sounds different based on the system you play it on anyway.

mastering is supposed to tak ecare of the differences between listening systems.
I found the overall sound on the CD kind of weird also. Lack of high-mid + treble. O well.

[dionysusundone]

Originally Posted by atsonicpark

"Turn down the volume!
Turn down the bass!
Turn up the midrange slightly!
Now turn up the treble!
Yeah!"

Wasn't there a song by that limp bizkit side project Big Dumb Face that had something like that?

[nicfit]

Originally Posted by greedrex

mastering is supposed to tak ecare of the differences between listening systems.

that does not apply to crappy/"wrong" equipment.
try to listen to it on 1/2" inch deep pc speakers and tell me how mastering is supposed to take care of that .
Or try and listen to a record with jsut a 18" subwoofer, tell me how mastering is supposed to take care of that .

[atsonicpark]

i think you're thinkign of the song "rebel" ... "So you say i'm the rebel, turn down the bass and turn up the treble" if I remember correctly.

[atsonicpark]

Big Dumb Face rules. Actually, everything with Wes Borland involved is usually good.

[dionysusundone]

Originally Posted by atsonicpark

i think you're thinkign of the song "rebel" ... "So you say i'm the rebel, turn down the bass and turn up the treble" if I remember correctly.

Yeahhhhh I think that was it! That album was really fun at the time.

[gleeman]

It's not a question of my equipment which I'm well familiar with.....I'm listening to the (supposedly HQ) vinyl on my high quality system including nice reference speakers with a flat frequency response which bring out the true natural sound of most recordings......99% of my records sound awesome with my amp set flat but The Eternal is completely lacking in upper-mid and treble frequencies. Its the only album in my large collection that requires me to turn the treble all the way up just to get a reasonable sound.

This seems beyond merely going for anologue "warmth".....and other recent indie rock releases I've picked up on HQ vinyl manage to have creamy warm sound with all the treble frequencies in tact . To satisfy my curiousity I downloaded the mp3s and its the same muddy sound, only in crappier mp3 quality.

Mind you, it sounds pretty good once the treble is cranked, but I shouldn't have to do that.

[nicfit]

I didn't mean that you're not "well equipped" or not entitled to an opinion, just wanted to point out that replies might be dramatically different according to each listener's equipment/listening habits/ears, after all.

[gleeman]

no worries nicfit, of course you're right it depends on how you're listening to it; I just wanted to clarify how I'm listening to it!

[greedrex]

Originally Posted by gleeman

.99% of my records sound awesome with my amp set flat but The Eternal is completely lacking in upper-mid and treble frequencies. Its the only album in my large collection that requires me to turn the treble all the way up just to get a reasonable sound.

at last
some sense.

[Concrete Abutments]

Originally Posted by gleeman

So I'm digging The Eternal but the mix is killing me.....Its loud, but its swamped in bass, muddy and atrocious....had me wondering WTF?

Till I heard it.....Kim telling me to "Turn Up the Treble" , right there on the opening track.

Cranked the treble on my stereo and.....sweet! Suddenly it sounded like Sonic Youth.

Anyone else find the sound on this record odd? Why'd they mix it like this? Just to sound good on ipods?

Yup I can't stand the mix myself. I wish they'd bring back Richard Hell. Sonic Nurse sounds perfect!