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crapfromthepast
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| Posted: 22 March 2015 at 9:27pm | IP Logged
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I'd always thought that "Is She Really Going Out With Him" was mixed in extremely narrow stereo, so that it was basically mono. The really narrow stereo helped me diagnose some mastering issues, which will hopefully be of interest here.
I ran OOPS tests on all the masterings I have for this track. (Out-Of-Phase-Sum; you invert the left or right channel, then sum to mono.) If the song was truly mono, I'd expect that the OOPS results would be zero. If the song was narrow stereo, I'd expect that the panned elements would show up in the OOPS results with a relatively small amplitude, and would be EQ'd just like in the normal version of the song. If the song had a defective mastering, which introduced a time offset between left and right channels, I'd expect that the OOPS results would show some artifacts, which would be EQ'd with way too much high end and very little low end.
Result: I found masterings where the left and right channels are perfectly synchronized, and other masterings with a one-sample time offset between left and right channels. You can also see the offset if you look at the waveforms. I didn't attempt to fix the offset by time-shifting one of the channels with respect to the other.
In the OOPS test, the synchronized masterings showed nearly complete cancellation of the lead vocals, and no weird EQ artifacts. In the OOPS test, the background "where" vocals (stereo) at 0:35 completely overwhelm the lead vocal (mono).
In the OOPS test, the out-of-synch masterings showed only the high frequencies of the lead vocals and drums bleeding through throughout. The whole OOPS track is about 12 dB louder than for the synchronized masterings. In the OOPS test, at 0:35, the lead vocal is about the same volume as the background "where" vocals.
How did all this happen?
I believe that the first '80s-era mastering of A&M's Look Sharp! has a mastering error, which introduces a time offset of one sample between the left and right channels. I only checked "Is She Really Going Out With Him", so I can't comment on the other 10 tracks. This first mastering has a total run time of 36:40. My pressing has a matrix number of CD-3187; there may be others. Peak values for all 11 tracks are 100% (you can get these values by ripping with Exact Audio Copy, or EAC). There's a digitally identical clone of this mastering of "Is She Really Going Out With Him" on the promo disc PGD Presents Sound Savers Vol. 2 (1992).
I believe that someone at A&M noticed that this first mastering had its left and right channels out of synch, because there's a second '80s-era mastering that has the left and right channels properly synchronized.
The second '80s-era mastering of Look Sharp!, which fixes the offset between the left and right channels, has a total run time of 36:32. My pressing has a matrix number of 75021 3187 2 01!; there may be others. Peak values for the 11 tracks are 91.6% / 89.6% / 97.7% / 95.7% / 77.7% / 85.7% / 97.7% / 97.7% / 80.2% / 97.7% / 91.1%. There's a digital clone of this mastering of "Is She Really Going Out With Him" on Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 19 1979 Take Two (1991; digitally exactly 1.2 dB louder).
There are later masterings of Look Sharp! with bonus tracks - I don't have those.
There's a UK greatest hits called Stepping Out The Very Best Of Joe Jackson (1990). It has its left and right channels properly synchronized. I bought this when it came out in 1990, and never got around to picking up any other greatest hits, since Stepping Out sounds really good.
The subsequent compilations that I have don't seem to be based on any of the three Joe Jackson single-disc masterings above, so I'll treat them individually.
Rhino's DIY Vol. 4 Starry Eyes UK Pop II (1993) has the one-sample offset between left and right channels, and additionally shows clipping on the top half of the waveform in the left channel around -4 dB. Avoid.
Time-Life's 2-CD Modern Rock Vol. 6 The '70s (1999) has the one-sample offset between left and right channels. Avoid.
Realm's 3-CD Greatest Hits Of The '70s Vol. 2 (2002) has the one-sample offset between left and right channels, and additionally is compressed/limited in the loud portions of the song. Avoid.
A UK compilation on Spectrum called FriendsReunited Class Of 1979 (2004) has the one-sample offset between left and right channels, and additionally is compressed/limited in the loud portions of the song. Avoid.
So of the discs I own with "Is She Really Going Out With Him", I can recommend the following three, which sound great, have great dynamic range, nice EQ, no noise reduction, and have their left and right channels properly synchronized:- A&M's Look Sharp! (second '80s-era mastering, with total time of 36:32 and non-100% peak levels)
- A&M's Stepping Out The Very Best Of Joe Jackson (1990)
- Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 19 1979 Take Two (1991)
Edited by crapfromthepast on 23 March 2015 at 7:11am
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Hykker
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| Posted: 23 March 2015 at 5:49am | IP Logged
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crapfromthepast wrote:
In the OOPS test, the synchronized masterings showed nearly
complete cancellation of the lead vocals, and no weird EQ
artifacts. The background "where" vocals (stereo) at 0:35
completely overwhelm the lead vocal (mono). |
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Has anyone tried widening the stereo on this?
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MMathews
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| Posted: 23 March 2015 at 6:15pm | IP Logged
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Yes, I have created a wider version, and also received one or two from other collectors. Using a standard stereo imager plug-in gives decent results and sounds more like a normal stereo record from the period.
Of course, you have to start with one of the masters that is in proper phase, as Ron points out some of the Cd's out there are not. MM
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Topic: Joe Jackson - Is She Really Going Out ...
