Vapor Trails - II. The VT crackle-reduction project- "perfecting the formula"
Vapor Trails - II. The VT crackle-reduction project- "perfecting the formula"
|
musicintheabstract New Arrival Posted: 7/4/02 4:51 pm Re: Vapor Trails Remastering Info (Please Read) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xanadar, I have read with interest your efforts and I have downloaded Cool Edit Pro so as to begin my own remastering. My question is, do you have any more "before and after" VT samples you could post here? Thanks . . . "...minimal expressionist post-modern neo-symbolist" - - - :Neil Peart question and answer session: Q- Why isn't "he" at home in the song "Anagram"? A- "I agree that "he" could be at home -- I guess he had to go out... " -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- musicintheabstract New Arrival Posted: 7/8/02 2:32 pm Re: Vapor Trails Remastering Info (Please Read) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xanadar, To summarize. .(loosely paraphrasing) . . I convert to 32-bit effects>noise reduction>Click/Pop Eliminator>Sensitivity = 14 Discrimination = 10 Second Level Verification = Enabled Smooth Light Crackle = Enabled Detect Big Pops = 30 Multiple Passes = 32 FFT Size = 32 (no Auto) Pop Oversamples = 8 Run Size = 25 >"AutoLevel" and apply (repeat "AutoLevel/apply" approx 3 or 4 times) EQ to "Premastering EQ" Amplify>Normalize>96% 'Convert Sample Type>'16', >'Enable Dithering' >'Dither Depth' ='0.54'. 'p.d.f.' should be left as 'Triangular' with 'No Noise Shaping' Xanadar, please let me know if I omitted any steps or if you have any new suggestions. Thanks. "...minimal expressionist post-modern neo-symbolist" - - - :Neil Peart question and answer session: Q- Why isn't "he" at home in the song "Anagram"? A- "I agree that "he" could be at home -- I guess he had to go out... " -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xanadar Nuitari Rush Fan Posted: 7/9/02 5:13 am Re: Vapor Trails Remastering Info (Please Read) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm terribly sorry for being away for so long everyone. Actually, there has been a major change in my personal re-mastering process. The steps have been dramatically decreased (down to only 2). It is the simplest (and most effective) method of repairing the damage done, and I truly believe I have a final version of the CD now. I still need a few more listens in various players to decide, but so far, this is the best it has ever sounded to me. First step... Use Cool Edit Pro's 'Clip Restoration' feature to rebuild the clipped peaks. Use the 'Restore Lightly Clipped' preset (which attenuates the track by -4 dB). Second step... Use a plug-in available from Waves Ltd. called 'L2 Ultramaximizer'. It is part of the Waves Masters Native bundle, and is available for download as a 14-day fully-functional demo. This particular DirectX plug-in is absolutely incredible (as are most all of Waves plug-ins, I'm discovering)! This is the finest peak limiter and volume maximizer I've ever used. It has amazing look-ahead algorithms that detect upcoming peaks, and limits them without clipping and distortion. Please read all the information you can about it... it gives quite a bit of insight to the nature of what went wrong with the mastering process with VT. Use the 'Hi Res CD Master' preset, but set the Threshold to '-4 dB', and leave the Ceiling set to '-0.2 dB'. This is so incredibly simple, I cannot believe it took me this long to figure it out. Actually, I can... I had the first step figured out: Remove the clipping. After that was done, I could not for the life of me figure out how to bring the restored peaks under control. The drums ended up sounding terrible, and some of the bass licks were right in your face... completely out of control and extremely loose-sounding. I knew that some type of peak-limiting needed to be done, but every limiter I tried (and I tried a lot) was simply performing a hard-limit, giving an end result similar to what the track was like before the clipping was restored. Waves L2 limiter allows you literally "slam" a track to ungodly levels without inducing distortion... the equivalent of saturation of analog tape. Not all clipping is bad. In digital recording, sometimes clipping is necessary to achieve that "hot" sound... it just needs to be handled with extreme care. A thick, grungy sound can be achieved digitally without distortion and crackling. It just needs "soft" clipping (instead of abrupt stops and sharp angles in the sine waves where they "plateau" at the clipped region, the edges need to be slightly rounded). Like I said, this process is extremely simple, and I was trying to make it more difficult than it needed to be. What I have been looking for this whole time was a solution that involved the least amount of processing as humanly possible, so as not to affect the overall quality and tone of the music on the whole. Over-processing of music can make it sound far different from the original source, and sometimes send it to an early grave with no hope of returning it to its previous state (which I have learned by much trial and error). The basic idea behind the repair is this: There is only one problem with the way VT sounds... the distortion, which takes on the form of crackling throughout the entire CD. There are purists (myself included) who do not wish the CD to sound different no matter what. This process achieves just that... same sound + same volume + no distortion = more music revealed. The clip restoration is only used to accomplish one thing: to remove the solid lines of the clipping, thus removing the crackle. It doesn't matter if the algorithm rebuilds the peak 12 miles above the top of the screen... it just needs to get rid of the plateau, and I'll explain why. The Waves L2 limiter is used to bring the track back to its original amplitude by 4 dB, but this time the peaks are "properly" limited without distortion. The regions of the track that showed no signs of clipping whatsoever are brought back to (near) 0 dB like they were before... no change. The regions where clipping was present are brought back to the same level, but this time the edges of the clipped peaks are slightly rounded on the edges. I say "near 0 dB" because I like to leave a slight amount of headroom in all of my editing. -0.2 dB is an extremely good compromise. When I also say that it doesn't matter how the clip restoration feature rebuilds the peaks, I only mean to say that any algorithm that can only guess what the peak of a clipped wave should have been can never know exactly what it should have been. You have to remember what we were given to work with... if it doesn't exist on the CD, you weren't missing it anyway... and that was intentional to a certain extent. If peaks aren't properly limited, digital distortion is produced, and it has the incredibly annoying characteristic of masking the detail of the immediately surrounding music samples. That's the whole point I'm trying to make to the "purists" who suggest that this whole issue be dropped, and feel that what I am trying to accomplish is blasphemous. Rush may have wanted to achieve this sound. I firmly believe that also. I do not believe that they wanted the distortion that is also present. Distortion gone = more music that they wanted us to hear. Try it out! This is without a doubt the finest I have ever heard this CD sound. I'll try to post links to some samples as soon as I get some sleep and clean some space off my webspace. It only took two months, but I'm finally DONE! WEEEEEEEE!!! Forgive me for the length of this... I'm just excited. Later! Mike Edited by: Xanadar Nuitari at: 7/9/02 12:22:46 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- musicintheabstract New Arrival Posted: 7/9/02 10:04 am Re: Vapor Trails Remastering Info (Please Read) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- . . . does the 'L2 Ultramaximizer' features come in a PC format? I looked at the waves website but only see the 'L2 Ultramaximizer' in a MAC format. Are there any competitive products that can accomplish similar results in the PC platform? Thanks. "...minimal expressionist post-modern neo-symbolist" :Neil Peart question and answer session: Q- Why isn't "he" at home in the song "Anagram"? A- "I agree that "he" could be at home -- I guess he had to go out... " -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xanadar Nuitari Rush Fan Posted: 7/9/02 10:23 Re: Vapor Trails Remastering Info (Please Read) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes, the Native series plug-ins are available in Mac and PC formats (the latter of which being the only one with DirectX support, naturally). The TDM series is the Mac-only solution, specifically designed for users of Digidesign Pro Tools (*drool*). All I have are PCs. I don't own, use, or even know how to use a Mac. But, their products are a dream come true for users of both platforms. Here is the link to download directly: Waves Masters Bundle 3.5 (6.53 MB) Also, here is the link to view the User Guide in .pdf format: L2 Ultramaximizer 3.x User Guide Edited by: Xanadar Nuitari at: 7/9/02 12:39:21 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- musicintheabstract New Arrival Posted: 7/9/02 8:19 pm Re: Vapor Trails Remastering Info (Please Read) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xanadar, your solution does seem elegant, and the finished result (I just finished the process) does sound more vivid with less distortion, I still hear crackle on the louder sections of Vapor Trail, Secret Touch, and Earthshine (albeit less obnoxious). My question is this; do you have any recommendations for altering the settings to accommodate the louder, more pronounced clipping on VT? Can I justify combining your latest technique with small doses of your earlier technique which involved multiple iterations of "Click/Pop Eliminator" (also with Norm's modifications)? Just wondering what your thoughts are on this. I would like to better understand your latest approach because your first approach I found to be quite intriguing. Thanks Mike. - MitA "...minimal expressionist post-modern neo-symbolist" :Neil Peart question and answer session: Q- Why isn't "he" at home in the song "Anagram"? A- "I agree that "he" could be at home -- I guess he had to go out... " -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xanadar Nuitari Rush Fan Posted: 7/9/02 9:41 pm Re: Vapor Trails Remastering Info (Please Read) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MitA, Actually, I found evidence of leftover distortion as well. It's only in extremely minor and sparse segments of those three particular songs, but indeed, it is the best improvement I have found so far to get rid of the distortion on the entire disc without doing anything to alter the music adversely. Keeping the music as "pure" as possible while removing the distortion is the ultimate goal that I'm trying to achieve. Earlier (one month ago) I would have highly suggested using CEP's built-in 'Click/Pop Remover' to finish touching up the tracks, but as I mentioned recently, Waves Ltd. has a simply incredible arsenal of high quality professional-grade plug-ins. I highly recommend using the 'X-Crackle' plug-in within the Waves Restoration bundle, which you can download directly here: Waves Restoration Bundle 3.5 (6.55 MB) Also, the .pdf User Guide can be found here: X-Crackle User Guide Like the L2 limiter, the 'X-Crackle' plug-in is the best that I have seen and heard so far with regards to what it accomplishes. As a matter of fact, that particular plug-in is what I was using for quite a while in lieu of CEP's 'Click/Pop Remover' (as well as Sonic Foundry's Noise Reduction plug-in pack, which is also impressive), and it was producing much improved results. In addition, you have the ability to listen to the crackles being removed on-the-fly without having to wait for the entire file to be processed. I suggest highlighting only the sections of the tracks that still have the distortion present and processing just those segments. Try the 'Normal Crackle' preset first. If the crackles are really stubborn, then go as high as '80' for both Threshold and Reduction. Try to make a note of the sections (start/stop times) of the tracks that still have the distortion present. Then, undo the L2 limiter, highlight only the section that has the distortion, and use 'X-Crackle' to make it less obtrusive. I would now suggest against processing the entire file with a crackle remover, even one as impressive as 'X-Crackle'. This is to avoid the slight possibility of legitimate elements of the music from being removed along with the crackles (such as the sharp attacks of cymbal and snare hits). Also, try to avoid processing the file with 'X-Crackle' after processing with 'L2 Ultramaximizer'. Limiting, dithering, and noise shaping should always be the last processing the track should undergo before being saved. As for the settings for CEP's 'Click/Pop Remover', I have long since tossed those to the wind. I no longer use it, as Waves 'X-Crackle' is much better. About the only reason that I still use Cool Edit Pro for anything is that it serves as a nice host application for external 3rd-party plug-ins. If you are very comfortable with the results of CEP's built-in features, then by all means, continue to do so. All that I can do is suggest something that I consider to be better. Since you mentioned that you do indeed notice slight traces of distortion still present, then I feel certain that you will appreciate the quality that 'X-Crackle' provides much more. Remember, I'm not a professional... I'm learning as I go, and I've learned a great deal over the past two months. Like I mentioned earlier, I was making it harder than it really needed to be, because I simply could not figure out how to complete the task after the peaks were rebuilt. Sometimes the simplest things in life elude you, and usually the answer was always under your nose the entire time. You can't imagine the grin on my face as I looked at my wife last night and said "You've gotta hear it now!" This has truly sparked a raging fire now that has gone past that of a simple hobby. It's a passion. I'm seriously considering if pursuing a career in Audio Engineering would be feasible at this stage in my life. Thanks to everyone who has been so incredibly supportive, and especially for the patience and tolerance you've shown towards me regarding this. Kinda neat having your own personal cheering section. I've taken some heat for it from the nay-sayers... but quite frankly, I don't care. Sometimes we all have to do what we believe is the right thing to help others, and I have truly enjoyed doing this. To everyone who has emailed me, please believe that I have not forgotten about you. *wink* Basically, don't worry. More things than are dreamed about Unseen and unexplained We suspend our disbelief And we are entertained -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mister Bubba New Arrival Posted: 7/10/02 11:36 am Re: Vapor Trails Remastering Info (Please Read) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike.....Are you doing this new technique to the already "re-mastered" tunes? Bubs -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xanadar Nuitari Rush Fan Posted: 7/10/02 11:46 am Re: Vapor Trails Remastering Info (Please Read) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nope. This is done from scratch to the untouched .wavs straight from the CD. By the way, glad to see you finally made it to our humble abode. Mike |
|
|
|
musicintheabstract New Arrival Posted: 7/10/02 12:14 pm Re: Vapor Trails Remastering Info (Please Read) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xanadar, thanks so much for enlightening me about X-Crackle !! This thing is amazing (real-time preview of crackle or music). A few observations: My main intent upon going through with these experiments was to reduce, as much as possible, the perceived crackling with , of course, a minimum loss of sound fidelity. However, for me, the main focus was on 'crackle-reduction' allowing for some 'possible loss of valid audio sound. I must say that the process you outlined (simple two step Click/Restoration...Waves L2 process) seems appropriate for the majority of the songs on VT, but the more serious offenders (ST, VT, ES, CU) I strongly felt needed further crackle elimination. What I tried for those songs was very, very effective, and there was little in the way of compromise regarding loss of valid audio signal. Here's what I tried... X-Crackle> 20%, 98% !!! It sounded amazing and did not affect at all the Alex's distorted guitar sounds on Earthshine, etc... what I had to be careful with were a loss of Hi-Hat sounds and cymbal crashes. All I did was loop a representative sequence from the song in question, and played around until I got the maximum benefit but stopped before I lost much of any perceptible audio signal. I then went through your Click/Restoration process. . . but set it to 0dB instead of -4dB, I ran this twice, or until it found no more detectable clipping, and then I ran the: Waves L2 process but set the settings to: 0 threshold, 0 out ceiling and 24 bit (not sure if the 24-bit alteration was useful or not). These songs now sound crackle free to my ears and with MUCH higher fidelity and soundstage image than when I tried the old "Click/Pop Eliminator" procedure (which did an equally admirable job on crackle reduction but it muddied-up the sound significantly). I am thrilled. Mike, let me know what thoughts you have on what I've done if you like. Also, if you could explain the thought process behind your use of the -4dB settings on both the Click/Restoration and also the -4dB L2 threshold setting. Thanks!!! - MitA "...minimal expressionist post-modern neo-symbolist" - - - :Neil Peart question and answer session: Q- Why isn't "he" at home in the song "Anagram"? A- "I agree that "he" could be at home -- I guess he had to go out... " -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xanadar Nuitari Rush Fan Posted: 7/10/02 12:47 pm Re: Vapor Trails Remastering Info (Please Read) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, I tried 0 dB with both 'Clip Restoration' and 'L2', but I never tried multiple passes with 'Clip Restoration' as you have, and I definitely think you're on to something. The reason I attenuated by -4 dB on 'Clip Restoration' was that it seemed to produce better results on a single pass than 0 dB did. I even experimented with various sample settings with Fast Fourier Transform, but found that simple spline curve estimation was very sufficient. As before, the only reason for using the 'Clip Restoration' feature is to remove the solid horizontal lines of the clipped waves by allowing the waves to extend where they "would" have gone had they not been clipped, and then limiting them to the exact same amplitude the track was before with L2, but allowing 'L2' to "round" the edges of the clipped waves, removing the crackling in the process. It is extremely important to use the exact same dB settings with 'Clip Restoration' and 'L2', otherwise it produces unwanted side effects. The more I think about it, I believe that making multiple passes with 'Clip Restoration' is removing the residual crackling that remained before. It is quite possible that some of the clipping is not being removed on the first pass, leaving some crackling present. I'll try it in just a moment and let you know what I find out (without 'X-Crackle' first). I'm trying really hard to keep from using a crackle remover application this time around, because I firmly believe that the only reason for the crackle in the first place is because of the clipped audio. Repair the improperly limited peaks, and you remove the crackling. Also, you'll probably find the tracks to sound much better by quantizing to 16-bit instead of 24-bit, using 'Type-1' dithering (no non-linear distortion) with 'Ultra' noise shaping (takes the background noise present in the track and shifts it to a frequency range less audible by the human ear). This is done to raise the noise floor to eliminate the low level distortion produced at low-level passages during processing, then shifted to another region of the track. EDIT: I should also mention, for those that do not know, that for any audio CD player to play the tracks properly, the files must be 16-bit 44,100 Hz format. Thank you so very much for exploring other possibilities with the settings. You're definitely a pleasure to talk to, and I'm glad to see that you're just as persistent as I am. Edited by: Xanadar Nuitari at: 7/10/02 1:57:49 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xanadar Nuitari Rush Fan Posted: 7/10/02 2:29 pm Re: Vapor Trails Remastering Info (Please Read) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay, after exploring the possibilities of using 0 dB as opposed to -4 dB, I discovered why I chose the latter... it gives the program more headroom to rebuild the clipped peaks so they can be properly limited afterwards by the 'L2' plug-in. There is less of a need for 'X-Crackle' after using -4 dB with 'Clip Restoration'. I tried 0 dB and found that there was still a considerable amount of crackling present in the intro to Ceiling Unlimited, even after multiple passes with 'Clip Restoration'. -4 dB gives just enough headroom for 'Clip Restoration' to work with. Also, I choose to leave the Output Ceiling on 'L2' set to -0.2 dB, because 0 dB is just too close for comfort for the possibility of the onset of digital clipping in the final product for my taste. I personally wouldn't go any higher than -0.1 dB. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- musicintheabstract New Arrival Posted: 7/10/02 4:26 pm Re: Vapor Trails Remastering Info (Please Read) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike, on Ceiling unlimited, I also could not get the crackling to go away (even after multiple iterations at 0dB) HOWEVER, I was able to get the "percent Clipped" down to 0.00% using 0dB after I first converted the file to 32-bit resolution.. . . . crackle all gone !!!!! Ceiling unlimited : intro good (no crackle) Vapor Trail : (no crackle, even the part at 3:19) after this I did your L2 but at 0dB . . . . . . converted back to 16 bit resolution I'm very excited, if you could please verify this for me that would be great. Thanks Mike. - MitA "...minimal expressionist post-modern neo-symbolist" - - - :Neil Peart question and answer session: Q- Why isn't "he" at home in the song "Anagram"? A- "I agree that "he" could be at home -- I guess he had to go out... " Edited by: musicintheabstract at: 7/10/02 5:46:46 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xanadar Nuitari Rush Fan Posted: 7/10/02 6:23 pm Re: Vapor Trails Remastering Info (Please Read) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That's funny you should mention that, MitA. That's the only thing left that I've been wanting to try is to go back to processing after converting the files to 32-bit IEEE Floating Point. Processing at 32-bit is what I've been doing for almost two months now, but I figured that I would try processing at 16-bit and listen to the outcome. If it sounds this good processing at 16-bit, then I cannot wait to try these settings at 32-bit. It only makes sense... processing at 24- or 32-bit allows for much more precise editing. I'm going to use your settings initially, since you are raving about them. I'm always willing to try any method of improvement. I have a few more things to take care of here at work, but I'll start on it as soon as I can and let you know how mine turn out. There really should be no differences between your results and mine (using the same settings), so I'm extremely anxious to try it out. Later! Mike Edited by: Xanadar Nuitari at: 7/11/02 10:22:06 am -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- flyonthewheel New Arrival Posted: 7/10/02 7:59 pm Re: Vapor Trails Remastering Info (Please Read) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello, new guy here. I've been following your postings, and am glad to see some new thoughts. I have some to share. I've tried what you've talked about, and was really pleased when the original post yielded such promising results. I've done something based on the most recent postings that I'm really pleased with. I liked x-crackle, it's interface was great, but i don't think it addressed the real problem, like you've said. I ended up using as series of clip restoration/L2, with various settings, and, yes, several passes. I would use restoration then I would use L2. Then repeat. And repeat. I did not convert to 32-bit (although that's probably my next experiment!). Using track 7, VT, in whole, i found some combinations of attenuation settings that gave very good results. I don't feel the original sound has been compromised at all. At one point I tried it at -16%att and it was pretty good, so I did again at just -4%att and ended up with L.014%/R.001% clipping. Great! But I kept trying many combinations. The best I did was: -7%/-7%/-7%: L.000%/R.000%!! This was the lowest attenuation that gave me 0% in three passes. The variations I did with two passes were all similar to themselves, around L.014%/R.001, which are definitely not bad, in fact they sounded great. I'm hearing subtleties I hadn't before. I tried the 7%/7%/7% formula on CU and got 0% clipping. I hope someone will try this, and let me know what they think about the sound. Thanks. -fly | anotherrushfansite | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xanadar Nuitari Rush Fan Posted: 7/10/02 8:34 pm Re: Vapor Trails Remastering Info (Please Read) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MitA, Verified!!! It sounds incredible! Your settings are dead-on, my friend. I cannot thank you enough for your help through this. It has been a nerve-wracking 2 months, but I can honestly say this has been truly worth it. Summarized... Convert to 32-bit Run Cool Edit Pro 'Clip Restoration' ('Restore Normal' preset) Run 'Waves L2 Ultramaximizer' (0 dB Threshold, 0 dB Out Ceiling, ARC Enabled, Quantize = 16-bit, Dither = Type1, Shaping = Ultra) Convert to 16-bit and Save I must also add that I have since come to enjoy working with Sonic Foundry Sound Forge 6.0 more than Cool Edit Pro 2.0 over the past month. I prefer its control over bit-depth conversion settings, although I still prefer CEP's clip restoration abilities over Sonic Foundry's. Also, I have yet to find a simple effective way to remove DC Offset within Cool Edit Pro. Sound Forge allows me to do this, and that is always the first step that I perform before any editing takes place. It takes wave files that are misaligned (which is a result of the DC bias differences between different electronic equipment that the music has been run through) and repositions the waves along the centerline if necessary (which usually always is). So, currently my process is this: 1. Load the file into Sound Forge 2. Remove DC Offset 3. Run 'Bit-Depth Converter' (32-bit IEEE Floating Point) 4. Save 5. Load the file into Cool Edit Pro 6. Run 'Clip Restoration' (with 'Restore Normal' preset) 7. Run 'Waves L2 Ultramaximizer' plug-in ('Hi Res CD Master' preset, but with both levels set to 0 dB) 8. Save 9. Load the file into Sound Forge 10. Remove DC Offset 11. Run 'Bit-Depth Converter' (16-bit, High-Pass Triangular, High-Pass Contour) 12. Save Again, I cannot thank you enough for providing feedback and suggestions, MitA. You're my new best friend. Is it safe to say it is done now? It sure sounds like it to me... and it's about damn time! Later! Mike -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- musicintheabstract New Arrival Posted: 7/10/02 9:32 pm Re: Vapor Trails Remastering Info (Please Read) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike! you said in your last post "Is it safe to say it is done now? It sure sounds like it to me... and it's about damn time! . . . " I think I can enthusiastically say, now with your confirmation that I'm not just crazy and hearing things, ..."I think we are done now" !!! . . . . oh and by the way now, due to your visionary brainstorm idea that such an endeavor could be possible and your technical where-with-all in all things audio, YOU are now MY best friend!! I'm only glad I could help out a little (I don't have the requisite know-how but my ears and gut are pretty good ) Thanks a million and let's get the word out. - MitA "...minimal expressionist post-modern neo-symbolist" - - - :Neil Peart question and answer session: Q- Why isn't "he" at home in the song "Anagram"? A- "I agree that "he" could be at home -- I guess he had to go out... " -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GeddyRulz New Arrival Posted: 7/10/02 10:18 pm RE: Vapor Trails Remastering Info -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike - Oh my Ged! You're making a believer out of me! Up until now, I thought all of you "the CD was mixed wrong" people were anal-retentive audiophiles at best, insane at worst. I was completely content with the CD as is. But now... I've just listened to your 2 minute remastered clip of "Secret Touch." WOW! So much better! The music is all there, but it's just so much cleaner! I can even hear nuances I didn't notice before. I still think "Vapor Trails" is Rush's freshest and most original artistic statement in over 15 years. But now I want to go back and remaster the whole thing as you describe! Without taking anything away from the music, you've increased the value of the VT listening experience. THIS is how the CD was meant to be heard! One thing... your instructions seem pretty complicated. How long of a process is it to remaster each song? Any chance you can just e-mail me (as an attachment) your already remastered album tracks? Save me some time? All the best to you. Ignoring the nay-sayers, you forged ahead with vision and created something that we ALL can be proud of. Rush should hear this. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xanadar Nuitari Rush Fan Posted: 7/10/02 10:55 pm Re: RE: Vapor Trails Remastering Info -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GeddyRulz, Actually, that particular file is one that I've been meaning to wipe from my personal webspace. That was my "first" attempt using the instructions in the original post on this thread. If you thought that track sounded great, you should hear what MitA and I have recently come up with. Even though it sounded good at the time, it is a far cry from what's been achieved now. The end results using what's just been discussed recently in the last few postings are an incredible improvement over the initial attempts, and I cannot fathom how any significant improvements can be made to what has finally been accomplished. Here is a 2 minute sample of 'Ceiling Unlimited' that was created using the most current method outlined in the last few posts: 'Ceiling Unlimited' (Re-mastered 07/10/02) ~ 2.9 MB The process is not complicated at all, and I honestly tried to make it as simple as possible, providing links to most all of the software required, and giving detailed step-by-step instructions (and whenever possible, explaining to the best of my ability why certain steps are necessary) how to complete the process. The amount of time needed for processing each track depends heavily on your processor speed and amount of RAM in your system. I use an AMD Athlon 1.2 GHz w/ 640 MB SDRAM at home, and it takes hardly any time at all. The entire CD (from ripping the .wav files and processing, to burning a new CD) takes approximately less than an hour for me... of course by now, I could practically perform all of this with my eyes closed, as it has become quite seriously a part of my daily routine ever since the CD was released. Thank you again so very much MitA for your help with this. I've been looking for someone like you ever since I started this. Talk about a relief and a ½! Edited by: Xanadar Nuitari at: 7/11/02 10:26:37 am -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xanadar Nuitari Rush Fan Posted: 7/11/02 2:23 pm Re: RE: Vapor Trails Remastering Info -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Good grief!!! This thread's had 300+ views since just this time yesterday! Whew! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nocturne2002 Cyber-Roadie Posted: 7/11/02 2:50 pm Re: Vapor Trails Remastering Info (Please Read) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That’s because we are all waiting for you guys to finish tweaking the process so we can get the optimal sound quality for our copies of Vapor Trails – Remastered! Semi-patiently waiting, Noc -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xanadar Nuitari Rush Fan Posted: 7/11/02 4:28 pm Re: Vapor Trails Remastering Info (Please Read) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's finally done, Noc. I can do no more to make it sound better. It's up to someone else to take it from here. I'm worn out. Enjoy! Mike |