btw, maybe folks with a better ears can spot the difference
You can hear the difference if using good earphone.
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Not necessarily, you could tell the difference side by side
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Been spending a lot of time with HETERODOXY because the new mixes equal or surpass the old ones, especially for their earlier tracks. REGRET and čē”ć®ēµćć ē®±č©°ćć®é»ē¤ŗ shine.
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Listening to Heterodoxy reminds me of just how much I enjoy listening to the GazettE. I started listening to them shortly after they released Nil, so Heterodoxy puts 17 years of listening to their music into perspective for me.
Iāve ragged on them a lot through the years for one reason or another, but when I listen to Heterodoxy, I realize the GazettE are arguably one of my favorite bands. Easily.
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I also co-sign this. I have ALAC on the computer converted down to 192 on the go. I can hear all the improvements on ALAC. Canāt tell a difference on 192. Quality matters for this.
Having spend time with HETERODOXY for a while. and i must say
The drums are more audible, the guitars are not as shrill and grating to listen to for some old songs, and i notice a few parts that are not that noticable in the original version, like the atmosphere for the synth focused tracks has been improved quite a bit like bath room and Naraku for instance. For the tracklist? it was fine, maybe i have a bias against DOGMA tracks because it just doesnāt fit listening to it outside of the album imo, the absent of a few staples like FALLING, (I mean DOGMA got itās MV mix, why not FALLING?) The Invisible Wall, and THE SUICIDE CIRCUS in exchange for a few of forgettable tracks like Chijou, and Quiet. but the worst of all was MAGGOTS. WHO THE FUCK THOUGHT THE SNARE WAS A GOOD IDEA!? Itās almost St. Anger tier of bad. Plus, 47? why not 48?
but overall pretty good collection album, far from what i call lazy. (Lacks of Rerecording aside) Very different (which is a good thing) Highlights: Bath room, LEECH, Naraku.
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On my phone right now, so almost certainly wonāt be able to make head or tails of that video atm, but any idea if when it says āoriginalā itās using the single release of Filth in the beauty? Or the one of it on Stacked Rubbish?
The album version of it wasnāt as hyper-compressed and was already head and shoulders above the single release overall, so wondering if the seeming improvement in Heterodoxy might just be a matter of what itās being compared against?
Iāma need an FLAC rip of OG to really compare.
Iāve only ever listen to the album version and never really delve into the single version of any GazettE tracks, (YT compressing is crappy af so i couldnāt really count the MV version) though considering it was shown in the MV format, i assume it was the single version.
Mini-impressions time! Thanks @SakuraFox512 for the hook-up. I am gonna compare four versions of Filth in the Beauty (FITB for the rest of this post) from the following releases:
- Filth in the Beauty single
- STACKED RUBBISH album
- TRACES BEST OF 2005-2009
- HETERODOXY
I used HD600ās on Foobar2000 with no EQ correction.
Filth in the Beauty
Holy Compression Batman! And just so that weāre all on the same page, my definition of compression is to make the quiet parts louder and the loud parts quieter. It squishes the sound so that volume comes at the expense of dynamics. The guitars are super compressed, half the drum kit sounds like static, and the volume is pushed to the limit. Reita is very boomy here, and Kaiās drum fills before the last chorus are justā¦there. You can tell because thereās a few sections of the song where it goes quiet, then loud and thereās no impact. Even the silence is loud! I echo the sentiments of whomever said this is quite unpleasant to listen to.
STACKED RUBBISH version
The volume is definitely lower on this one! Many things can be said about STACKED RUBBISH, but comments about the quality of the mastering isnāt one of them. Itās passable enough to get the job done, and sounds good when listening to the album top to bottom, but when doing this particular test I notice how itās not really that different from the single version. Iām pretty sure most of what was done here was to lower the volume, because the guitars still have no punch, but even that is enough to put it above. Reita is somewhat audible here, and this was the first version where the drums had any impact on me. Made me go back to the first version to confirm the drums lack presence there.
TRACES BEST OF 2005-2009
The first version Iāve listened to thus far where thereās a noticeable difference in guitar tone, enough to make me think it was re-recorded or at least given some serious love. However, weāre returning to loudness wars territory on this mix - I have to struggle to single out bass lines during some of the metal bits. Kaiās drums are a lot more crisp here too; the brass sounds a few steps above static, and Iām comparing 320 CBR to FLAC! Thatās how you know the first mix is really bad. Best one so far.
HETERODOXY
I knew this one was going to win, but the improvement factor is unreal. I think the basis for this one is the TRACES mix, and it sounds really close except the noise floor isnāt audible. This is the version with the most noticeable dynamics between verse and chorus. The guitars revving up at the beginning feel impactful, which is something only this version does. Another plus of this version is that thereās no struggle to hear anyone. Everyone is in their own cut and has plenty of space to flex. Kaiās drums sound the best here. No complaints with this one other than the size!
So basically, the HETERODOXY version wins out for me, TRACES is a good substitute if not a bit loud, the other two can be left in the last decade. The real crime here is that Crucify Sorrow is one of their best songs and itās stuck with that butt ass mastering. Shouldāve made room for it on HETERODOXY. No one needs QUIET.
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Hey, thatās rude! I need Quiet :ccc
But otherwise, wow. Amazing comparison and essay about it. Iām gonna try to hear all of things which you described. Once again, nice job!
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Oh i just gave a listen, those re-master sounds goodā¦ which is unusual in general
Gave it a few spins and the difference in quality is noticeable even on Spotify, at least with some good in ears. Overall really satisfied by this release 