Big Star “#1 Record” & “Radio City” 2024 digital remasters?

Just saw these pop up on Qobuz this morning (both 24/192):

#1 Record (Remastered 2024)

Radio City (Remastered 2024)

Can’t find any details online. Anybody have any info on these?

 

Interesting...these are on Apple Music too.

I also noticed recently that there's a re-released "Third/Sister Lovers" that sounds like it's the same remasters as the box set but pulled out as the 1992 tracklist. But the "manana" intro is missing from "Jesus Christ"

I've tried reaching out to the Big Star official social channels about it but haven't gotten a response.

 

I listened to the two versions of Radio City on Qobuz… iPad/AK dongle/Grado 325i .. and on this modest rig they sound very different!

The 2024 hi res is the Craft, and the earlier is “Stax” according to the album info there.

 

For what it’s worth, Paul Blakemore is listed as the mastering engineer for these 2024 versions. I don’t believe he was involved with any other Big Star releases.

 

Listened to #1 Record and it definitely sounded a bit different to me. I’ll have to listen more critically before I can articulate why tho…

 

I just A/B'd them with the older (I forget what year?) hi rez versions I have and... to my ears, the new ones sound pretty terrible. Really muffled and mid-rangey. Sticking with the older ones.

 

Paul Blakemore mastered The Best Of Big Star (2017) for Concord (CMG) which I think sounds pretty good.

The Best Of Big Star [Discogs]


These 2024 versions sound like they've had some virtual surround processing applied or something. Wooly and muddy - lacking the top end these albums are known for.

 

I agree. There's more low end, but I don't think this new mastering matches the original recording intent of these albums, i.e., bright and toppy. And yes, The Best Of sounds good.

 

Ok gonna have to pull these up on Apple now. The "bright and toppy" sound is my least favorite thing about these otherwise brilliant records so this might be a winner for me.

 

I've only listened to the brief samples on Qobuz so far. I own and enjoy the 2014 CDs (which, if I recall correctly, use the same mastering as the 2004 hybrid SACD two-fer), but the toppiness has always been a problem for me. I get that it's part of the "Big Star sound" but I find that I can enjoy the music a lot more if I reduce that. (I can't for the life of me find my EQ notes, but I believe there was a big reduction at around 5 or 6 kHz and another one probably at around 10-12 kHz?)

Listening to these new Qobuz samples, the brightness is indeed toned down, but there's also a boost to the midrange that I'm not sure if I like or not. It definitely presents the music in a drastically different light. With the brightness dialed back I can appreciate the subtleties in the music a lot more, but the midrange also seems very echoey and cramped. I don't want to make blanket statements having only heard 30-second (presumably lossy) samples. But they also sounded louder and more compressed than the 2014 CDs, although it's tough to compare because those discs are so shrill that it's hard to get a frame of reference for the volume.

These are definitely remasters I want to do future comparisons with, but at present I haven't got the cash to throw around, especially on something whose samples make me iffy.

 

I"ve got the hybrids, I'm good.

 

Well, this is what sucks about streaming (which I do anyway). All of a sudden, better, older masters are pulled for new (allegedly, in this case) inferior ones. You're stuck with what they give you if you gave up your physical media or previous digital files (or never had them).

I still have my original pressing LPs and digital files I made from them, so I feel I'm set. But this is a real downside to streaming.

 

Actually, both are currently still available on Qobuz. The 2004/2014 mastering is 24/96, the 2024 mastering is 24/192. For both albums. Your point is taken, certainly, but in this instance (at least for now), we have both.

 

I just checked Apple, and the old version is still available as the two-fer.

Gonna compare the high res to my OG vinyl tonight

 

Wonder how the 2024 masterings compare to the Craft vinyl…

 

Whoa. Something is defective with these high res remasters.

They sound more like 128kbps MP3s. What is going on here????

The original LPs are a tad on the bright side, but this sounds like everything 12K and above was rolled off.

Truly a shame.

 

The default on Apple Music are still the 2014 remaster. If you select the album, you get the option of the two-fer, the 2009 remaster, and the 2024 remasters. So they're all there.

But yeah, this is what I have about albums getting remastered all the time now. There are just so many versions and most won't know what to make of them.

 

How many more ways to sell Big Star's limited studio output will they come up with? As many as they can sell, I guess.

 

Well, I did some A/B listening (comparing the tracks "Ballad of El Goodo" and "Thirteen" and "September Gurls") and pretty much agree with the above two assessments. You two probably have better ears and listening acuity than me. New hi-res versions do sound muffled in comparison with my hybrid SACD versions. And possibly more compressed. I want to compare the new hi-res with the DSD layer of my disc but it's always hard since DSD playback is 6dB quieter than PCM playback, at least on my DAC (this is common to all DSD files, is it not, they are quieter than the equivalent PCM file?... this is the case on my Spring 3 DAC and it was the case when I was using my OPPO 205 as the DAC).

So my listening comparisons were Qobuz streamed with Rega DAC-R as one source and my local files sent via JRiver to Spring 3 KTE. Switching back and forth. I always thought my hybrid SACD masters sounded a bit too bright, but now I prefer the brightness of those to the muffled sound of the new hi-res files.

To add to the confusion (always hard to be certain of provenance with digital streamed or downloaded files, at least on Qobuz), Qobuz has two versions of Radio City (an older 16/44 one attributed to Stax 1972, and the new 24/192 one) and FOUR versions of #1 Record: an old 16/44 version listed as Ardent 1972 (I hate it when Qobuz gives the original release date instead of the release date of the digital version being referred to), a 16/44 twofer version listed as Fantasy 1992, a Stax 2014 version in 24/96, and the new Craft 24/192 version dated 1972 (obviously a new 2024 release).

Inclined to agree with you here.

Instead of doing more digital hi-res remasters of albums for which we already have quite decent digital versions either on CD or streaming and download platforms, I wish they would remaster some of those beloved albums in my collection for which only one horribly brickwalled version exists, and which sorely need a competent remastering. Just to name one, Where Our Love Grows by Swing Out Sister: great album, fantastic songs and production, but compressed so badly as to be barely listenable.

 

Now I am also curious about the version of Third which Qobuz has, with the original cover art, designated Ardent label 1978. The track listing is the same as the 1992 Ryko CD except it's missing the last track "Whole Lotta Shaking." May be the same master as the Ryko version but if anyone knows, do tell.

 

For those of you looking for a less bright version of the first two Big Star records, I would point you to the German Line two-fer CD. Just be careful that you’re getting the version with all the tracks, ‘cause there is supposedly a version missing a couple (though I didn’t see one on Discogs). It sounds quite nice.

 

I totally agree; as a side note, Line also released a 2-CD set of Big Star.......Big Star – #1 Record & Radio City & Sister Lovers / The Third Album (1992, CD) - Discogs

Ed Hurdle
HeavyDistortion

 

FWIW, Steve suggested a starting point for EQ adjustments and if you have the hybrid SACD, I would just rip that and apply. It looks like I've posted about it before over the years, but basically:

#1 Record was possibly mixed and/or recorded bright as a poor man's Dolby noise-reduction where you're supposed to 'correct' for the top end boost during the mastering stage, thus reducing whatever tape hiss there may be by a substantial margin. Not sure if that's true but #1 Record sounds a lot better when you drop the top (10k) by at least 6 whole decibels.

Radio City doesn't have the same problem, it's nowhere near as bright as #1 Record but it is on the bright side. I'd drop the top end only by a few decibels at most.

 

I'm still surprised that they (Omnivore) hasn't pulled out all of the 2" masters to find some unreleased material from the first two albums. I've been in the tape vault at Ardent....and there are a number of interestingly labeled boxes!

 

Although I am a great fan of Big Star, I have not tried to seek out everything that's been released (though I'd be intrigued to hear the outtakes alluded to above). These are the ones I have in my collection:

Big Star - #1 Record / Radio City

Big Star - Third / Sister Lovers

Big Star - Keep An Eye On The Sky

Big Star - Complete Third

Big Star - Nothing Can Hurt Me

Chris Bell - I Am The Cosmos

Chris Bell - I Am The Cosmos

Is there anything essential that I'm missing?