Alan Parsons - I Robot (1 Viewer)

[Brian L]

OK, the Yes 90125 thread has motivated me to dig through the old pile 'o vinyl that has not seen day light for 11 years, and "I Robot" has just moved to the top of my play list.

I recently re-added my old B&O 1800 TT to my rig, and I am pulling out LPs that I forgot I had, which I also never bought on Cee-Dee.

I Robot is one, and I have to say, even though my TT is not first rate, this LP sounds pretty damn good. I have only gotten through side one but the mix is so dense with interesting sounds that even in stereo, you get a wonderfully enveloping experience.

So the questions are, hows the CD? I see that the one listed at Amazon has a 1990 release date. Is that the best there is?

Any rumors on this being done in hi-rez, stereo or otherwise?

If not, let me say that it would be very cool for this to get done up in hi-rez MC.

BGL

 

[Al B. C]

I believe this title was released in DAD a couple of years ago but I have never heard or read any reviews about sound quality.

This one really needs the MC treatment in one or the other Hi Rez formats - pick one, don't matter to me, just release it.

 

[Brian E]

There is an HDAD & 200 gram vinyl release coming this month from Classic Records.

 

[cwhite]

I have the old aluminium MoFi edition of it and it sounds all right, not great. But I wouldn't get any new re-release of this album unless it had Alan Parson's blessing or involvment. For someone as quality conscious as he is, you would had thought some of his earlier catalog stuff be out on either SACD or DVD-A by now. And AP did do a few albums in quad and Ambisonic Surround in the mid-1980s.

 

[Phil A]

I have the Classic Records 24/96 DAD and it sounds very good. I thought that Classic had indicated moving from DAD to DVD-A last yr. but have not seen any announcements since then.

 

[Brian L]

Just when I thought I had all the formats pretty well understood!

I know what a DAD is, and have a couple Chesky titles, but what is a HDAD?

BGL

 

[Brian L]

Well, there is a thread over at Hoffman's site right now on this subject.

If I read it right, a HDAD is a two sided DVD with a 24/96 PCM track on the DVD-V side (playable on most DVD players), and a 24/192 DVD-A track on the DVD-A side.

Not sure I am getting much of a woodrow over that. While I am sure it will sound good (cripes, my LP on an old TT sounds great!), I would would prefer that they include a MC mix too.

And really, I have my doubts that 24/96 vs. 24/192 are going to sound different, although I will stay open minded on the matter.

BGL

 

[gene c]

On page 95 of the June, 2003 edition of Sound & Vision magazine, it say's Alan Parsons hope to license the surround rights to the rest of his back catalog. Lets hope he does. And quickly! Gene

 

[Phil A]

Brian thanks for the clarification. From reading the description on the Classic Records website, I had no idea as to what they were descrbing since they mention 200gm 'vinyl.'

"CATALOG #: HDAD-2003
LABEL: Classic HDAD (24/96-24/192 kHz digital format)
PRICE: $20.00
AVAILABLE: Now

I Robot - The man behind the recording of "Dark Side of the Moon" is none other than Alan Parsons. If you want to hear what is his definitive recording and a bit of the Dark Side then this is it. I ROBOT was produced and engineered by Alan at Abbey Road Studios and is an audiophile's dream recording. Tranferred on an all-tube cutting system from the original 1/4" analog master tapes at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Pressed on our proprietary 200gm QUIEX Super Vinyl Profile. The comparison package features a deluxe gatefold 2-LP set along with the new HDAD package for the ultimate digital vs analog shootout. Buy both and save $10.

ORDER NOW, DELIVERY EXPECTED 2/15/04. "

 

[Philip Hamm]

The 96/24 hi-res DAD of this album sounds fantastic. Find it and buy it, don't wait for any future release.

I like this album a lot even though it's a blatant and pretentious attempt by Parsons to make "Dark Side Of The Moon II".

 

[Jeff Keene]

I think the world would be a much better place if more people made blatant and pretentious attempts to make "Dark Side of the Moon II"!

The HDAD sounds neat. I don't know this album, but if this thread was inspired by a Yes thread, I'll happily try it.

 

[Brian L]

Well, I am not sure I would compare this to Yes, other than the fact that the 90125 thread had my digging through my vinyl where both it and I Robot were awaiting the loving embrace of my turn table. Then again, I guess you could say that these two discs are somewhat similar in tone and texture.

Last night, I was able to play both sides, which I probably had not done for 15 years or so.

Not bad taken as a whole, but there are some up and down moments. I would have to say that I like side one better than side two, but still, a great listen on the old TT.

I guess the original DAD is no longer available. The new release is basically a DAD on one side, and a DVD-A on the other.

Still, assuming the same mix and mastering, I have to wonder, What's the point?

If I can't hear up to 43K, I don't think I can hear up to 96K. And really, how much content on the master tapes exist in those ranges.

Gilding the lilly, IMHO.

BGL

 

[Jeff Keene]

Oh, I understand that Alan Parsons and Yes may not be directly comparable. But listening to one led you to listen to the other, indirectly, and that's good enough for me. I'm a touchy feely music guy.

So... are you saying the only difference between 96 and 192 sampling rates is the ability to extend the treble in ultrasonic ranges? Why would that be? I don't understand how sampling rate and frequency are related. In my little head, it just makes more plot points on the sonic curves, which comes closer to the intended analog sound patterns. But I could be full of Tormato.

 

[Ben_wood]

FWIW I'm also a big fan of both Alan Parsons and Yes. I'd love to see "Turn of a Friendly Card" released in Hi-Rez!

 

[LanceJ]

Mathematically speaking, you need at least two sample points for a DAC to be able to "build" a sine wave (and that's all I'm going to say on that controversial issue!).

So if you want a frequency response up to 20kHz, during the ENcoding stage you take 40,000 samples per second. If you want a response up to 30kHz, then take 60,000 samples per second, and so on.

So sampling rate and frequency response are directly related.

The CD format is capable of playing back a 20kHz sine wave, but has a sampling rate of 44,100 times per second. That extra 4,100 samples gives the digital encoders/decoders some elbow room, so to speak, to perform the required filtering duties that PCM requires.

And it's that filtering stage where audible sonic problems can and do occur, particularly at higher frequencies. I wrote about them here (link leads directly to that post). Improved filters are why most CD players nowadays sound better than most of the players in the 1980s.

LJ

 

[Joel Fontenot]

I see this mentioned a lot, and after years of listening to both DSotM and I, Robot, I've yet to find how the two are even remotely similar.

But that's just me.

Joel

 

[Philip Hamm]

Seriously? The dynamic of the albums as a whole are strikingly similar. The sound effect laden "atmospheric" fade-in, the song flow, the production sound (they sound like they were recorded at the same time in the same studio). The drawn out ending melody following another atomspheric almost-end-of-album piece. It's uncanny.

 

[John Kotches]

Lance,

Nyquist and Shannon have demonstrated that you cannot allow 1/2 fs or higher into the encode stage. The requirement is ever so slightly under 1/2fs.

This is why there's a guard band

Cheers,

 

[FeisalK]

all it takes now is for someone to sync I Robot to The Wizard of Oz

I am on the brink of ordering HDAD-2003 tho, and wishing Pyramania was also in the pipeline

 

[Jeff Keene]

I can't believe I've never heard this before. Thanks for the explanation.