(Note: I have uploaded both a Lossless .FLAC and a
VBR .MP3 of this album).
Metallica - Master Of Puppets 1986 (Unique Custom
Remaster, 2007) FLAC Lossless
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Technical Info
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-Source material:
Tracks 1-8: FLAC Lossless ("Metallica - Master
Of Puppets (Remastered) (FLAC) {Team
Gnostic}")
-New Encoding:
FLAC Lossless (In other words, full quality
compressed to generally about 1/2 of an Audio CD
size)
-Total Size:
411 MB
-Total Play Time:
0:54:44
-Tracklist:
1. Metallica - Battery (Remastered) (5:12)
2. Metallica - Master of Puppets (Remastered)
(8:36)
3. Metallica - The Thing That Should Not Be
(Remastered) (6:37)
4. Metallica - Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
(Remastered) (6:27)
5. Metallica - Disposable Heroes (Remastered)
(8:16)
6. Metallica - Leper Messiah (Remastered)
(5:40)
7. Metallica - Orion (Instrumental) (Remastered)
(8:27)
8. Metallica - Damage, Inc. (Remastered) (5:29)
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General info
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I "remastered" Slipknots "vol 3 - The
Subliminal Verses" about 2 years ago or
something, and it became a pretty popular torrent
with about 3000+ downloads from TPB. The comments
were also very positive for it. Not saying that
the people who downloaded it, or me for that
matter, are qualified to properly judge audio
fidelity or quality. But the result was pretty
good I reckon.
So now I thought I would do the same again. I
recently downloaded Metallica's "Master Of
Puppets" mostly because I thought I'd see what
all the fuzz is about. I only enjoy some select
groups in rock and such, mostly a Trance,
Electronic, Vangelis type listener.
Anyways, I liked the songs alot (I enjoy nice
guitar lines sliiightly more than "emo"
lyrics, or screaming your head off, you know,
things like that).
But I was struck by the extremely poor quality.
Now, unlike Slipknot's "Vol. 3" (2005)
this was recorded back in 1986, so I'm not really
complaining.
But I even managed to track down a .FLAC torrent
which specified it as "remastered", and I
found no differences other than the volume and
maybe some very subtle changes. The remaster was
from 1999, so I guess they just took the original
tapes, and ran them through some other equipment
that didn't change a whole lot (still very weirdly
mixed, and very hard to listen to in my
opinion.
Still, people enjoy this album so much, so imagine
how much they might like a more "proper"
version which has been thoroughly processed to
meet the standards of recent or even current
records...
Anyways, I can objectively say that there is a
HUGE difference between the source album and the
final results. Not just a subtle vacuum compressor
added, or something like that. There is alot of
stuff I've done, that together help in taking the
sonics of a 1986 album to 2007.
Here are some examples:
Denoising: The tapenoise is present on all tracks,
especially on quiet sections or on soft
guitar-intros etc ("Battery" intro for
example). It has also been made alot more audible
with some Equalizing I''ve done. But thanks to the
wonders of VSTs, that's gone, and I mean
completely. Care has been taken to keep all the
actual music in, and only affect the noise that
shouldn't be there.
Equalizing: Lots of it. Balancing the audio
spectrum to make sure no parts stick out and
pierce your eardrums when you turn up the volume.
Also, this balancing makes the sound just sound
overall "fatter". The original had certain
parts of the spectrum boosted compared to other,
so you ended up with thin "peaks" of
sound, and the rest was not easily heard from
underneath.
Bass Processing: Subharmonic generators are great.
Because of the quite poor mixing and equalizing of
the original source (aswell as probably
limitations and such of older recording
technology), the bassguitar is often not heard at
all, except for during less busy parts of tracks.
There isn't much low-end or bass in it (if you are
used to listen to modern records you will notice
it alot). The low-end was also quite wobbly and
weirdly recorded, it lacked alot of tightness.
SO what I have done is actually high-passing some
of the low-end, to get rid of some of that. After
that, a Bass-ehancer is used to get some low-end
back. It actually analyses a higher portion of the
audio spectrum (for example the more
high-frequency part of the bass guitar present in
the mixes) and from that it constructs a synthetic
low-end that matches the higher part. If done
right, the result can be excellent. I think it
sounds pretty good.
Stereo work: Some slight stereo-enhancing has
taken place. Nothing big, but it adds to the
overall sound. If you overdo this, you can ruin
the dept-perception of far-sounding instruments
like the reverb of a snaredrum, or a guitar line
with reverb. So subtle changes only.
High-End enhancing: Similar to Bass Processing and
Subharmonic generators, only it affects the
high-end. It analyses audio to add new content to
the audio signal. This can be used to great effect
to add new sparkle to a track that lacks a
high-end altogether, or you can just use it to
spice up the already present sizzle of a track.
Also, it can add a great sense of air to the
highest part of the audio spectrum. If the
recording sounds very muffled or "closed"
for some reason, this little processor can add a
"shimmer" that helps alot in making the
track easier to listen to thanks to a much more
"open" feel. A subtle change also (and not
really necssary in this case because there was
high-end already there), but the openness you get,
along with the slight uppwards expansion of
certain instruments and reverbs, makes it a
welcome contribution.
Compression etc: I'm not a fan of compression with
traditional compressors, especially not in
situations like these. I've instead used tape-like
processors, that don't have the prone-ness to
pumping that normal "threshold"
compressors can have.
The effect of tape-processors is transparent and
continuous, so you never get a sense of the
compression kicking in at a certain volume. The
source here is quite punchy and transient-rich, so
you can use quite aggressive settings with great
results. Even thought it can be very hard to
actually "hear" the result, A-B-ing
reveals a "fatter" sounds that still
retains alot of punch and openness.
Transient Processing: Nothing changed in the upper
frequencies, but the low-end kicks a bit more and
is less flat. Bass-frequencies bounce and move
more volume-wise.
Other notes:
Some "issues" are still there. There is
clicking in parts of tracks or just a small
section or just a single click here and there. In
some cases it sounds like clipping (and in some
cases it could be clipping from the original
source) but I didn't introduce any of the obvious
ones atleast.
Some weren't even audible before I
equalized and such, and others are just do to old
technology while recording. I don't have the
desire to swat them out one by one, and
click-reduction almost always affects the attacks
and "good" clicks from snares, hihats and
such, if only little. So this was not a priority
and not used here.
Distorted and "loose"-sounding Bassguitar
in certain parts (certain sections of "The
Thing That Should Not Be" where the guitar
goes down low in pitch and climbs back up). Not my
fault, its in the original recordings and made
somewhat "worse" by equalizing. It would
need re-recording to fix properly, and although I
don't like the sound of it at all, you will have
to take it as nostalgia. Besides, if you were
enjoying the original sound... ;)
Overall, this is, in quality aspects, a really
polished turd. So the sound will sometimes be
accordingly.
Creative changes: There are a few
"Creative" changes made, that are
different from equalizing and other things (that
only alter volume etc of already existing sound
information). Some processors add new audio that
wasn't there before, namely the Bass and High-End
Processors. The Stereo work also add some new
material, although it only adds a subtle
"presence" and is largely negligible.
But, since I think that some of these aspects add
to the sound, and some were necessary, I added
them with good conscience. I also think this album
really deserved some really large changes to cram
the most out of it.
So, that's all the info you'll need I think. Any
questions PM or just ask directly in the
torrent-message thingy area.
Now, just turn up the volume, and enjoy. ;)
