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The Steve Wilson Yes Remasters....

WaynerN

WaynerN

Addicted Member
Here is the review: What complete garbage. This guy couldn't remaster Disney cartoons. The sound is cotton swabs in the ear, no stereo image, a complete waste of time.

Just compare these recordings to Friday Music's redo. They are vastly superior!
 
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Not sure what you are saying? Are you quoting something in the first paragraph?

Do you like the Steve Wilson remaster? I have several of his and I like them a lot.
 
I like my original Yes LPs (like my UK Fragile) and I've heard the Wilson remasters (remixes, really) on Spotify, but I'm interested in what folks think about Wilson's work in higher-rez. What else bugs the OP or anyone else? Full disclosure - I've got a slight, purist-based anti-Wilson bias when it comes to his remixes.
 
Since my review is in the turntable section, it is on the vinyl. It is horrible!

Give me the damn masters and a lathe......
 
I did read "bad" reviews on the net, so I was very cautious. I bought the box set discounted from the Bay and glad I did (not a huge loss). I think the guy ran the music thru a poorly set up BBE sonic maximizer. Very close to the worst vinyl I have ever heard. We may have to have a burning party later this week. I think I will enjoy watching the box set go up in filthy smoke and flame. John, look north for the next few evenings and see if you can see the smoke and flames.

What I don't understand is how the producers of this material could possibly let this stuff pass as anywhere near quality recordings. I have stuff from the 60s that sound 10...no 100 times better.
 
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I bought the box set and hoped it would have been better but honestly couldn't bear to listen to more than a few cuts. I don't know what he was shooting for, it was all wrong.
This box is based on his mixes previously available on blu-ray and DVD-A, maybe that's the problem. Perhaps he should have mixed it for vinyl.
Other remixes by him are phenomenal, this one was really a disappointment.
 
They are not just remasters but remixes.

If you wanted the original mixes you made a mistake by purchasing the box.

I ended up getting the HDTracks version since these mixes are all done in the digital domain anyway. I think they're interesting as an alternate take on the albums for a fan. Wilson likes to de-construct them and put more space between the instruments and different sonic elements - that's his style. Are they substitutes for the original mixes? Absolutely not.
 
WaynerN said:
I think I will enjoy watching the box set go up in filthy smoke and flame. John, look north for the next few evenings and see if you can see the smoke and flames.
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Don't breathe any of those vinyl fumes mate, they can't be good for you. Maybe make some of these instead?

bowl.jpg
 
heyraz said:
I bought the box set and hoped it would have been better but honestly couldn't bear to listen to more than a few cuts. I don't know what he was shooting for, it was all wrong.
This box is based on his mixes previously available on blu-ray and DVD-A, maybe that's the problem. Perhaps he should have mixed it for vinyl.
Other remixes by him are phenomenal, this one was really a disappointment.
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Good to hear this hyraz, I was going to pull the trigger on the Yes box set based on the Tull remixes.

I have Aqualung and Thick as a Brick Wilson remixes and they are very good. Dead quiet vinyl and nicely done. Aqualung could use the help in parts and his remix is better than any US pressing I have heard.
 
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WaynerN said:
I did read "bad" reviews on the net, so I was very cautious. I bought the box set discounted from the Bay and glad I did (not a huge loss). I think the guy ran the music thru a poorly set up BBE sonic maximizer. Very close to the worst vinyl I have ever heard. We may have to have a burning party later this week. I think I will enjoy watching the box set go up in filthy smoke and flame. John, look north for the next few evenings and see if you can see the smoke and flames.

What I don't understand is how the producers of this material could possibly let this stuff pass as anywhere near quality recordings. I have stuff from the 60s that sound 10...no 100 times better.
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Back in the early 00s Wilson seemed to have a very strong trademark sound to stuff he produced and that sound was one of killing everything that is natural and good about instruments and voices. Ok I'm being harsh and he had his hand in the making of some albums that rightfully can be called classics 15 years later, but generally I have a strong dislike for his production values.

Welcome to modern music production :( That old stuff from 60 years ago still sounds relevant and good because they weren't so much going for a "sound" or if/when they were, their tools were so crude they lacked the power to completely ruin everything :)
 
patient_ot said:
They are not just remasters but remixes.

If you wanted the original mixes you made a mistake by purchasing the box.

I ended up getting the HDTracks version since these mixes are all done in the digital domain anyway. I think they're interesting as an alternate take on the albums for a fan. Wilson likes to de-construct them and put more space between the instruments and different sonic elements - that's his style. Are they substitutes for the original mixes? Absolutely not.
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Yes, I knew they were remixes, I guess I should have said that rather then remastered in my title.

Anyway, all the life of these 5 LPs has been sucked out. No real "twinkle", very mono-ish, also recorded at a very low volume, so you need to crank your volume up, it shows low compared to the rest of my LPs on my VU meters.There isn't any space between the instruments, its all crammed together. Its a disaster.
 
WaynerN said:
Yes, I knew they were remixes, I guess I should have said that rather then remastered in my title.

Anyway, all the life of these 5 LPs has been sucked out. No real "twinkle", very mono-ish, also recorded at a very low volume, so you need to crank your volume up, it shows low compared to the rest of my LPs on my VU meters.There isn't any space between the instruments, its all crammed together. Its a disaster.
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I can't speak to the LP versions, only the hi-rez download.

Not sure what version you have, but it looks like the U.S. and European pressings might be different in terms of who cut the lacquers. It appears that some or all of the U.S. box was cut by Chris Bellman (check your deadwax). He normally does a good job, but the trouble when cutting from a digital source is how it is prepped before it reaching the cutter. If it's too loud to begin with then you might have to cut it at a lower volume to avoid problems. This is a common problem with newer vinyl that's digitally sourced. Some LPs are intentionally cut at lower volume with little to no compression so you have to turn them up so they "bloom". A lot of current MOFI LPs are like that.

Anyway, the digital version of the remixes is available on Tidal if you want to listen it and compare with your LPs.

Likewise, if you want to sell your box I'm sure you won't have too much trouble doing that.
 
I really enjoyed his remixed versions of Aqualung and Chicago 2 and was excited when I read he was going to release Yes.
Big disappointment, I wouldn't recommend his Yes remixes. The CD's are much better.
The best Yes I ever heard was the 45 rpm version of The Yes Album by Friday Music. Their 33 rpm version is a close second, but the 45 rpm box is one of those "reference recordings". Really what Yes was about.
Sorry Steve Wilson...bad vinyl box set.
 
patient_ot said:
I can't speak to the LP versions, only the hi-rez download.

Not sure what version you have, but it looks like the U.S. and European pressings might be different in terms of who cut the lacquers. It appears that some or all of the U.S. box was cut by Chris Bellman (check your deadwax). He normally does a good job, but the trouble when cutting from a digital source is how it is prepped before it reaching the cutter. If it's too loud to begin with then you might have to cut it at a lower volume to avoid problems. This is a common problem with newer vinyl that's digitally sourced. Some LPs are intentionally cut at lower volume with little to no compression so you have to turn them up so they "bloom". A lot of current MOFI LPs are like that.

Anyway, the digital version of the remixes is available on Tidal if you want to listen it and compare with your LPs.

Likewise, if you want to sell your box I'm sure you won't have too much trouble doing that.
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All vinyl cut nowdays is brought into the digital domain so that the cutting lathe computer can adjust groove spacings. I don't need to download anything to compare it to as I have other LPs here to compare it to. I have original LPs I bought when I was a kid, I have the Friday Music stuff, and the Analog Productions version of Fragile. I also have Talk from Japan.
 
WaynerN said:
All vinyl cut nowdays is brought into the digital domain so that the cutting lathe computer can adjust groove spacings.
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Computer controlled groove spacing and analog preview head + analog signal are not mutually exclusive. Are most LPs nowadays cut from a digital signal? Yes, but certainly not all. There are mastering studios that can cut all analog still and do it all the time.

WaynerN said:
I don't need to download anything to compare it to as I have other LPs here to compare it to.
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I think you missed my point. The point was, listen to the digital versions of the remixes and figure out if the problem is the cutting or if you just don't like the remixes. If you don't want to do that and just get pissed off that the remixes aren't the same as your original mixes on vinyl, have at it.
 
That's disappointing to hear. I love his DVD-A surround remix of "The Yes Album" and it's one of my go-to's in the car. His work on Crimson's Discipline is also very good. Something must have gone wrong with the vinyl mastering process (if there was one at all).

jblnut
 
patient_ot said:
Computer controlled groove spacing and analog preview head + analog signal are not mutually exclusive. Are most LPs nowadays cut from a digital signal? Yes, but certainly not all. There are mastering studios that can cut all analog still and do it all the time.



I think you missed my point. The point was, listen to the digital versions of the remixes and figure out if the problem is the cutting or if you just don't like the remixes. If you don't want to do that and just get pissed off that the remixes aren't the same as your original mixes on vinyl, have at it.
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What good will that do? It will not change how the records sound. I really don't do digital.
 
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