Blah Blah Cafe, the Jean-Michel Jarre forum

[Memory Cords]

Fuck the loudness war... I'm sick of these badly mastered CD's that have been released over the last 5 years. I can actually hear digital distortion on many recent 'professionally' mastered albums on major labels. Where is the integrity?

[Kanta]

Fuck the loudness war... I'm sick of these badly mastered CD's that have been released over the last 5 years. I can actually hear digital distortion on many recent 'professionally' mastered albums on major labels. Where is the integrity?

You are entitled to your opinion but it sounds good to me. Please don't say anything Jean Michel would do I would like because that has never been the issue. Jean Michel has integrity. You don't like it then return it.

Anyway moving along. The Euronews logo is a bit similar to the white circle on the E&R album:

[Dv_]

Not bad - for an umpteenth compilation - it remains to be seen where it will be next week, but all in all not a bad chart placing

Hmmm... If I remember well, even T&T did better...
61st place means few thousands sales only...


But you're right, we have to wait for next week to have a better idea.

[Pat Gleeson]

Hmmm... If I remember well, even T&T did better...

T&T was a new JMJ album, this is yet another compilation. The prime reason for buying this was the rarities - not high on the casual buyers list, and it's casual buyers who boost chart placings.
Take Adele for instance. She is taking the worldwide charts by storm and continuing to sell shedloads of albums. How many fans of Adele have yet to buy either '19' or '21' ?
Another example : Kate Bush fans bought her latest album en masse and it charted at No.2. Since then it's fallen to No. 11 and then No. 30.
Adele's chart dominance and extended chart run are due to her continued mainstream appeal to the public eye and the casual buyer.
Kate Bush's initial chart placing was due almost entirely to her fans, the presumably short chart run shows that relatively few others are buying.
This is the reality that record companies face today, and which JMJ expressed so articulately at the World Copyright sessions. In the 70's when JMJ started his chart run, buying records was one of the main leisure activities - not today with the advent of computer games and single track downloads. The future of the album - and the record industry - is under serious threat.

[Analog-Umph]

You are entitled to your opinion but it sounds good to me.

Sigh. Once again it has nothing to do with opinion.

Kanta please listen to Equinoxe 4 on the original album. Then listen to the Essential's version of the track. Do them both on headphones. Adjust the volume on both to comfortable levels.

While you listen, single out each and every sound and also listen to the tracks as a whole.

Which version sounds better?

[Memory Cords]

You are entitled to your opinion but it sounds good to me. Please don't say anything Jean Michel would do I would like because that has never been the issue. Jean Michel has integrity. You don't like it then return it.

I love Jean Michel Jarre. Seriously. To be honest, discovering and listening to his music has been one of the best experiences of my life. I mean that sincerely.

My comment is aimed at whoever it is at these labels who is responsible for these mastering problems that have affected many CDs (not just by Jarre but by many, many artists). The Dreyfus Jarre remasters are a perfect example of what I'm talking about. I would just like the labels to treat the artist's music with the respect it deserves.

[shadow]

You are entitled to your opinion but it sounds good to me. Please don't say anything Jean Michel would do I would like because that has never been the issue. Jean Michel has integrity. You don't like it then return it.

[]Image[]

First of all, it's a bloody circle, ofcourse they will look alot like eachother

Second, ofcourse we like it, the rarities CD sounds excilent for their age, but there are just a couple of problems with the remastering of both disc's (and not just Jarre's music, but almost the entire industry on that note). I agree they sound good overall speaking, but I am a real audioholic (or Audiophile as the term is technically ), and there are a couple of clear problems with these new Remasters to my ears, and many other audiophile's I know who I demonstrated this package to. The audio volume on the disc itself has been pushed exactly onto the limit itself (0dB), now this isn't really a major problem useally, aslong as there aren't any peaks in the tracks. But on a couple of tracks there are peaks, and by pushing the entire track right onto the volume limit of 0dB (which BTW should always be max -1dB, as 0 is already overdoing it), that peak get's cut of, causing the dynamic of that part of the music to be sacrificed in order to push the volume up. But the biggest problem with this idea is, that all music players come with a volume button, that's what's it's ment to do, and you should be the person to decided how loud the volume is, and not the Audio Designer.

This video show's and explaing perfectly what I'm saying

My comment is aimed at whoever it is at these labels who is responsible for these mastering problems that have affected many CDs (not just by Jarre but by many, many artists). The Dreyfus Jarre remasters are a perfect example of what I'm talking about. I would just like the labels to treat the artist's music with the respect it deserves.

Well I bought all albums remasterd, figuring out that Jarre would think about these remaster's and not have them take part in this stupid war... I'm tracking and buying all the original CD releases right now, so all Albums will be double in my collection

[Velodynamic]

You are entitled to your opinion but it sounds good to me. Please don't say anything Jean Michel would do I would like because that has never been the issue. Jean Michel has integrity. You don't like it then return it.

[]Image[]

First of all, it's a bloody circle, ofcourse they will look alot like eachother

Second, ofcourse we like it, the rarities CD sounds excilent for their age, but there are just a couple of problems with the remastering of both disc's (and not just Jarre's music, but almost the entire industry on that note). I agree they sound good overall speaking, but I am a real audioholic (or Audiophile as the term is technically ), and there are a couple of clear problems with these new Remasters to my ears, and many other audiophile's I know who I demonstrated this package to. The audio volume on the disc itself has been pushed exactly onto the limit itself (0dB), now this isn't really a major problem useally, aslong as there aren't any peaks in the tracks. But on a couple of tracks there are peaks, and by pushing the entire track right onto the volume limit of 0dB (which BTW should always be max -1dB, as 0 is already overdoing it), that peak get's cut of, causing the dynamic of that part of the music to be sacrificed in order to push the volume up. But the biggest problem with this idea is, that all music players come with a volume button, that's what's it's ment to do, and you should be the person to decided how loud the volume is, and not the Audio Designer.

This video show's and explaing perfectly what I'm saying

This is exactly why I still love vinyl records, why they're the best way to really enjoy new music and why this zoombie like brain dead music industry should never stop making new vinyls!
The computers improved and destroyed the real quality in produced music because any teenage kid could make their own tracks being aired really loud over the radio by using some cheap softwares wich makes the whole mixing process a piece of cake. Just a click on the mouse and the algorytms automaticly compresses the hell out of the tracks, spoiling the dynamics and putting all the levels to the max. By this they got their coveted public attention. It's also a nice way of covering eventual lack of skills in mixing music by perfection.
The big companies had to compete with this shit and here we are. It's really sad.
You pick up a 15 year old CD and it sounds 10 times better then one that left the factory last week...

Now I haven't got the E & R album yet, so I can't tell exactly what it sounds like.
Still I want it as a collecting item and the older JMJ tracks. I'll buy the vinyl when ever I got the chance. Perhaps that it'll be more enjoyable?
But the tendency of music CD's overall is quite clear, it's hard not to see or hear.
Ironicly because the potentials of all the laser disc formats to store extremely good sound quality has never been better.

[Kanta]

You are entitled to your opinion but it sounds good to me.

Sigh. Once again it has nothing to do with opinion.

Kanta please listen to Equinoxe 4 on the original album. Then listen to the Essential's version of the track. Do them both on headphones. Adjust the volume on both to comfortable levels.

While you listen, single out each and every sound and also listen to the tracks as a whole.

Which version sounds better?

Both.

[GeeJee]

She's one of theirs.

RUNNNN

[shadow]

She's one of theirs.

RUNNNN :

WAIT FOR ME!!!

[Pat Gleeson]

A sensible idea chaps

[chronos]

what's so "essential" about the arse end of Calypso 2 ???

[Dr_Jones]

what's so "essential" about the arse end of Calypso 2 ???

Because Calypso 2 is only his best song ever.

[shadow]

Calypso 2 and 3 (although I know 3 isn't included) are without a doubt two of his best tracks of all time, to bad it wasn't the entire track though