Search - Gloria Estefan :: 90 Millas

A wonderful cultural phenomenon, but the amplitude of sound

Tom Brody | Berkeley, CA | 07/31/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The music on this disc is a wonderous cultural phenomenon. We find congas, lead female vocal, piano, vocal chorus, violin, and brass. FIVE STARS for the music on the album.



In my limited experience with Cuban music, I have found two other albums that can match this one, in terms of authenticity in sound and ability to command sustained interest and attention. These two albums are Afro Cuban All Stars on the World Circuit label (No.: 79476-2) and Tito Puente's album, MAMBO BIRDLAND. I also like Mongo Santamaria's UP FROM THE ROOTS album and AFRO-AMERICAN LATIN albums. These albums provide an array of authentic Cuban sounds (not latinized American pop songs, or relaxing Latin lounge music).



But the sound on the Estefan compact disc is distorted. The sound is imprinted on the compact disc to provide an extremely high volume. Because of this, or perhaps because of some other reason, the sound is fuzzy and distorted throughout the entire Estefan compact disc. To remedy this problem, I found that I could turn down the volume control on the compact disc player (you should turn it down to 5 or lower) and turn up the volume on your amplifier. I own 1000 compact discs, and have only encountered distortion on only two other discs, one a BEST OF THE ZOMBIES on the "Best of the 60's" label, and the other Martha and the Vandellas THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION.



I bought the Estefan album on Amazon.com from the little button that allows purchasing from private sellers. The disc was new, but it was for sale for under one dollar. My guess is that a batch of disc pressings was poorly made by the manufacturer, resulting in the distorted sound, and somehow these entered the marketplace. Alternatively, it might be that the disc is a counterfeit. At any rate, I am glad that I discovered the volume-fiddling trick as a way to eliminate the distortion problem.



Points off for this album's rating because of the distorted sound. Has anyone else encountered this problem?"