Search - Sonny Terry :: Doggin' My Heart Around

This is the latest remastering technology? You can't be seri

superbowlbash | 12/15/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Avoid this disc, period! These performances from the late 40's and early 50's are all first rate Sonny Terry, but the sound quality of this "denoised, enhanced and remastered" disc is absolutely the worst I have ever heard. It is literally unlistenable, I would rather listen to scratchy 78's.



Our World Entertainment created this disc with their touted new technology of DRP-digital restoration processing, AST-animated stereo processing, VAP-virtual ambience processing, and SMT-surround matrix technology. Well, the engineer running the remastering equipment must be deaf and blind, or maybe he just forgot to turn it on because what they've done is create a wall of audio mud combined with shrill, harsh, barking harmonica over it. The drums are unintelligible, the bass is pure mud or non-existent, and the guitar sounds muffled like it's being played under a pillow. The vocals are buried and the only thing you can hear clearly is Sonny's harp, only because they have it equalized so shrill, harsh and loud that it jumps out of the mix and barks horribly.



Our World's DRP process claims to use software to reduce noise, crackle, rumble, and hiss from the original recordings. AST is a process where they reproduce a stereo image again using software. VAP is taking the original ambience and enhancing it. And finally SMT is intended to enhance individual instruments, similar, I suppose, to the process of equalization. Of course under their description of all this wonderful new technology is a disclaimer that their quality depends on the quality of the original recordings. I think Our World needs to go back to the drawing board and rewrite some new software algorithms because these have defintiely ruined what were probably decent enough tracks to begin with. As a matter of fact, I have better recorded versions of a few of these tunes from other cd's. In the future I will avoid purchasing anything from this company, they show 6 other blues releases inside the cover. They have the nerve to print on the cover "Blues Reference Masters." Not to mention the blurry 2-color cover photo and inside photo (just a reversed image of the cover). Shameful. At least I didn't pay full price for it, a Tower Records was closing and I bought it for 60% off.



So there you have it, another rip-off of a great blues artists. I wonder if the late Sonny Terry's relatives are getting any royalties from this disc? One other comment I just noticed, printed on the disc itself are the letters "DDD", which to my knowledge means that the content was orignally recorded digitally, mixed digitally, and mastered digitally. Gee, I didn't know they had digital recorders back in the late 40's."