Quoted from BlueMeanie

So therefore it's in the mastering, not the recording. Which was your worry wasn't it?

Well, having not heard the vinyl version, I can't make a decision on the difference in sound against digital formats. They could both sound identical, but that may sound good to you. Or, it may indeed have a much better sound quality than on CD.

If they do sound identical in quality, it occurred during recording. If it sounds superior in quality, the problem lies within the mastering.

And thank you, alexis, for your brilliant reply. Your are 100% spot-on in everything you said. I agree with every word.

I have two theories as to why I think this terrible process happened on a Macca album: either Paul has stopped dabbling in production/engineering when it comes to his music for some reason (and paid someone who didn't care enough to do it for him), or he doesn't have the hearing he once had, so it may all just sound the same to him as recording Abbey Road did.

Dynamics are a massive part of music. To remove them from a recording is outrageous. Clipped sounds lose their original tone (or timbre) so, on this album, you're not actually hearing Macca's voice to it's full potential, along with the pianos, guitars... everything! You may as well listen to the album on a 25 year old cassette-tape or through discount loudspeakers.

I sometimes wish albums were sold as raw multi-track recordings, so I could mix/master the album to my own standards.

Quoted from thefadedline

Well, having not heard the vinyl version, I can't make a decision on the difference in sound against digital formats. They could both sound identical, but that may sound good to you. Or, it may indeed have a much better sound quality than on CD.

If they do sound identical in quality, it occurred during recording. If it sounds superior in quality, the problem lies within the mastering.

And thank you, alexis, for your brilliant reply. Your are 100% spot-on in everything you said. I agree with every word.

I have two theories as to why I think this terrible process happened on a Macca album: either Paul has stopped dabbling in production/engineering when it comes to his music for some reason (and paid someone who didn't care enough to do it for him), or he doesn't have the hearing he once had, so it may all just sound the same to him as recording Abbey Road did.

Dynamics are a massive part of music. To remove them from a recording is outrageous. Clipped sounds lose their original tone (or timbre) so, on this album, you're not actually hearing Macca's voice to it's full potential, along with the pianos, guitars... everything! You may as well listen to the album on a 25 year old cassette-tape or through discount loudspeakers.

I sometimes wish albums were sold as raw multi-track recordings, so I could mix/master the album to my own standards.

Like this?!  http://blogs.siliconvalley.com/gmsv/2008/03/nine_inch_nails_and_the_multitrack_music_model.html

My goodness, wouldn't it be beyond cool if we could buy Beatles albums like that!!

What you said about Paul ... so sad, either way. He was the one who was the most inquisitive about what George Martin, Normal Smith, and Geoff Emerick were doing, you can hear it in his albums like Ram (does anyone know who produced that?). He should hire George Martin's son to do the next album - he won't steer Paul wrong!

And you're very welcome for the post. Yours was really the great one, picture worth a thousand words and all. Though I'm just a home recording hobbyist, I fully agree with all your sentiments, and hope that Bob Katz wins his crusade. The more people that know about this the better, and what better place to reach music lovers that might not have thought about these things than on this fine forum!

Quoted from alexis

Ram (does anyone know who produced that?).

Producers are credited as Paul and Linda McCartney.

http://www.macca-central.com/albums/ram/index.php

I think Trent Reznor has been doing that for a while. You won't believe this alexis, but one of my college-projects a few years ago was to remix the song 'The Hand That Feeds' by Nine Inch Nails, using a multi-track version. It was so fun and liberating being able to set the song to my own standards! I can't listen to the original master of that song now, as I prefer my own mix, haha!