Hardcore fans of Talking Heads will be aware that the main CD re-issue of their studio albums, in the mid-2000s, was a brickwalled travesty, leading many to search for the first CD issues from the 80s by Sire. What may be less known, however, was that during the same re-issue campaign special 5.1 surround mixes were released for each album, and starting in 2007, some dude painstakingly overcame the DRM on the disks by optically recording them through specialist gear and downmixed them live to stereo lossless tracks. The results are vastly superior, crisper mixes of the albums with pros such as clearer vocals than the original masters and additional detail to the percussion. The cons are the live material doesn't benefit nearly as much, the mix is a bit tinny (no special treatment given to the low-frequency track of the 5.1 arrangement), and the panning of some elements is quite odd/severe in a few places given the source was intended for an experience different to the original listening experience of the albums.
A good example of the kind of difference to expect is the mix of Houses In Motion- the muddiness of the vocals in the original mix is removed, and controversially the backing vocals in the chorus are panned to the right instead of the centre, revealing a chorus of female vocals that merely bolster Byrne in the original mix but become their own entity here, clearly audible on their own.
Overally, really interesting stuff, if only a tenth of Yea Forums had the dedication of guys like this. Mega link to the lot through this link:
>muh brickwalling fuck off back to steve hoffman forums nobody cares
Brayden Hall
Interesting stuff, thanks for sharing mate
Angel Turner
>passionate fans outperforming remasters dumped on the market for quick profits wow I'm shocked
Bentley Anderson
pleb alert
Adrian Butler
imagine liking talking heads lmao
Connor Carter
It's not a remaster, it's him just folding down the 5.1 mixes. Anyone can do that.
Colton Long
Just fiddling around in Audacity with Crosseyed & Painless, and applying the default "Bass Boost" EQ setting with the amount the low end is raised lowered to +3-5 decibels instead of the default +9 appears to cancel out the tinniness caused by directly downmixing the 5.1 mix without accounting for bass. Will need further experimentation to see if it needs adjusting track by track rather than applying the same across all tracks and albums, but there's an example for you to make a direct comparison. The backing vocals pop so much better and now in the chorus you can hear Brian Eno's backing vocals as a distinct deeper voice panned slightly to one side as part of a trio.
Owen Flores
Not on peak DRM era releases. He had to optically record them through a specially wired-up deck, from the volatile DualDisc format some drives don't even recognise. No way of just ripping the audio like a normal CD.
James Carter
I've never even heard the 2000s remaster but I would bet money that it's not a "brickwalled travesty". Audiophags tend to see loudness wars in their breakfast toast.
Austin Fisher
Fascinating stuff, dude. I never knew that this was a fan project. I've been enjoying the downmixes for a few years now, and they're awesome. I've been a fan of TH for twenty years plus, and hearing the mixes was like listening to new material. Not to seem spoiled, but I kinda wish he'd downmixed My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and Name of This Band is Talking Heads. I know that's really rotten of me, but those are two of my favorite albums.
Oliver Flores
my digital album is 9 drm. not fantastic but hardly awful by today's standards.
Hudson Evans
When you say low-end, do you mean below 100Hz?
Elijah Lee
I don't think "The Name Of This Band Is..." ever got a 5.1 mix as its first CD issue was around the time of the mid-00s remasters; hence why there's no downmix in existence. It's one of the worst examples of remastering done wrong of recent years alongside the Bowie Nassau concert- compare the sound of the 2016 release with the few tracks from the concert issued as Rykodisc bonus tracks back in the early 90s.
Ryder Barnes
Pic related is what I applied. Sounds like the timblre of the original CD issue with the crisp detail of the downmix. Yet to try with other tracks.
Interesting. I'll try to hunt down some higher quality live stuff. Any suggestions on specific recordings?
Cameron Johnson
Not really to be honest, I've only really stuck to seeking out the best versions of each official release, no bootlegs. I spend enough time trying to figure out the best versions of artists' sanctioned releases from the 70s-00s format transitions without introducing unofficial releases to the mix except in outstanding occasions like this.
Incidentally the Sire label original CD issues of the first five Talking Heads albums are still considered the best sounding (official) CDs, compared to all later alternations.
Brody Nguyen
Oh, another gem this effort was worth it for- The 5.1 downmix of the "Stop Making Sense" DVD finally means that the chill as fuck intro to the live version of Crosseyed And Painless is re-instated in full, not chopped down like on the CD release of "The Name Of..." and the 1999 Stop Making Sense CD.
Jacob Scott
Thanks for sharing, this shit is like night and day compared to the remasters.
Jace Hall
Now if only we had a decent-quality CD/digital reissue of "The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads" with the full 10-minute jam version of Crosseyed And Painless that was cut down by half for the shitty 2004 remaster. There's only one needledrop of the original 1982 vinyl release I've ever found circulating online and it suggests the original vinyl is terrible, hence the desire to remaster it so heavily. But they cut down the track from 10 mins to around 5 and a half to make room for bonus tracks reeeeee
Michael Cox
Thanks for sharing, I never heard about this mix. This is great stuff. Unrelated somewhat, but do you know the quality of the 2016(?) special edition Remain In Light record?
Levi Wood
No clue honestly, but since I've not heard any outpouring of positivity for it in the light of Talking Heads' poor track record with remasters I'd be very surprised if it was taken from the original master like the trend is recently for a lot of artists, rather than an inferior later remaster from the digital era.
Isaac Diaz
Wow. This is outstanding.
Adam Bailey
Interesting what this does to Remain in Light. I'd previously only heard the 2005 remaster. In this version The Great Curve is actually less enjoyable which sounds awesome all blown out. Every other song is massively improved, though, especially the last three tracks which all sound fairly meandering on the 2005 version are far more nuanced and interesting on this version.
Xavier Butler
pleb enjoys that clipping and earrape
Anthony Watson
If this was a Blue Note album or something I'd understand but the vinyl issue of Remain in Light costs 15 bucks in top condition. If the CD is shit just get the vinyl.
Josiah Young
I'm genuinely retarded, where the fuck are the links for this? I can't find it on the page.
Leo Rogers
In the acquiring paragraph
Carson Baker
user thank you for sharing
Christopher Brooks
I remember this. Why did they take it down from Youtube though. Anyways I didn't really prefer it and i don't think its anything interesting.
Ethan Lopez
>Why did they take it down from Youtube though Probably because the guy posted the entire studio discography of Talking Heads on Youtube for free, and a lot of artists don't like it when people do that?
Austin Collins
OP here and yeah I agree, The Great Curve is an interesting case. Seems like it was pitched down yet sped up in tempo, for the actual release. The downmix version sounds much more "human" but it takes away from the tightness of the groove.
