Blah Blah Cafe, the Jean-Michel Jarre forum

[ep0ch]

I can hear them, i cannot believe how a mastering can get worse over time.
If it sounds worse don't touch it!

The crashing waves at the beginning of pt 6 used to sound like waves, now it is just white noise to me.

Are there any vinyl rips available? Mine are being left unplayed...

[Jote]

Are there any vinyl rips available? Mine are being left unplayed...

I might have mine professionally digitized next month, but... there were reports about the vinyls being off-center, so perhaps we can't win.

[jeanbatman]

Great album, first half very organic and modern synth-sounding at the time. Quite a surprise the laser harp (or Synthex) jumps in again… Oxy17 is nice and catchy with some reminiscence of Oxy 1 at the end. The second half takes us back to the roots of his music, with a 70's feel and a much more minimalistic approach. What people may be missing from the first two opuses could be there are no choirs or repeated melody throughout like in most of his records…
That didn't bother me, I was heading from something different from Electronica and Oxygene 7-13 instead of repeating himself.
9,5/10!

[shadow]

If Vangelis and Mike Oldfield have full control over their older works why not him?

While true for Rosetta (aside from those three errors in the main master which persists in all versions of the album), don't forget the quality of Vangelis' "own" 2013 remasters. : <

Disappointing? Perhaps. Completely deliberate? Yes. These are completely different from the missing drumhit, audio drops, audio clicks and pops and LOUDness.

Are there any vinyl rips available? Mine are being left unplayed...

I might have mine professionally digitized next month, but... there were reports about the vinyls being off-center, so perhaps we can't win.

Well at least the original releases are still available. And apparently the seperate Oxygene 3 vinyl is fine. So we'll see. Keep us updated!

[Jon]

Pardon me but when has he blamed Sony for the extreme loudness? I must have missed that.

It's what JMJ said according to Elf who published an interview with him in a Norwegian newspaper.

src: http://www.zoolook.nl/forum/viewtopic.p ... &start=180

"Oh, by the way. All Oxygene albums have been remastered again for the new package, "with an analogue approach (no loudness war!) " and Jarre said he completely agreed with all the fans who have been complaining about the latest remasters. Jarre said they are awful, and that they were done by the record company and was out of his hands.

But is that "(no loudness war)" the words of Jarre or the author? The author is quoting Jarre as saying "with an analogue approach" The "(no loudness war)" quote appears to be an add-on from the author. Maybe Elf can confirm or elaborate more.

[Velodynamic]

It is especially evident for instance in Oxygene 9 between 2:40 and 2:50.

Strange: I do not hear any pops/cracks in Oxygene 9, even not between 2:40 and 2:50.

I'm listening to the 48kHz/24bit Trilogy-files from Qobuz, on a Mac with Audirvana+ via good Headphones.

I guess maybe not everyone is able to hear them. I checked my own CD rip, other CD rip and a 48/24 copy. They are present in all of them.

Today I popped my original Sony CD from 1997 into my (spanking new) PC and listened through Sony mdr-xb950bt (headphones, wire connected) just as a reference to the new 24/48 flac files of the new "Oxygene 2" (7-13) remix.
The difference for me is that the old CD sounds softer, less treable'ish and more quiet! (where it is supposed to be quiet). It's as if someone back then decided to put noise cancellation over the whole thing.
BUT....and here is the big thing, the clicks/pops can be detected on the original Oxy 7-13 CD as well even though it's hidden further back from the "every day" listening levels.
You really have to know what to listen for and crank up the volume a bit.

So what has happen here? I think that like so many times before "the shit behind the levers" is in a desperate hunt for More Details. In order to achieve More Details from the old masters he simply amplify everything from the masters.
The good stuff but also the bad stuff is put forward and becomes visible to the naked ear and totally unrevealed for a terrified public to behold. As the saying goes, nothing good will come that doesn't bring anything bad with it.
Maybe back in the days the studio equipment weren't sensitive enough to pick up sound impurities as brutal as today?
Well that's just my theory but it still doesn't explain why it has to be so darn loud and distorted in today's mixing.

[Velodynamic]

//doublepost

[AnDrOiD]

I'm listening to Oxygene 3 for the sixth time now, and it's an album that gets better every time I listen to it. And that's the best kind of albums, and music. Instant "hits" gets boring fast. This album is Oxygene with a modern twist, and I like it a lot. I wasn't sure to begin with, but now I am. Oxygene Pt. 20 is a beautiful piece of music, and almost feels/sounds like a requiem. I like that there's a little snippet of pt. 6 in there.

That's great. Glad you're enjoying it. As for instant hits getting boring real fast ---- jeez where would that have left Oxygene 1-6 in my heart, if things always worked like that. Yet it was both a hit with me and it also grew on me. I got to experience both "sides" with Jarre's earlier work.

Yes O20 is real nice, it also reminds me of this great 2011 track:

*

There are of course exceptions to the rules. Like Depeche Mode's Enjoy the Silence. Loved it from the first time I heard it - on Peter's Pop Show - before it was released, and still loves it today, and consider it to be the best song they've ever made.

[AnDrOiD]

Reading about the remasters, I'm glad I have all the original released CD's of Jarre's albums.

[shadow]

This basically describes the entire handling of this release. The release is amazing in terms of presentation, but the rest?

Reading about the remasters, I'm glad I have all the original released CD's of Jarre's albums.

I have a bunch of them and most of the '97 remaster which are kind of hit or miss but mostly hit. It's a shame that now with the amazing technological improvements and the insane steps made in magnetic tape conversion we end up with such a mess.

[Jote]

Just gave the vinyls a listen again, and I didn't dream it. The end of Oxygene 9 is incredibly bad. It just cuts off, right where Oxygene 10 is supposed to start. It's amazingly amateurish.

Can you record a short snippet?

[Jote]

Just gave the vinyls a listen again, and I didn't dream it. The end of Oxygene 9 is incredibly bad. It just cuts off, right where Oxygene 10 is supposed to start. It's amazingly amateurish.

Can you record a short snippet?

Here -> https://www.dropbox.com/s/9uql6zyie0jck ... 9.m4a?dl=0

I swear, that is NOT me cutting the sound. It's like that on the record.

That does not sound good. The 1997 version (as posted by shadow) simply starts to fade-out earlier, but terminates more or less at the same point, just much more gracefully. If I ever digitize the vinyl I guess I'll have to edit it for listening.

[Velodynamic]

I've tried to compare the Oxygène 1 flac files to my Polydor CD from the 1987 10th anniversary box set.
I really cranked up the 8 and 16kHz sliders to the max on the equalizer but I just can't hear the same clicks and white noises on the old CD.
Perhaps the masters has matured badly over time.
CD's doesn't apparently.

[Velodynamic]

Here Jean-Michel Jarre explains why he did Oxygène 3 the way he did it.



edit/ just saw that it was posted erlier by Jote. Ahh darnit.

[Jarreshair]

Tim Prevett (or it could be Ricky Gervais) who is a massive Jarrehead (can I copyright that term?)
reviews the album one track at time. But basically he likes everything apart from part 16 (which I like a lot more than Part 15, strangely) but he's a good reviewer imo.