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Post by Chicken in Black on Nov 6, 2021 20:21:34 GMT
Because Hoffman had always been some kind of marketing fabrication. Blonstein launched him as the mastering engineer who served as the public face of DCC, some guy who had coined "remastering" and had a ton of stories for the press or the fans. Until Hoffman, mastering engineers were supposed to be terse and anonymous figures who did their job for better or worse. Hoffman was basically sold as the rock star in his domain, and it's no surprise that his target audience consisted of boomers who buy into the rock star myth.
In reality, everything hints that Hoffman has never been more than the "EQ consultant" credit he gets on some reissues. He always needs somebody else to do the work, when it's not just a matter of adjusting some levels with sliders. When he broke up with Kevin Gray, he didn't know any mastering studio or any mastering engineer. Which means that he doesn't own any equipment, and hadn't worked in years, if not decades, with anybody else at any other place. He has always been vocal about his refusal to work with DAWs or computers, which are usually a big part of the chain, and are or course necessary for digital mastering. So, it's quite in line with the "rock star" tradition that Hoffman is nothing more than the boss who gave a few orders to some underling, the guy who did the bulk of the job. That's why there are reasons to assume he relied a lot on Kevin Gray, even if it's possible there was another engineer willing to stay uncredited. But Gray stands out as the only engineer who had been willing to work with him consistently, and I think that Brick Wall is right to assume he accepted for a while not to get any credit on stuff put out on DCC. And for Highway 61, it's obvious that Hoffman didn't really know much about the tapes, as he told repeatedly the story about how he was tempted to remix the 8 track multitapes. Highway 61 was recorded on 4 track.
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Flat Transfer
Terry Kath
Providing DR numbers for the EK 34188, DIDP 20006
Posts: 484
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Post by Flat Transfer on Nov 6, 2021 20:55:51 GMT
Well, I consider a mastering engineer a guy who does it all on his own. Bill Inglot. Bob Irwin Mike Ragogna and the late Bob Hyde tell their engineers what to do, sure, but either they don't care to learn how to do it themselves, or have too many other things to worry about. Who knows? But the thread title is TOP 10 REMASTERING ENGINEERS. Inglot and Irwin are reissue producers, talented ones at that.
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Post by audiopro on Nov 7, 2021 6:16:56 GMT
There's a curious anomaly on the DCC Pet Sounds. There are clicks on the master tape of Let's Go Away For Awhile which, on Steve's version, exceed digital zero. CD players and computer ripping can cope with this, but copying it digitally to DAT about 20 years ago, we found that those clicks turned into almighty fucking splats on the DAT. Bear in mind this was in a radio studio on broadcast spec gear, and we tried it on more than one set of machines and DAT tapes.
It's the only disc I've ever known that couldn't be copied to DAT.
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j365
Sir Ringo
Posts: 644
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Post by j365 on Nov 7, 2021 7:16:20 GMT
There's a curious anomaly on the DCC Pet Sounds. There are clicks on the master tape of Let's Go Away For Awhile which, on Steve's version, exceed digital zero. CD players and computer ripping can cope with this, but copying it digitally to DAT about 20 years ago, we found that those clicks turned into almighty fucking splats on the DAT. Bear in mind this was in a radio studio on broadcast spec gear, and we tried it on more than one set of machines and DAT tapes. It's the only disc I've ever known that couldn't be copied to DAT. Yeah didn’t The Beach Boys or their people issue a statement about SH’s Pet Sounds or am I imagining that?
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Post by respiratoryproblems on Nov 7, 2021 9:17:59 GMT
In an interview Mark Linnett more or less said that Hoffman’s hype about flat transfer (and maybe using the original tapes as his source) was lies, and then twisted the knife by saying Brian Wilson didn’t like Hoffman’s mastering of the album.
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Post by Boozin' Susan on Nov 7, 2021 10:08:52 GMT
That is very interesting. I know this is getting off topic here, but do you have any idea what the technical reason is that CD players and computers are able to cope with those clicks but DAT cannot? Getting back on topic, is there actually any evidence that Steve Hoffman has ever actually done anything other than so-called "EQ consulting"? We know from his own admission that he does not possess the skill to cut vinyl, and he obviously has no knowledge about how to run a DAW or even do a simple digital edit. I seriously wonder if he has ever actually spooled a tape, touched a board or anything else of the sort. He seems to be more like Dave Dexter, i.e. a petty, low-level office type with delusions of grandeur, standing over an even more lowly engineer, yelling at him to tweak it until it sounds sufficiently shit to please the asshole's golden ears. The difference being that Dexter had an actual job at a real record label and a reverb fetish, whereas Hoffman is (was) a bottom feeder at a seedy, two-bit reissue operation and has a midrange boost fetish. Don’t forget that Dave Dexter actually handled Beatles master tapes (albeit 2nd generation copies for Capitol) and even got his name printed on the (US) albums. STeVE has likely never been in the same building as a Beatles master tape, and will NEVER get his name on one of their albums.
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Flat Transfer
Terry Kath
Providing DR numbers for the EK 34188, DIDP 20006
Posts: 484
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Post by Flat Transfer on Nov 7, 2021 17:11:41 GMT
There's a curious anomaly on the DCC Pet Sounds. There are clicks on the master tape of Let's Go Away For Awhile which, on Steve's version, exceed digital zero. CD players and computer ripping can cope with this, but copying it digitally to DAT about 20 years ago, we found that those clicks turned into almighty fucking splats on the DAT. Bear in mind this was in a radio studio on broadcast spec gear, and we tried it on more than one set of machines and DAT tapes. Must be your faulty equipment because Steve knew exactly what he was doing, pal. This may be the loudest CD Steve's ever mastered. The levels are really hot for a SH CD. Things are right up at zero a lot of the time. How the hell did he do that without a limiter? Just like the question: "How does one get to Carnegie Hall?" Practice. No limiter used.
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daved
Better than Steve
Posts: 10,614
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Post by daved on Nov 7, 2021 17:27:56 GMT
Wtf is The Italians?
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Post by Brick Wall on Nov 7, 2021 17:30:00 GMT
Getting back on topic, is there actually any evidence that Steve Hoffman has ever actually done anything other than so-called "EQ consulting"? We know from his own admission that he does not possess the skill to cut vinyl, and he obviously has no knowledge about how to run a DAW or even do a simple digital edit. None.There is zero evidence Hoffman has ever done anything that an actual engineer would do/would be required to do on a regular basis. You mentioned cutting vinyls. Check. He couldn't do that if someone held a gun to his head. He also has no clue about the process of Dolby calibration. There always had to be someone present who possessed actual engineering skills. Correct. There is zero evidence Hoffman has ever handled anything more technical than an equalizer. You know, shave the treble and boost the mids. But to be fair, he does make a good caddy for Z-List celebs like Leanne Grimes. He can tote her kid's shit like no one else, pal.
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Post by Boozin' Susan on Nov 7, 2021 19:21:07 GMT
Getting back on topic, is there actually any evidence that Steve Hoffman has ever actually done anything other than so-called "EQ consulting"? We know from his own admission that he does not possess the skill to cut vinyl, and he obviously has no knowledge about how to run a DAW or even do a simple digital edit. None.There is zero evidence Hoffman has ever done anything that an actual engineer would do/would be required to do on a regular basis. You mentioned cutting vinyls. Check. He couldn't do that if someone held a gun to his head. He also has no clue about the process of Dolby calibration. There always had to be someone present who possessed actual engineering skills. Correct. There is zero evidence Hoffman has ever handled anything more technical than an equalizer. You know, shave the treble and boost the mids. But to be fair, he does make a good caddy for Z-List celebs like Leanne Grimes. He can tote her kid's shit like no one else, pal. Sadly, Stevie-boy is pretty adept at handling a pair of scissors and some splicing tape…
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Post by Brick Wall on Nov 7, 2021 22:26:38 GMT
C'mon, Suze. You don't actually believe that fable about Aqualung, do ya? Number one: Ian Anderson is no fool. Not some yokel who just fell off a turnip truck. He never sent Hoffman any sort of master. At best a copy. And number two: either Hoffman fucked the tape up with a faulty rewind or something, or the whole story is nothing but another of Hoffman's horseshit lies. I have always been a firm believer in the latter. And number three: Aqualung has been re-released. re-remastered and re-remixed countless times since then. You think all those other reissues were done with the tape that Hoffman wants us to believe was mangled? Nah.
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Post by Boozin' Susan on Nov 7, 2021 23:27:09 GMT
C'mon, Suze. You don't actually believe that fable about Aqualung, do ya? Number one: Ian Anderson is no fool. Not some yokel who just fell off a turnip truck. He never sent Hoffman any sort of master. At best a copy. And number two: either Hoffman fucked the tape up with a faulty rewind or something, or the whole story is nothing but another of Hoffman's horseshit lies. I have always been a firm believer in the latter. And number three: Aqualung has been re-released. re-remastered and re-remixed countless times since then. You think all those other reissues were done with the tape that Hoffman wants us to believe was mangled? Nah. Aqualung? I don’t know anything about that story. I was referring to STeVE supposedly removing portions of certain master tapes <cough Ray cough Charles cough> and replacing the segments with copies. Lord only knows what kind of shenanigans he was up to at MCA.
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Post by Chicken in Black on Nov 8, 2021 0:00:05 GMT
Come on! He wouldn't try this shit at Ray Charles. As a wise man once said, never underestimate what a blind man can see.
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Post by Potsie Hoofman on Nov 8, 2021 0:10:11 GMT
C'mon, Suze. You don't actually believe that fable about Aqualung, do ya? Number one: Ian Anderson is no fool. Not some yokel who just fell off a turnip truck. He never sent Hoffman any sort of master. At best a copy. And number two: either Hoffman fucked the tape up with a faulty rewind or something, or the whole story is nothing but another of Hoffman's horseshit lies. I have always been a firm believer in the latter. And number three: Aqualung has been re-released. re-remastered and re-remixed countless times since then. You think all those other reissues were done with the tape that Hoffman wants us to believe was mangled? Nah. Aqualung? I don’t know anything about that story. I was referring to STeVE supposedly removing portions of certain master tapes <cough Ray cough Charles cough> and replacing the segments with copies. Lord only knows what kind of shenanigans he was up to at MCA. It's plastered around here somewhere. I've seen it. I'll look for it.
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Post by Potsie Hoofman on Nov 8, 2021 0:18:04 GMT
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