vomitgod’s weblog

As of this post, I am closing the weblog of VomitGod. Fear not, my scribblings will continue on in slightly less putrid anonimity in a totally mirrored blog (to-date), “slowly growing deaf“. This will be a more appropriate place for me to disseminate and/or otherwise catalog lyrics and such as regards the “collateral” of one Levi Peckham.

Rest assured, VomitGod will most certainly return as I attempt to finish the debut album thereof sometime in the next year, etcetera. Fair warning: I will likely leave this blog “served” for some time, but eventually it will be evaporated with extreme prejudice in favor of the new blog/location.

And now, I leave you with this thought: think about gelatin producton.

Contained herein are five audio samples that contain the first one minute and thirty-two seconds of the track “Breaking Glass” from David Bowie’s Low album.  Clocking in at one minute and fifty-two seconds, the album version isn’t much longer than these samples!

The samples are from five different analog/digital sources – RCA Vinyl, German RCA CD, Rykodisc CD, Rykodisc Au20 CD, and EMI CD – and span roughly 23 years.  Aside from fade in/out, absolutely no signal processing has been performed.  If A/D has been performed (vinyl rendering) the signal path has been exposed.  Graphical waveform views courtesy Adobe Audition and Microsoft Paint (click on image to open high-resolution version in a new window).

Which one do you think sounds best? My thoughts are documented below the samples/graphics.

Note: To anyone that might stumble upon this post that may have what they consider to be rare Bowie media, be it analog or digital, please contact me.  I’d like to exchange data for the purpose of scientific research, and am likewise happy to freely exchange any/all of my out-of-print Bowie collateral.

Breaking Glass
Source: RCA Vinyl [CPL1-2030] 1977
Signal path = Thorens TD 318 -> Ortofon X3-MC -> Yamaha A-28 Natural Sound Stereo Amplifier -> Digidesign Mbox 2
Resolution = 44kHz, 32-bit Stereo PCM Wave file

Breaking Glass
Source: German RCA CD [PD83856] 1984
Resolution = 44kHz, 16-bit Stereo PCM Wave file

Breaking Glass
Source: Rykodisc CD [CDP 7977192] 1991
Resolution = 44kHz, 16-bit Stereo PCM Wave file

Breaking Glass
Source: Rykodisc Au20 CD [RCD 80142] 1991
Resolution = 44kHz, 16-bit Stereo PCM Wave file

Breaking Glass
Source: EMI CD [7243 521907 0 6] 1999
Resolution = 44kHz, 16-bit Stereo PCM Wave file

I find it curious that the Au20 (the only “audiophile grade” sample present here) is the loudest of all, achieving an average RMS of of -20.34 dB L and -22.4 dB R, and a peak amplitude of -.09 dB in both channels.  None of the other samples have an equal peak amplitude, although the standard Rykodisc CD is only offset by .14 dB (with, as is the case with all of the samples sans the Au20, the left channel being dominant).  This would seem to imply that the Au20 was normalized and/or otherwise attenuated unequally.

Also worth noting is how similar the German RCA and EMI CD’s are in both peak amplitude and average RMS:

RCA RMS = -22.35 dB L -23.55 dB R; peak amplitude = -1.07 dB L -1.41 dB R
EMI RMS = -19.21 dB L -22.01 dB R; peak amplitude = -.83 dB L -1.5 dB R

To my ears (not my eyes, as the above statistics may imply), I find myself leaning towards either the German RCA CD or (gasp!) the EMI CD (most/all of the Bowie EMI releases are not regarded highly in audiophile circles for being either too harsh, limited, or noise-removed to death).  I find either Rykodisc CD to be considerably more harsh and brittle than the alternatives.  That being said, although it sounds dull and perhaps even muffled at first in comparison to the Rykodisc/EMI samples, the “round” bass of the RCA CD/vinyl is outstanding, and I think the low-end in general on most of the Bowie RCA releases trumps their Rykodisc and EMI counterparts.

To surmise, my preferred listening order/configurations for Low:

01. RCA Vinyl (via loudspeakers)
02. German RCA CD (via headphones)
03. EMI CD (via iPod/lossy)
04. Rykodisc Au20
05. Rykodisc CD

Ten random observations/questions by a beloved misanthropist:

01. Is there a direct correlation between the way humans discard refuse without prejudice in a movie theater and what they do to planet Earth on a daily basis?

02. Who else is delighted that we’ve finally reached an age wherein expedited-food conglomerates (such as KFC) can brazenly advertise, in loud, bold letters, their yearning for the consumer to “UNTHINK”?

03. Whomever came up with the notion that getting shit on by a bird is good luck probably got shit on by a bird.

04. When a radio is on in an empty room, does it still exude shitty music??

05. Those yearning to hear “classic” albums (i.e. music never produced, recorded or otherwise conceived with “surround sound” or other gimmickry in mind) remixed in 5.1 surround sound could probably be sold on a fork and knife with which to eat candy bars.

06. Women may be oppressed throughout the world, but at least in a few countries they can get away with wearing a glorified bedsheet and slippers to work.

07. I truly enjoy an artist that knows how to effectively sabotage their compositions by garnishing them with oblique titles.  An excellent example of this is the Frank Zappa composition, “I Promise Not to Come in Your Mouth”.

08. Music is more important than the sound (of music).

09. If an elevator has to fail inspection more than once in order to be rendered inoperable and thus truly be considered to be a failure, doesn’t that take any/all permanency out of the word fail?

10. Some people are so full of excrement, I wonder if they cry shit?

Bonus: Be leery of musical proficiency.  Good musicians do not necessarily good music make.