[stevehertz]

I just bought 'Count Basie' from the so called 'The Legendary Big Band series' of CDs. A quid, seal wrapped from a charity shop. Of course I love it, but it's quite remarkable how plummy and lacking in top end these things are (I've always been aware of that). Being an amateur recording engineer and guitarist myself I fully understand the technical limitations of the recording equipment of the day. They would also have been struggling to keep S/Ns down as well. I sit listening and I can just imagine how it would come to life given a full frequency opportunity. For example, to hear cymbals and a degree of crispness to instruments and voices. Saying that, part of its charm and appeal is 'that sound', the plummy sound of those records from that era.

Out of interest, has anyone got any big band recordings that are more representative of modern EQing? This one I mention above is digitally re-mastered but it seems like they didn't do much in the way of EQ. I have Frank Sinatra and the Count Basie Orchestra 'Live at the Sands' CD and being more recent, has a much better, fuller frequency sound. I suppose it's all to do with when they were recorded and the resultant state of the recording equipment at that time.

As an aside, I think that too much top end, as on many modern day recordings and broadcasts can be the cause of listening fatigue, there's no doubt about it, that mellow, plummy sound is easy on the ear!

I'm not particularly looking for any fixes, EQ is about all you can do, I just thought I'd share my thoughts and see what other people felt.