Bionic Boogie Stereo Imaging Problem

**mixtape** · December 18th, 2003, 01:33 PM

Bernie I have that Bionic Boogie LP. I think I have the U.S. version and I don't notice any defect? Any way I was wondering where u got ure copy of Corniche - Theme from Chips because I have been trying to get my hands on a copy myself. Was that the only 12" the made from the show cuz they did have other background songs in the show CHiPs that was disco. I know Corniche also did a song called California Hustle.

**BrunoRepublic** · December 18th, 2003, 02:19 PM

Originally Written by mixtape

Bernie I have that Bionic Boogie LP. I think I have the U.S. version and I don't notice any defect?

You wouldn't know it until you hear a different pressing.

I discovered this when I was restoring the US album, and added the 7" version of "Chains" that I got from a Canadian single. When I compared the two, the difference was amazing, especially in headphones. The single was so much wider, and had such a bigger sound. But it shouldn't be this way... 7" singles are usually much more compressed and narrow. I compared the US copy to my Canadian copy, and found the same difference on every track, although the Canadian copy had a dirty, muffled sound (typical of Polydor Canada's crappy mastering, which is why I was going by the US LP in the first place). Bernie lucked out and found a UK copy and confirmed that they were cut wide, bright, and clean.

THP's "Tender Is The Night" is another example, although here it is the Canadian copies that are at fault -- the RCA pressing of this album has been narrowed to the point that it's practically in mono. US copies on Butterfly are fine, crappy vinyl aside.

Narrowing the stereo image during mastering was sometimes done as a compromise: wide stereo signals result in wider groove modulations, so the volume has to be lower to fit it all in the same space vs a narrow stereo or mono signal. Whoever mastered Bionic Boogie in the US (certainly not José Rodriguez!) chose to mess with the stereo image so that the disc could be cut louder.

**Bernie** · December 18th, 2003, 02:48 PM

Originally Written by Graham_Start

You wouldn't know it until you hear a different pressing.

That's right, if it wasn't for Graham asking me to compare I wouldn't have noticed it either. At first listen, all seemed fine and I told Graham that, but upon hearing the UK pressing the difference was very evident and I wrote back to let him know that I agreed with his observations.

**BrunoRepublic** · December 18th, 2003, 05:55 PM

Having said all that, the US version is still quite listenable; it's just that the UK copies are so much better. This isn't nearly as bad a situation as, say, the US copies of Macho's "I'm A Man" LP, which was so seriously botched that it's almost unlistenable.

**Forrrce** · December 23rd, 2003, 07:03 AM

Just been spinning a '70s LP called 'Coral Keys' by Walter Bishop, Jr., which despite stereo labelling, is completely mono. How could that go unnoticed...:roll: