quik's balance & options is not cd quality

[makaveliapostle]

hey kids, i was over on a pac forum recently and got into an in depth conversation and invetigation about balance & options not being full cd quality.  i, matty, and another dj quik fan over on the pac forum had never heard this rumor before.  well, turns out that the majority (and perhaps the whole cd) of the tracks turn out to be mp3s.  most of the interludes appear to be cd quality with a couple other tracks, but most are not the original lossless files.  one of the homies on the other forum ran the files through a spectrum analyzer and noticed that the frequencies were cut off around 16-18khz (usually indicative of a lossy mp3 file).  another homie sent me a program to analyze the cd to determine whether or not the files were ever compressed.  here are our results:


this is track 1 from the promo sampler "Pitchin on a party"..
Image: http://imageshack.us/a/img545/5520/rs6n.jpg
 
this is a screenshot from "Pitchin on a party" from the album (mastered)
Image: http://imageshack.us/a/img41/427/0ezs.jpg
 
 
opposed to those 2 tracks, here are screenshots of random quik tracks, in uncompressed format. you can see that there are no frequency cutoffs.
 
this one is for "Come 2Nyte" from the Under The Influence album
Image: http://imageshack.us/a/img839/2327/i4h2.jpg
 
and here's "Summer Breeze" from the safe+sound album
Image: http://imageshack.us/a/img543/717/v8wh.jpg


http://imageshack.com/i/1av9gkj


interesting stuff.....
 

[run-of-the-millian]

Maybe that's how Quik intended it to sound though?

[Will_B]

Maybe that's how Quik intended it to sound though?

Or maybe different equipment to produce each group of tracks.

I'm sure you could find this with tons of other albums

[makaveliapostle]

Maybe that's how Quik intended it to sound though?

nah, dude.  not an audiophile like quik.  there had to be some sort of mix up when it went to mastering, or pressing, or something.  nobody works that hard on music and then decides to only release mp3s as final versions.  and btw, this is the only album of his that registers this way.

[Blood$]

I loved that album but always did feel that "Pitch In On A Party" joint could have sounded slightly cleaner, probably a few other tracks too but fuck it

should make a separate thread for albums like these, Yukmouth's last album with Rap-A-Lot MDMP comes to mind and Bun B's II Trill

[i B 2 QUIK 2 c]

I am not sure if this is relevant, but Quik mentioned that Balance & Options was turned in as a demo album to Arista and that he was not proud of the work on the album at the time.


Sources: http://www.vice.com/read/the-vice-guide-v9n4

and

http://www.vibe.com/photo-gallery/full-clip-dj-quik-breaks-down-his-catalogue-feat-jay-z-2pac-snoop-dogg-dr-dre-rakim?page=12

[pixtr]

so just like snoop's 'can I Get A Flicc Witchu' from R&G

[makaveliapostle]

I am not sure if this is relevant, but Quik mentioned that Balance & Options was turned in as a demo album to Arista and that he was not proud of the work on the album at the time.


Sources: http://www.vice.com/read/the-vice-guide-v9n4

and

http://www.vibe.com/photo-gallery/full-clip-dj-quik-breaks-down-his-catalogue-feat-jay-z-2pac-snoop-dogg-dr-dre-rakim?page=12

yeah man, definitely relevant!  thanks for that first interview!!!  never read that one before.  interesting that he referred to it more as a demo.  that might be the reason it's in mp3s. 

i also think it's interesting that he felt that album was a throw away and just wanted to get off the label.  it's got some of my favorite jams on there.  i mean, prince has made some really bad records to fulfill a contract and get off of a label before......but these are dope imo.

[Matty]

mind boggling that this album is referred to as 'demo' quality given the amount of amazing tracks on it. 'well' sure as hell aint a demo, i think he's just saying cause it probably made with so much focus and just to get off the label, not that they are unfinished tracks. the sequencing and vibe around making it i'm sure. also weird that it's mastered by brian big bass and everything like most of the best quik records.

btw does 'pitch in on a party' from 'da finale' show as lossy as well? can hook up that version if you don't have the cd.

[MarshColin]

Yo apostle! Thanks for putting this on dubcc. Probably the biggest collection of Quik fans are on this board.

[makaveliapostle]

Yo apostle! Thanks for putting this on dubcc. Probably the biggest collection of Quik fans are on this board.

no doub playbwah!  thanks for the sending the program to me!!  @matty, i agree this album does still sound phenomenal and you're probably right, quik might have been referring to all the bullshit at the label and all the fucked up feelings with ptsd within quik himself......but the album still turned out great (except for the mp3s, lol).  i'll definitely run da finale through this program to see.  but, ironically, that was one of the few tracks on b&o that registered as lossless.  i'll check da finale just to be sure.