Metallica - Black Album 1991 (Custom Optimization/Remaster, 2007

Metallica - Metallica (Black Album) 1991 (Custom Optimization/Remaster, 2007) FLAC ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Technical Info ----------------------------------------------------------------------- -Source material: FLAC Lossless -New Encoding: "audiophile" version: FLAC Lossless (In other words, full quality compressed to generally about 1/2 of an Audio CD size) "airplay" version: MP3 VBR (lame 3.97) -Total Size: Airplay Version: 119MB Audiophile Version : 455MB -Total Play Time: 1:02:31 -Tracklist: 1. Metallica - Enter Sandman (5:31) 2. Metallica - Sad But True (5:24) 3. Metallica - Holier Than (3:47) 4. Metallica - The Unforgiven (6:27) 5. Metallica - Wherever I May Roam (6:44) 6. Metallica - Don't Tread On Me (4:00) 7. Metallica - Through The Never (4:04) 8. Metallica - Nothing Else Matters (6:28) 9. Metallica - Of Wolf And Man (4:16) 10. Metallica - The God That Failed (5:08) 11. Metallica - My Friend Of Misery (6:49) 12. Metallica - The Struggle Within (3:53) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- General Info ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This Metallica album sounds very good to begin with. Clean recording, very little to almost no audible noise. My main complaint is that it sounds a bit to bright. At louder volumes the snare drum attack really pierces your eardrums, and it can become straining to listen to at loud levels. On the other hand, there is alot of punch and brightness to work with here, which is very preferably compared to a completely compressed track. For this optimization experiment, I decided to try 2 different approaches. One is a proper ("audiophile" for lack of a more descriptive word, though ti sounds a bit highflying) version which keeps the punchyness intact, and really shows off all the good sides of the tracks. It is open and basically only equalized and "sweetened" slightly to harness the sharp attacks. An analog-modelled compressor is gently applied since I feel the tracks were perhaps slightly too "flat" originally. The Gold Remasters of "Master Of Puppets" and "Ride The Lightning" were quite compressed aswell, but in a way that only helps the tracks sound even better. I couldn't be bothered with adding a comparison to the original tracks. But if you have them in Mp3 or FLAC on your computer, comparing should reveal the differences quite quickly. Guitars have some nice beef in the lower midrange, the snare drum doesn't have as harsh a sound, but still punches wildly. Vocals sound nice and natural. I also decided to try my hand at a differently optimized "airplay" version. You know, the kind of compressed-to-hell tracks that basically all recordings today are. In all honesty, in certain situations those versions can be preferable, like if you are riding in a car and don't want the subtle nuances, just something that you can hear over the engine. And to be frank, I still think it sounds decent. Obviously the tracks are alot less nuanced and more "in your face the whole time", since you need to limit the punches of drums etc to fit the track as snuggly and loudly as possible. But I have tried hard to make them not fatiguing to listen to. Some professionally mastered tracks can be downright painful to listen to, to the point where I need to take my headphones off just to stop this feeling of suction in my ears (generally I feel this comes from the high-end of drums etc coming and going, basically being reduced in volume and presence to give room for other elements that forces their way in. I prefer the highend always as intact and non-compressed as possible, since that is the section of the audio that I feel is most important in terms of being a "reference point" for the brain that it can use to judge the amount of compression and such. Keeping it intact means that you can quite unnoticably compress the other frequency parts of the track, without the tracks becoming tiresome to listen to. (A good Metallica example is "St. Anger", where the drums and vocals become VERY much brighter and more present in slow calm sections, but as soon as the treacks takes off full force, the cymbals start pumping and it's like there is a low-pass filter just blanketing the whole track). Anyways, I was a bit surprised myself at how "transparent" this still sounds. No pumping that can quickly become tiresome to listen to, and that is considering I really pushed the levels on this one to really prove the point. It distorts audibly on some sections ("In your closet, in your head" part of "Enter Sandman" towards the end of the track being an example), but not in a fatiguing way, but a rather plesant and unintrusive way. Overall there is very little harshness to the tracks, no clipping noises, or other similar artifacts that can sometimes be heard on sustained sounds (like a guitar squeal) when pushing volumes with a maximizer. If there are stuff there, is was most likely part of the original I worked on. Also limited to -0.2dB, so the audio never actually maxes out. This "should" (without being an expert) mean that there probably is very little chance that amps in digital devices (like iPods or CD players) start introducing clipping, since the audio never pushes against the maximum level. If I kept the limiting level at 0.0dB, even though the files when listening on a computer or such would sound clip-free, if you played it with older stuff, there is a chance that those devices would introduce clipping because of hardware limitations. Regardless of how accurate my technical knowledge of this aspect is, My point is that I have tried hard to avoid there being any harshness such as clipping and such introduced at any point. It sounds horrible in some cases (St. Anger?), even though you are listening to a FLAC-ripped album without replay gain or such things. I also kept the maximized version in MP3, since there isn't much point in a FLAC of it, and it keeps the overall size down. So if you want to listen on the pricey stereo setup, you have a FLAC version. But if you want a MP3 version that will be heard over ambient noise (or if you are allergic to transients), I give you that aswell. So enjoy and do give me your comments and criticism. Anything is welcome. :)

udp://tracker.openbittorrent.com:80
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udp://tracker.coppersurfer.tk:6969
udp://exodus.desync.com:6969

rapthor666 (2007-08-27)

Good job Thnx for aaalllll the time you spend

stringtheory419 (2007-08-27)

Seriously man. Good work. And quite the description so I know what to listen for.

guscadle (2007-09-04)

hey man I'm having trouble uploading a similar project i did. can you possibly walk me through the steps?

Tech-Noir (2007-09-05)

Cheers guys. :)
As for uploading, you need a bittorrent program like Azureus or uTorrent installed. These programs have a function to "create torrent", where you select a folder or file you want to share, and then you need to specify a tracker "announce" address for the torrent you are creating. TPB one is

Once you have the file/folder and announce address, you create the torrent and save it like if you are downloading a file with Explorer.
Then you go to "Upload torrent" in TPB, and select the torrent file you just created. Add a little description, and done.
Don't forget to also load the torrent file you created into your torrent program if it hasn't already (some auto-loads the torrents after they are created), so you can seed once someone downloads the torrent from TPB. When you load the torrent, it will check the data of the files you are going to seed/share, and then will go into upload mode since you already have 100% of the files.

mojn12 (2007-09-11)

I love what you did with enter sandman. The bass is just perfect. I think it's one of the best balances of the four instruments I've heard. It really brings a whole new level to the song. Thanks a lot, I can't get enough of your remasters.

JoshM22 (2008-01-20)

I always thought this album could be a little beefier in over all sound. I have heard the 5.1 mixes and love those. However I am willing to give this remaster a listen too. Keep up the good work.

Tech-Noir (2008-01-23)

Hope you like it. ;)

hkmp5ks (2008-02-02)

I'm sorry but you should have just left it alone. This album is in Bob Katz' honor-roll for a reason ... so it's really a shame you had to mess with this awesome masterpiece..

hkmp5ks (2008-02-02)

Scratch my last comment... I tend to be a purist sometimes but I have to give it to you: that was a nice job, grats.
What's your gear, if you don't mind me asking? I'm not a gearhead, just curious.
What kind of monitoring system do you use for your masters?

Tech-Noir (2008-02-03)

Well thanks mate, very kind of you to comment, makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
As for gear, I just use VSTs. I'm not making money off it, so just some VSTs I like basically. Some assorted Waves stuff (RBass is a fav in some cases, usually gets very easy and "musical" results when needed). I favor Firium for the "mastering EQ" if you will, and just some parametric EQs for more specific adjustments. TRacks VST has a compressor I like alot, though works best for subtle things. Some free VSTs Basically just stuff anyone could get ahold of (or download for "free", if you're not intending to make money from it ofcourse... :)).
As for monitoring, it's mostly just use headphones. I'm in an apartment so letting the speakers loose isn't really an option, and headphones have the advantage of sounding consistent, and accurate despite a crappy sounding room where speakers would be bad. And fairly cheap ones, like 80-90$ I'd say. I know how they sound since I listen to music alot on them, which is the important thing.
So there's just some cheap stuff really.
As for this being Bob Katz original work I didn't really know. I lurk on some websites for mastering and such, just gathering little info now and then if I feel it could be cool to know, and I've seen him post. Obviously I am familiar with the mastering "art" being a bit of an... art, and thus it's a bit muddy to "remake" others stuff. Like adding something to a Picasso or things like that. ;)
But since it's just for fun, why not. In any case, most of the times (not all though), I just do these because I personally like the changes, and it might make me listen to the songs more.
As for being purist, I hear you. I wish there would be some way to get hold of multitrack of these, since trying to mold all the instruments at the same time can be a hazzle sometimes. Mostly this applies to vocals, and to a slightly lesser extent (for me), drums. I especially dislike when I want to boost quite alot of low-mid frequencies, since that will bring out alot of really unnatural-sounding low mud in the vocals (which due to the very nature of human vocals can sound a bit weird to most people). The opposite, cutting low-mid on vocals though happens naturally in real-life, for example just distancing the speaker from the listener and letting the air and distance attenuate certain frequencies, which makes attenuating certain frequencies just give the illusion of the source being further away, which is just more of a sound preference.
But as for guitars and such, the general EQ is pretty much up for grabs imo, since the amps usually have EQ knobs right on them (and had I recorded it I might have adjusted them to get the sound I wanted for example). And the "tone" I feel is more about the frequencies that are there and not the relationship between them EQ-wise.
Had I all the tracks, I could mix and EQ most things to try and find a sound I like, while keeping the vocals and drums for example sounding just the way they did through the mic (which on the other hand might not be perfectly natural depending on the mic and such etc etc).
(And if you'd be interested (not likely perhaps but ;)), my favourite record right now, just from a sonical aspect, is Killswitch Engage's "As Daylight Dies". Might not be your genre though, lots of screaming and such. I don't get the "emo" vibe though which I never can stand).
Well, that's probably more text than necessary. Again, cheers for the kind comment, and take care. :)

mister_playboy (2008-02-03)

I just finished listening to your work on Ride The Lightning, and I think it is exceptional. I look forward to giving the others a listen when they finish.
As for a suggestion for a project, I would point you to the earlier albums of the Swedish band Opeth.
I suppose they could be called a death/progressive metal band, and they make utterly fantastic music. I would say they have more dynamics and more brillant guitar riffs than any other metal band I've ever heard.
Their first four albums (Orchid; Morningrise; My Arms, Your Hearse; Still Life) are all good project choices. If a FLAC torrent doesn't already exist for any of these on TPB, I could upload one.
Anyway, if you enjoy the vocals from Killswitch Engage, you shouldn't be too put off by what Opeth's frontman can do. It's as far from "emo" (which I too despise!) as you can get!
Thank you so much for your work!

Tech-Noir (2008-02-04)

Cheers mister_playboy.
Thanks for the nice comment, and thanks for the suggestion. Never heard of that band to be honest (even being Swedish), but I am only vaguely into the whole genre. But I will look into them and see if I can find a FLAC source. :-)

mister_playboy (2008-02-04)

Well, I've just searched TPB and I don't see anything of theirs available in FLAC... so that part would be up to me, I think. :P
Of course, you'd probably want to see if it's their sound is even of interest to you in first place. I'd recommend Still Life or Blackwater Park as a nice starting place.
Thank you once again!

scotskitten (2008-02-28)

Thanx for the download mate :D

Tech-Noir (2008-03-01)

No problem mate, hope you enjoy. :)

Tech-Noir (2008-03-14)

I swear, reading it is voluntary. ;)

finis6808 (2008-03-17)

Really like what you've done with this, particularly "Enter Sandman". Keep it up!

Lavatex (2008-04-15)

too much info :P

blackjackdavey (2008-05-04)

awesome upload, man. is there any chance you will be doing Kill 'Em All? that would be killer

Tech-Noir (2008-05-05)

Thanks mate. :)
I won't do Kill Em All, played around with it but it's really a lost cause. I could change it but it's not going to be better.

XSider (2008-05-07)

Hi Tech-Noir! I really like your remastering work, you have talent! :) My favourite is Master Of Puppets. But that's not why I'm writing now. I wanted to ask you, if you could make a remastered version of System Of A Down's third demo tape? It's not that bad, but it definetly needs remastering. It's mono, and stuff like that.. It would be appreciated :)

XSider (2008-05-07)

Sorry not from the third, but from the fourth :)

tribalartistbk (2008-05-26)

awsome download!excellent remastering!im already blasting it in my stereo ...great job tech-noir!

NEWSFLASHDRUMMER (2008-08-15)

Audio-Phile907 (2008-12-20)

WOW great job man, my favorite was "My Friend Of Misery" -You did an excellent job there, bassline is pretty clear and everything below 80hz has a nice, clear heaviness for car audio systems...I love listening to this in my truck LOUD and still not have any clipping (Checked with o-scope)
what software are you using?

Tech-Noir (2009-01-29)

Audio-Phile907: cheers, glad you like it. :)
I basically use Cubase + alot of VSTs, whichever are appropriate for what I want to do. Nothing very advanced. :)

Nolaquen (2009-03-17)

You use Cubase? *holds out hand* Welcome to the Steinberg Club. Perhaps I should be shaking *your* hand. *shrugs* In any case, this'll be the next one I dl.
By the way, I just recently uploaded a version of about 8 of the songs off of St. Anger that someone did back in 2007. They remastered them, similar to what you did, but I don't know what you would think if you heard them. Here's the link to my torrent:

If you care to dl it, go ahead, and see if you like what you hear. I hope you do. I did.
-Aaron

ChillyCrossFoot (2010-01-01)

PLEASE SEED! There are no SEEDS! Tech can you please seed this once more? thank you!

darkx312 (2011-02-05)

Can someone please seed this?

darkx312 (2011-02-05)

I was listening to some of the tracks that managed to download before the seeding ran out. I didn't think the original could be improved upon, but I've been proven wrong by this version! Can someone please seed the torrent? Mine is 30 percent complete.

Tech-Noir (2011-02-20)

Seeding now, sorry for the delay. :)

filthy3825 (2015-08-24)

Thank you.