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Peter Gabrial's "SO" Excelent LP - For demonstrating Sibilance

sxty8goats

sxty8goats

Super Member
Has anyone else had this issue?

I don't get it anywhere else but this album is littered with it. And not always where you'd expect it.

My copy came from a collection that hit my local used record store this morning. I picked up 6 or 7 mint looking disks. There are no pops or clicks on this album, the lead in and run outs are near silent. Even in the soft / quiet parts of the album such as 'Mercy Street' are clean with no pops. Awesome right? Nope I'm getting Sibilance so hard it sounds like sandpaper on a snare head in places.

Has anyone had a simmilar issue? Does anyone have a 'good' copy? I love this album but my copy is nearly un-listenable.
 
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You know, I'm glad you brought this up. Mine has problems as well. I'm going to pull it out, listen again, and then try to determine what pressing it is. I'll compare it to a couple of the 12" singles from this release as well.
 
ekmanning5 said:
You know, I'm glad you brought this up. Mine has problems as well. I'm going to pull it out, listen again, and then try to determine what pressing it is. I'll compare it to a couple of the 12" singles from this release as well.
Click to expand...

Glad I'm not the only one. I was/am very disappointed because it is a great album and my copy would be goldmine mint otherwise.

My Copy, deadwax,
Side 1 - GHS-24088-A-SR2 (ODD SYMBOL) GF
Side 2 - GHS-24088-B-SR2 (ODD SYMBOL) GF
 
ekmanning5 said:
You know, I'm glad you brought this up. Mine has problems as well. I'm going to pull it out, listen again, and then try to determine what pressing it is. I'll compare it to a couple of the 12" singles from this release as well.
Click to expand...

Alright Ed you got me second guessing myself here. I'll pull my copy and spin it to double check.
 
I played side two. In Your Eyes is about unlistenable. The farther you get into the song the worse it is. The catalog # is GHS 24088. In the dead wax is, GHS 24088 B-SR-3. I also have the 12' 45 RPM maxi single. Neither edit of In your Eyes has any sibilance problems whatsoever. So its confined to the lp.
 
ekmanning5 said:
I played side two. In Your Eyes is about unlistenable. The farther you get into the song the worse it is. The catalog # is GHS 24088. In the dead wax is, GHS 24088 B-SR-3. I also have the 12' 45 RPM maxi single. Neither edit of In your Eyes has any sibilance problems whatsoever. So its confined to the lp.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that is at least re-assuring.

For the record, I am using a Stanton 680EL cart on a Technics SL1200MK2. I have a Shibata stylus on her. I never set the cart up because I didn't have the overhang tool from Technics when I received the new stylus. I just checked it a bit ago and found it to be @ 1 mm too far out. I re-aligned it to the gauge.

The sibilance was slightly reduced but is still there. Side 2 is worse than side 1. Other albums do sound better though. So if nothing else, the album got me to check something I should have checked a long time ago....
 
We used the LP and CD for demo purposes at the store I worked at when it came out. Some tracks are amazing, such as Mercy Street, others have serious problems and sibilance is definitely one of them. At times it felt like it was cutting right through your head, very ugly. The tracks that were destined for lots of airplay such as Sledgehammer and Big Time could be unlistenable on some systems. Great album, I still have LP and CD copies.
 
I have a first issue US pressing of So and I just listened to it and I agree about the sibilance on this album. It's harsh and difficult. I also have the 12" for "Don't Give Up", which I am listening to now, it also has sibilance, so it makes me believe that it's actually the recording and not the pressing. I listened to both the "LP version" and the "Edit version" and the sibilance is very noticeable on Gabriel's voice, however, it's not really there on Kate Bush's vocals in the way that it's on Gabriel's.
 
I'm sorry to tell you guys that I used to have a fancy audiophile re-release of this album (can't remember the label, it's since folded), and it too suffered from severe sibilance issues. I couldn't stand it, and I ended up giving it to a friend who wasn't as bothered by it.

Too bad, it's a pretty good album.
 
Also, it might be Gabriel's voice...This isn't the first time sibilance and Gabriel have come up in a thread here on AK...

Sibilance on Peter Gabriel Plays Live...

Peter Gabriel is hissing!

and other forums as well...

http://diyparadise.com/forum/index.php?topic=826.0


Someone over at Steve Hoffman pointed out:

"For examples of sibilant distortion, listen to Peter Gabriel on vinyl. Lots of loud vocals and sustained 's' sounds--"SSSSledgehammer" is a pretty notorious example. The only mastering engineer who seems to have had Gabriel's sibilance under control was George Peckham, who mastered some of the early UK Genesis pressings. I'm not sure what he did, but other masterings of the same music will hiss like snakes on any system."
 
sxty8goats said:
Glad I'm not the only one. I was/am very disappointed because it is a great album and my copy would be goldmine mint otherwise.

My Copy, deadwax,
Side 1 - GHS-24088-A-SR2 (ODD SYMBOL) GF
Side 2 - GHS-24088-B-SR2 (ODD SYMBOL) GF
Click to expand...

Wow, I'm not the only one. I"ve bought this recorder 2 times very clean and minty but terrible sibilance. I also have the same pressing as you do. Too bad because it's a good album. Then again, I've always thought Big Time was a little on the distorted side.
 
Yes, mine always had bad sibilance that's why I never play it that much, should
give it another spin since I went all tube.

tube
 
Mine's like that, too (sssssssibilant, that is).
FWIW, I have a CD version picked up at a local library book sale/fundraiser that is much more listenable.
 
Peter Gabriel So

There are hot spots of Gabriel's vocals with "s" words, but on my system it doesn't lead to sibilance, although I can see how different pressings, or systems, this could be a problem. Some cymbals are a bit hot, but not sibilant.

I'll agree that In Your Eyes is the hottest with the "s" thing, still, not into sibilance.

Using a 1200 TT and IMO using a dynavector cartridge, herbies mat, fluid damper are 3 items that help fight sibilance the most. Proper set up of course as well.

My deadwax has lots of numbers NM vinyl:

Side 1: GHS-24088-A-SH-1 (symbol) GF (symbol) B-23014-SH1 (triangle) 12047 1-1
Side 2: GHS-24088-B-SH-1 (symbol) (symbol) B-23015-SH1 (triangle) 12047-X 1-2

YMMV
 
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