Take Our Blind Mastering "Taste-Test"

This is a great idea

I won't get a chance for a proper listen for a while but I hope people listen with open minds - as well as open ears

As with most things "music" there is rarely a right or wrong - just subjective taste

It will be really interesting to hear the differences (or not!?!?)

Cool! I hope this does not tell me how bad my ears are
All the best.

 
I actually prefer the pre-master for its intimacy and its "in my livingroom" immediacy.
 
I recognize that this is a pop song and has to meet certain (current) criteria because of this, so I voted for one of the mastered tracks just the same.
 
The tracks aren't equal loudness-wise and I had to adjust the volume on each track to get a similar sound for comparison.

This is a great idea and I'm very curious to see the "winner". They all have very different characteristics.

Tom Riggs
I like the pre master the best also. LOL. Of the mastered versions it's a toss up between 2 and 4 for me. They both retain to character of the pre master and although they are not as loud I prefer to hear the dynamics.

If we're unveiling our choices, I picked 4.  It was the most laid-back of the bunch, but had to be turned up to match the others.  The others were too much in my face in various ways.

#4
 
The vocasl sound great with nice intelligibility.
 
 

Ahh, ok, if we're ok to reveal, here's my feedback:

#1 - Nothing special. Lacks life.
#2 - Too punchy/poppy in the low-end and little life in the rest of the spectrum. Dry and Veiled.
#3 - The best master of the collection; although there's a bit much compression/limiting in the kick/bass area. It has life. Musical. I would guess this was the Professionally Mastered version.
#4 - Veiled. Better balance than #2, but still lacking a real life.
#5 - Closest to #3; musical and warm without being veiled. However a bit too compressed in comparison to #3.
#6 - Again, nothing special. More like #1, although slightly brighter.

Good idea, and I don't want to sound awkward but 'sounds best' relative to what? Everyone has different musical tastes depending on a myriad of things.

It was a toss up between 3 and 5 for me, but I ultimately went with 5.

Excellent idea!
 
Done.

I will only say that some of you all so far have decided that I'm right in my choice.

brconflict
Yeah, what's interesting about this, is there will be winners and losers, and I'd hope for the sake of the NYC Mastering Engineer, his/her master wins.

It depends on which criteria s/he is mastering to.  If it's loudness at all costs, there are sacrifices to be made that will turn off those of us who prefer clarity, space and dynamic range.  But mastering for these and will cause some to say the song lacks thickness and punch.
 
Some of the tracks were pretty rough on the ears.  And what is that awful noise at the very beginning ?  Kind of turned me off the song before I'd heard anything else.

Soundwise
I like #3 the best.

Me too, even though a recent hearing test showed that I no longer have "Hi-Fi" hearing. Be interesting to see the results.
 
Walt

The problem is not with the mastering, it is with the song itself. It is so boring that I could not listen all the versions.

Tibear
The problem is not with the mastering, it is with the song itself. It is so boring that I could not listen all the versions.

Excellent reason to NOT be a professional mixing or mastering engineer. Tough to turn down paying business just because you don't like a potential client's material. Even worse, turn down paying business from an existing client because you don't like the new material. 'Like' has nothing to do with paying the bills. Better off to be neutral, anyway.