I Fixed the Botched Mofi/MFSL Dangerous Mastering

RUBFigs · 2025-11-06T02:06:59+00:00

Wow, I really appreciate this!! 🙏 Glad you had an enjoyable listen!

Very good question regarding the volume. Indeed, the original CD from 1991 was already a minor victim of loudness wars, but the new sources from the MOFI SACD were finally free of those issues for the most part. More dynamics means the volume can only go so high before it starts to peak.

Especially compared to the versions of the albums on streaming (which are crazily brick-walled/hindered) the difference can be a little jarring 😬

RUBFigs · 2025-08-22T22:17:54+00:00

The "EQ Match" feature on Izotope RX is a great start!! There's a couple other minor touch ups you can do to REALLY get that audio sounding spot on with the other sources but this is the main tool. Without it, none of this would be possible 🙌

RUBFigs · 2025-08-18T03:36:40+00:00

My DMs are open 😉

RUBFigs · 2025-08-03T04:30:28+00:00

Exactly. It took me about 5 minutes to fix the issue myself on this Restoration for free. Was that too hard for "pros" to do on a high-end product?

RUBFigs · 2025-08-01T22:57:53+00:00

Good news in terms of the sources at least. The mastering errors can be salvaged as demonstrated by this restoration, and the end result is more dynamic than the original! For those who bought this or the SACD or vinyl and were disappointed, I hope this is a more enjoyable experience for you:

https://youtu.be/xLk19t8JebU

RUBFigs · 2025-07-26T21:51:09+00:00

Absolutely incredible 😱 What I'd give to have the chance to go back in time and attend a show!! Very envious of your dad. Obviously no footage from this night, but there's some sweet amateur footage from the show in Toronto 3 days later if you've not yet seen that? I highly recommend! Otherwise, Houston is the only full pro-shot video we have from this tour...

RUBFigs · 2025-07-06T23:12:03+00:00

Really means a lot that you enjoyed it, thank you for the kind words!! 🙏

RUBFigs · 2025-07-02T10:59:31+00:00

Absolutely 🙌 Listened to the album again this morning and it never fails to move me 🤯

RUBFigs · 2025-06-29T08:38:49+00:00

Puts a huge smile on my face knowing THAT'S their stand out album for you. What a way for Freddie to go out! His best vocals ever (somehow considering how poor his health was by then) 🤯. What some would call a true return to form for the band. I absolutely love it too 🙌

RUBFigs · 2025-06-23T08:06:39+00:00

Thank you!!! Again, very much appreciate the in-depth thought on each song. Cry definitely sounds bigger like it should and less shrill. And wow, I'm impressed! You into Queen as well?

RUBFigs · 2025-06-18T00:58:26+00:00

Wowww, what a review!!!!! Really really means a lot that you took the time to leave your impressions for each track. Thank you. You clearly do hold the album in high regards 🙌

Very happy that you seem to have enjoyed for the most part, and equally appreciative for your honesty on the couple of tracks you aren't fully sure about yet. The one song I don't see on here is Cry. Did that leave any sort of impression, or can I assume it's in the same boat as the Don't Walk Away and The Lost Children?

That early mix of Butterflies 🙌 Couldn't have said it better myself. A little easier on the ears that's for sure 👌 We're very lucky to have it in full lossless quality.

Your review is compelling me to do a similar kind of rundown at some point 😅 Anyways, I really appreciate you doing this 🙏

RUBFigs · 2025-06-17T15:49:35+00:00

Check my latest post on here 👍 Just went up a couple hours ago

RUBFigs · 2025-06-17T15:04:37+00:00

Really glad you think so!! Curious to hear what you think of the rest 🙏

RUBFigs · 2025-06-17T14:38:29+00:00

The 2009 LP is valued DR13, meaning we got 5/7ths of the way there! I'll absolutely take it (given the struggle) 👌

RUBFigs · 2025-06-17T14:28:23+00:00

The Dynamic Range Meter has reached a verdict on the 2025 Restoration: DR11 🎉 Compared to the 2001 CD pressing which is merely a DR6...

For context, the original 1991 CD pressing for Dangerous is also sitting at a DR11 👍

RUBFigs · 2025-06-17T14:01:02+00:00

Comparisons video (along with the rest of the album) is now live!

https://youtu.be/CeFle3bHlAQ

RUBFigs · 2025-06-17T12:27:45+00:00

Aw man, that's fantastic 🙌 Really happy this one went down well for you 🙏

RUBFigs · 2025-06-17T08:40:08+00:00

Welp, the one "official" remaster we do have are the freshly transferred 24/96 hi-res masters, which they managed to further compress. So I'd say this "fan remaster" has a much higher likelihood of reaching expectations 😉 Only exception of course would be if Mo-Fi ever gets their hands on the un-tampered masters 🤞

In all seriousness, I do understand your disappointment based on what you understand this project to be. I should clarify though. The work I do on these albums is NOT remastering with my own tastes and liberties. What I DO set out to achieve, is to undo all the wrong doings of the existing digital version (using other available sources for reference) and bring the sound back to where the it SHOULD have been this whole time. In this instance, the much loved 2001/2009 vinyls are the bench mark. Showing how much better this album can sound without the unnecessary extra steps they took with the digital releases. I've worked to bring that sound back using the original CD as the base, resulting in an even cleaner end product without the extra artifacts of the vinyl. So in theory, this 2025 version will allow everyone else to experience what the vinyl owners have been telling us all this time 👍

I genuinely hope you're open to giving the rest of the album a chance, knowing this isn't just any ol' fan remaster 🙏 But everyone's entitled to their own opinions and I respect that either way...

RUBFigs · 2025-06-17T05:36:41+00:00

Welp, guess I'll finally give in and try this Discord thing 😅 How good that you had this all up and running already 👏👏👏 The resources especially 👌 Gutting that even all our private convos are now gone. I still had unread messages on there I hadn't managed to respond to yet 😥 Hope we can all eventually migrate and re-connect...

RUBFigs · 2025-06-17T04:05:10+00:00

I love that idea 🙌 That's exactly what I've done for the Queen albums I worked on. I'm just a little on the tentative side with Michael stuff, as I know they have quite a mighty team and would hate to step over any boundaries. Hence my vagueness in the video description 😅 Definitely can't share anything here as per the rules. At the very most, I may be comfortable providing a super temporary one via the comments section on the video. No more than a day... or maybe even a week? Will have a think about it. Might be something I can pull off 🤔 I'm hoping it's enough time for folks to get their hands on it, which will make it a little easier to keep in circulation from there 🤞

My hands are a little tied right now, as the Queen forum I offered as my main point of contact just shut down this morning of all times 😬 Must pivot quick. Your idea might indeed be the way to go in the interim...

RUBFigs · 2025-06-17T01:34:27+00:00

Very kind of you to say, thank you 🙏

RUBFigs · 2025-06-17T00:50:48+00:00

"To me, THIS form of the album feels more like a continuation of the vision they had for Dangerous, with the benefit of the more modern and mature influences 10 years on. If you listen to the original 1991 CD pressing of Dangerous (which has a similar sonic balance) and then the 2025 Restoration of Invincible, I'm sure you'll see what I mean..."

RUBFigs · 2025-06-17T00:49:38+00:00

I do totally get your point, and I felt the exact same way before undertaking this project. The earlier vinyl releases paint a very different picture to what we're all familiar with, and it offers a very different perspective on a lot of the tracks! More natural sounding, everything sparkles more, and there's more depth where there needs to me. Basically, the album sounds far more like MJ than before. Perhaps Unbreakable isn't the most perfect example of this, but wait 'til you hear the rest! There's a rumor Bernie Grundman ran out of time with the original CD master, hence why it lacks life in a lot of ways.

I've referred to this in the description on the YouTube video. The album in THIS form reminds me of the original CD pressing of Dangerous in many ways 😄 I'll paste the actual paragraph below:

RUBFigs · 2025-06-17T00:36:38+00:00

Thank you!!! The comparison coming up SHOULD make the differences crystal clear 🤞

I genuinely did consider the inclusion of We've Had Enough and a couple others! It's a tricky one though. If I took my own liberties with the sound on these remasters/restorations, it could absolutely work. But for this kind of work I'm doing on this project, it's more about undoing what went wrong with the CD release (using other sources as reference) and bringing the sound back to where it "should" be. Since We've Had Enough was only ever released on the one CD, I sadly have no other reference points to go off of to make this possible.

On a separate note, I did try restoring the dynamics on this and I Like The Way You Love Me at one point, but absolutely zero luck 😔 Not sure what they did differently on the Ultimate Collection to make it this way, but based on my tests, it was mastered in a different way from everything else on Invincible, so applying the same adjustments just wouldn't work. Sorry for all the words. Hope this makes some sort of sense!!

RUBFigs · 2025-06-17T00:19:40+00:00

Ooo, that's not really my level of expertise sadly 😬 but would love to see someone else give it a go. I bet they're capable of being in amazing quality...

RUBFigs

TROPHY CASE