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The Who - Lifehouse Chronicles Box Set (Remastered):

This page will provide you with step-by-step instructions how to remaster Pete Townshend's "Lifehouse Chronicles" Box Set"

Background:

This is a great box set, which never sounded great. Due to some flaw, the set was released with what seemed to be a frequency shift, causing the sound quality to be harsh and difficult to listen to. After many years of <unsuccessfully> trying to fix this, I came across a simple fix - which was merely to convert the CD quality WAV files to MP3s. In the process of compressing the sound, what was previously unlistenable, became very listenable, but without all of the CD quality detail (which typically happens when you convert CDs to MP3s). However, by experimenting with various software, I came up with a CD quality fix to restore (and perhaps improve) the intended sound quality.

Wave Form Of "Who Are You" Before and After Remastering (First 52 Seconds)

Who Are You (Before)   Who Are You (After)  

Tools:

I used the following:

Audacity and...

Full Bucket Frequency Shifter plug in (Install Instructions) and...

Smartelectronix Ambience plug in (Install Instructions) (Same VST install instructions as above)

Lifehouse Chronicles Box set (CDs)

Step-by-Step Instructions:

Overview:

I worked with WAV files. If you burn the CDs your computer, use WAV files.

What you are going to ultimate do, is shift the frequency, add ambience and then restore amplification. You will do the same thing for each track.

Instructions:

1) Load track into Audacity (Pictured: "Who Are You")

2) Double Click on Wave Form (background will change from grey to white - this is the same as "select all") and from the "Effect" Menu, select "Frequency Shifter" (use the settings as pictured below)

With the Frequency Shifter, you will enter the following settings:

* Minus 2.5HZ (you can enter this from the Factory Present menu (on the lower left corner)

* LFO Wave: Ramp Down (See above and "turn" the knob accordingly)

* Volume Reduction -9.6db (See slide bars above)

Your wave form will now look like this (note the background remains in "select all" mode):

3) From the "Effect" Menu, select "Ambience".



From the Factory Present menu (on the lower left corner), select: "Amoebe Subtle" and press "Apply"

4) From the "Effect" Menu, "Amplify". Change Amplification value to 8.0 and press "OK". 

Wave form after amplification and prior adjustments:

7)  Ready to save your remastered track!

From the "File" menu, Export / Export Selected / [Name File/Track - i.e. "21 Who Are Your"] / File Type (Here you choose 16 bit Wave (CD), etc. and then enter your meta data).

That's it! It's all very simple. Once you do one or two tracks, you will see how easy this can be. From here you can burn your tracks onto a CD, keep them on your computer, put them on a thumb drive, etc.

NOTE: "New Song" (track 4 from Lifehouse Elements and not included on the Lifehouse Chronicles) is from this same batch of audio tracks and needs to be remastered in the same fashion as above.

Final Comments:

Lastly, if you have never done this before, be very careful with sound volumes. Don't screw up and turn the volume way up - you can hurt your ears (just like any other LOUD music situation). By accepting these instructions above, you agree to waive any of your rights for liability of any kind. 

Enjoy!

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