Peter Gabriel – Secret World Live

finally picked this one up because I love the DVD so much, but this sounds terrible. I should have read the reviews before pulling the trigger. It's sooo quiet that you can barely hear it, then you crank it up and it sounds even worse. AVOID at all costs, this isn't how vinyl is supposed to be mastered. What a joke

I picked up a copy after Christmas this past year (2023) and opened it up today to give it a spin. The vinyl looks nice right out of the sleeve. I gave it a deep clean as I do all my new records, but it looked as if it had already had a good bath. I then gave it a spin. "Where is the music?" I thought to myself. Sometimes I have to use an anti-static gun to negate a charge near my cartridge. Nope! Still nothing. Maybe I had my pre on mute? Nope! So on to the next solution attempt: increase the gain. Okay, I can hear it now but it seems dead, such a super quiet (as in low volume/dynamics) sound.

I increased the volume attenuation on the pre and bumped the gain on my phonostage. Now I was hearing something but it was still so darn quiet. I thought maybe my rig was in need of a tune-up. It has been a month or so since I spun any music. Before I started in on an OCD afternoon of problem solving, I came here to read up on the release.

I will echo the many folks who have already posted this: the album is cut very very quietly. As another poster suggested (particularly those with MC's such as myself) crank up everything to hear and feel the dynamics. This solved my problem and the album does sound very good now, but wow! I have never had my rig dialled in like this. I decided to reset my phonostage to 2 o'clock which is the passthru/zero point on mine (EAR 88P), but I set my preamp gain to 13db/channel and volume attenuation to 16db (Wyetech Ruby) This solved it all, I just have to be mindful to reset before I spin any other album in fear of blowing my speakers or my ear drums.

One of the best live performances. Love the live renditions of all of these tracks. Much has been told about the post production of this record but who cares. Gabriel demands the highest of quality and it shows. The musicians are all at their peak here. The pressing and packaging are top notch as well. Also check out the video it’s fantastic! Highly recommended!

i wish they’d just press this on 3lp instead of trying to cram 30 mins per side on the first disc

Mastering is awful. No dynamics, very low volume. Sounds like a bootleg. Very disappointing for something that is advertised as an Audiophile half-speed master. Deserves a recall and free replacement, it's literally that bad.

It's very good that we now have Athens and Secret World Live on vinyl, but I am sure that most of us are willing to pay some more money for a decent audiophile 3LP or 4LP presentations of those great performances, with the magical touch of KG or BG and pressed at the best plants. These excellent musicians certainly deserve such releases.

Voor mij persoonlijk, de beste live optreden ooit en live album.

On The 1 Press Charge was a big bubble at Side 1 and 2 First Songs. Shit, i have the Download code reloaded. I sitt in this missprint

I'm disappointed, it’s a wrong press! Very quiet, no dynamics!

Very quiet mastering, that lacks dynamics. Cranking up volume does not help. But the biggest issue is the manufacturing quality. Scratches, scuffs and dirt. I had to replace it several times.