Everclear’s Sparkle and Fade was captured on analog master tapes, but never fully assembled in the analog domain. That means choosing the final mixes, sequencing, crossfades, etc. was performed only in the digital domain, which in a real sense means no analog master exists of the final album. Universal archived the original tapes in high-resolution digital and supplied IR with flat 24-bit/96kHz files for compatibility with CoHEARent Audio’s 24-bit capable Pacific Microsonics D-A conversion system and what notes were available regarding which files contained final mixes, sound effects, crossfades, etc. CoHEARent’s Kevin Gray and IR’s Shane Buettner then spent painstaking hours running down the title comparing the files to the original Capitol LP to ensure final mixes and sequencing, crossfades, sound effects and properly space the time between tracks. Sonically, Sparkle and Fade is now better than ever before, with true timbres and textures, a much more expansive soundstage, no dynamic limiting/compression, and unsurpassed musicality and listenability. A ‘90s alt rock classic brought to new life!

The Lost 90's Series

A prime directive at IR is bringing music from the dark days of the 1990s CD era to glorious new life on premium vinyl. So much fantastic music from this era either never saw a vinyl release, or saw only a very limited and all too often low-quality release ripped from CDs without much care. During that era even if the original capture was analog the music was ripped to digital and loaded into workstations for final editing, mixing, sequencing and final assembly. If vinyl was released during this era it is more than likely sourced from CD files. For releases that were never assembled in analog or were fully-digital recordings, IR acquires and masters from the best source files available, and if needed assembles final mixes, cross-fades, etc. during mastering. The increase in musicality and purity is as exponential! Combining superior master sources with the truly full-range mastering chain at CoHEARent Audio and RTI's ultra-quiet vinyl pressing results in hearing the music that is the soundtrack to our lives like never before!