HELP ME!! I lost my faith in Final Fantasy VIII OST quality!! :(

supersoft

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I love Final Fantasy VIII's music so much.

There is no problem with the music in the game (and PSF version too), but there are many problems for me with the tracks in the OST (which I bought from iTunes).

First problem.I'll start with the biggest problem first. Noises.

There are annoying noises coming from the left side (of speaker or headphone) on Cactus Jack (Galbadia Anthem) at the start of the track.

You could hear annoying noises from The Stage is Set track after 1:11 part.

There are annoying noises too in other songs (like in Love Grows at 0:41 from the left side) , but the noises in those two (Cactus Jack and The Stage is Set) are obvious (especially Cactus Jack) so I gave them as the examples.

Second problem. Constant noise in some tracks.

You could notice it when there is a quiet part in some tracks. Just listen to SeeD, there is a quiet part in there and there is no noise. Then compare with The Loser, Love Grows and Blue Fields. There is a constant noise in those three (The Loser , Love Grows and Blue Fields)!

Third problem. Loudness are uneven.

Try listening to The Landing or Blue Fields and then jump to Martial Law or Don't Be Afraid. There is a big loudness jump there. The Landing and Blue Fields is too quiet while Martial Law and Don't Be Afraid are too loud.

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These problems really makes me sad because I love Final Fantasy VIII music so much. But, with these problem I couldn't enjoy the music in the OST (especially the first problem).

How could they screwed up with Final Fantasy VIII OST while they were doing just fine with Final Fantasy VII OST (which came before Final Fantasy VIII OST)?

I find it strange too that it seems that it is just me who have these problems with the OST.

What should I do? :(
 
Try deleting it and re-downloading. I've had similar issues with other albums where songs would skip a couple of seconds or distort. Other than that.. not alot. If thats how the OST actually sounds on ITunes then i'd recommend 'obtaining' a more true to the game version from one of the various sources on the internet.
 
Try deleting it and re-downloading. I've had similar issues with other albums where songs would skip a couple of seconds or distort. Other than that.. not alot. If thats how the OST actually sounds on ITunes then i'd recommend 'obtaining' a more true to the game version from one of the various sources on the internet.

Thank you for the reply!

Actually, I've obtained the tracks from various sources on the internet and it still sounds the same. :(

Just listen to Cactus Jack (Galbadia Anthem) with headphones and you'll hear the noises coming from the left. I would be very pleased if someone actually tried to listen to it.
 
Thank you for the reply!

Actually, I've obtained the tracks from various sources on the internet and it still sounds the same. :(

Just listen to Cactus Jack (Galbadia Anthem) with headphones and you'll hear the noises coming from the left. I would be very pleased if someone actually tried to listen to it.

Sounded fine to me. I listened to one on youtube hosted by Cloud183 and had no issues whatsoever. Could it be the headphones?
 
I've listened to that version too. I just don't hear anything. What type of noise am I listening out for? A crackling? Or..? :smiff:

Do you hear it loud enough? Yes, crackling noises. There are crackling sound coming from the left (if you hear it with headphones) from the beginning to 0:21. I'm sure about it.
 
Do you hear it loud enough? Yes, crackling noises. There are crackling sound coming from the left (if you hear it with headphones) from the beginning to 0:21. I'm sure about it.

It may be unnoticeable with some headphones. But I've tested it with my speaker and my headphone and I'm sure there are noises in there.

I still need help. :(
 
So nobody noticed the noises in Cactus Jack and The Stage is Set?
 
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Nope. Sound fine to me. Delete them and re-download. If you're on a poor internet connection or maybe just by fluke they corrupted slightly during download.
 
You could always try ordering the CD from Amazon or something if the problem persists and it bothers you enough. I have the Final Fantasy OST myself which I purchased from iTunes and honestly I don't hear what you're describing at all. I've never had a problem with sound quality on iTunes but I have noticed variations between average track volume which can be a bit pesky when making playlists.

Besides buying a hard copy, you could always trying importing the tracks into music editing program (like Audacity, which is free) and playing around with the Noise and Click Removal filters.
 
I just listened to my ripped copy of the song (from a purchased CD) and the youtube version and everything sounds perfect to me. I don't hear any noise at all.
 
Really? So it's just me then. :(

You could always try ordering the CD from Amazon or something if the problem persists and it bothers you enough. I have the Final Fantasy OST myself which I purchased from iTunes and honestly I don't hear what you're describing at all. I've never had a problem with sound quality on iTunes but I have noticed variations between average track volume which can be a bit pesky when making playlists.

At least someone agree with me about average track volume. :)
 
Now seems like I don't have any problem with the OST except for the Cactus Jack (Galbadia Anthem) track. :)

No, it's not because there is something wrong with my internet connection (my internet connection is fine) or because the downloaded file is corrupted.

I've listened to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMyyAOvzdtc and confirmed that the noise is present and is the same with the iTunes version I have. The noise is from the left side. Really annoying if you are able to notice it.

I won't buy the CD version because I don't have the money.

I don't really begging for responses now, but I just want to tell what I experienced. :)

And sorry for my bad English. I hope you understand.

Update

I'm bothered with The Stage is Set again. :(
 
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I've listened to Cactus Jack countless times, but I still can't not be bothered by the noise.

It is so annoying.

There are a lot of other tracks which has annoying noise.

Waltz for the Moon 0:39, 0:48

The Stage is Set 1:11-1:14, 1:23 (from the left), 1:24 (from the right), 1:27, 1:29, 1:43

Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec 0:32-0:36 (from the left), 1:14

Premonition 0:05-0:06, 0:31, 1:09

Ami 1:13

And I believe there is more.

I'm just too lazy to list them all.
 
I've bought 2 new headphones with different sound characteristics to my previous one. Now the noises are not that audible. Now I can enjoy Cactus Jack, The Stage is Set peacefully! :)

But I still have problem with Blue Fields. There are random noises coming from the right throughout the song. It's audible with my 2 new headphones. Those noises makes my chest hurts when listening to Blue Fields.

And The Spy. There is annoying sound accompanying the bass at 0:47 to 0:54. Other than that the song is fine.

I love FFVIII OST so much, but all these problems are really frustrating. It's even more frustrating when there seems to be nobody beside myself who suffer about this.
 
Love Grows has annoying noises too! 0:41 to 0:42 (from the left) and 0:51 to 0:52 (from the right). Of course the loop part too 2:56 to 2:57 and 3:04 to 3:05.
 
Try listening to Blue Fields at 0:32 to 0:34. There is annoying noise coming from the right. It's the noise which makes my chest hurts the most on Blue Fields song.

:(
 
I listen to the OST while driving (and as a result, have my volume cranked up pretty loud) and haven't noticed anything. Mine is ripped straight from the official discs =/

Maybe you could get someone to zip the files and send those to you? See if the problem still persists?
 
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