[kj] mp3 bit rate

[Michael Head]

don't know if this has been covered in an earlier post, but here goes;

finally rose from my stupor in an attempt to listen to the new  
offering & was immediately struck by how poorly mixed / recorded the  
whole thing is. the vocals are occasionally very low in the mix &  
have no clarity (TTA, Hosanna), the drums are nowhere over most of  
the album apart from the rat tat tat of the hi-hat. thought it might  
be a property of my harman sound sticks, but no, even the lamented  
(production wise) Extremities & Democracy come through clearer &  
certainly with a better mix. maybe the bit-rate of the mp3's is low  
then ? again no, i've had a quick looksee & without exception the bit- 
rate of the new recordings is higher than the 128mbps i usually find  
on my machine.

sincerely hope the 'leak' is not final version, (amazon lists the  
same tracks) as frankly this does not get close to the bar, high as  
they've set it.