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Today I have learned when you want to make a song sound better...de-mixing is NOT the way...you are better off remastering a brick-walled stereo file than trying to work with de-mixed files....because of those nasty artifacts. Bugger!
 
Although I've been actively avoiding Atmos mixes on Apple (I have a personal bone to pick with lossy, whether or not I can hear the difference) I've decided maybe it's better to check things out...so at least I know what songs I like have gotten what I personally deem a good mix or not.
 
Today I have learned when you want to make a song sound better...de-mixing is NOT the way...you are better off remastering a brick-walled stereo file than trying to work with de-mixed files....because of those nasty artifacts. Bugger!
What are you using to demix? Some programs are better at demixing certain things than others. Also, when you remix the demixed stems, the artifacts are often masked during multichannel playback.

Listen to just the rear channels of the Surround Master while it’s doing its thing. You will hear artifacts, but they disappear when all channels are playing.

Finally, you can blend out most artifacts by mixing a bit of each channel (I.e. the center into the fronts and the fronts into the center at -12 to -15 dB.) @sjcorne taught me that trick.

Now I’m talking about what you are going to hear in the final product playing in your room. If you are sitting there listening to each stem or pair of channels using headphones, you are going to hear the artifacts and it will drive you nuts.
 
Today I have learned when you want to make a song sound better...de-mixing is NOT the way...you are better off remastering a brick-walled stereo file than trying to work with de-mixed files....because of those nasty artifacts. Bugger!
Pretty much EVERY time you fiddle with a signal, it adds distortion. Even a resistor, no matter how well-made, adds thermal noise. I recall the old eternal goal of amplifier manufacturers - “A straight wire with gain” because a bent wire has inductance.

While I don’t demix (or mix, for that matter), I suspect that the algorithms vary in their quality, and the quality will improve as the programmers learn their craft.
 
Today I have learned when you want to make a song sound better...de-mixing is NOT the way...you are better off remastering a brick-walled stereo file than trying to work with de-mixed files....because of those nasty artifacts. Bugger!
Indeed!
Embrace the mono mix (should that be the case) and make it shine.
When the original mono mix is more immersive with more depth than the mutilated Spleeter remix, you know you're doing it wrong!

That comparison, jeeze! Yeah, I guess the brick wall mangled something would be slightly less mutilated than the Spleeter tracks. Maybe. Does the brick wall master is question also include a 20db treble boost? (Of course it does, right?) Beaten your head against the wall with one of those 4 track 'Rock Band' stem remixes lately? :D
 
Does the brick wall master is question also include a 20db treble boost? (Of course it does, right?)
No, in this case I'm the one adjusting the EQ to be less...crappy. I'm just experimenting on some CDs I own. Some of them are darker than they should be, some are lighter than they should be.
Beaten your head against the wall with one of those 4 track 'Rock Band' stem remixes lately? :D
I have heard about these "Rock Band" stems...but never touched them as frankly I'm not THAT annoyed by brickwalled songs to risk any legal troubles.

I was just seeing if AI could truly help. It could not. Again, if I wasn't so sensitive to artifacting, then I would be in a better boat.
 
While I don’t demix (or mix, for that matter), I suspect that the algorithms vary in their quality, and the quality will improve as the programmers learn their craft.
The algorithms have gotten very, very good. Just not...as good it needs to be for doing something like post-mix recovery.
 
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