CD Quality??

[Yamahalic]

...What about the "gold" CD's I see around? Any chance of getting a list together on the recordings that are known to be of high quality?

I recommend the 24k gold-plated Ultradisc version CD of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon from Mobile Fidelity Sounds Labs :thmbsp:. I remember many good things were posted long ago when these Ultradiscs were more easily available. Reading the marketing literature on the CD case insert only reinforces my belief that these guys really cared about achieving the ultimate sound quality in the format.

 

[davidk5]

This is a great example of the subjective nature of "best" sound. I think the post 1994, Doug Sax, Floyd remasters are some of the best CDs out there and the new, RVGs are hit or miss.

It is rare to find any consensus - except for the Virgin Bowie CDs.

Yeh i don;t know if i'd call the RVG stuff the "best" , but it's what i own & really enjoy them , i wish i could have a lot of it on Vinyl , but most costs way too much to obtain .
The RVG stuff i have were the one's done in 2001 Freddie hubbard , Herbie hancock ,Wayne shorter etc. I just got an email that there are now 2009 RVG remasters! that seems a bit silly .
I have been picking up some of the Fantasy/prestige remasters that were 20-bit jvc studio one's , my local store has been blowing them out for $3 - $7 each got some coltrane , red garland & some Miles , so far not too bad , i guess they did pressings of 10,000 each .

With the floyd stuff it has to be pre- 1994 ? I bought 2 of the "newer remasters" & i have to say they are some of the worst sounding cd's i own , talk about sucking the life out of great music ! i was really bummed with those , wish i had returned them at the time .

 

[KeninDC]

Dig the JVC 20-bit Fantasy remasters.

I listened to the Ryko of "Ziggy" in the car today. I really enjoy that one on my Marantz 2238 and in the car. I keep the RCA downstairs with my modern hi-fi set-up, but I find myself favoring the original orange label, UK LP pressing for my critical listening. The Japan RCA "Ziggy" gets the bass mojo better, making it sound closer to the LP, but the clarity of the mids and highs on the Ryko compare favorably to the UK LP. Toss up - but when you consider price and bonus tracks, Ryko wins.

 

[davidk5]

Dig the JVC 20-bit Fantasy remasters.

I listened to the Ryko of "Ziggy" in the car today. I really enjoy that one on my Marantz 2238 and in the car. I keep the RCA downstairs with my modern hi-fi set-up, but I find myself favoring the original orange label, UK LP pressing for my critical listening. The Japan RCA "Ziggy" gets the bass mojo better, making it sound closer to the LP, but the clarity of the mids and highs on the Ryko compare favorably to the UK LP. Toss up - but when you consider price and bonus tracks, Ryko wins.

Yeh i was just spinning Hunky dory today & toby mountain really did a nice job on that one as well , i had bought 2 copies the original Ryko & they the gold au 220 (i think that's what they called them) i A/B then & there is little difference , it's only very slight , i also have Man who sold the world in the gold & one other .
Do the "good" pink floyds have a different date on them , i know my local store usually has tons of that stuff used .

On the Fantasy masters i'm guessing that label no longer has the License to that catalog anymore ? seems that's when my local store buys them up & sells them cheap , they alos got all the Creedence one's as well , just bougt one of those .

 

[Ransomed]

donberry, I reckon that makes a lot of sense. I imagine most of the folks who even buy CDs don't listen to 'em on home hi-fi systems. So why master them to sound good on these systems? Also most folks just listen to tunes differently nowadays than 20 years ago, so factor that in too. Pushing the levels to get the song noticed whilst jogging or playing video games before the next shuffled track comes up is no doubt part of it.

 

[slow_jazz]

It's not the cd it's the mastering. All depends who's doing it. Steve Hoffman, Barry Diamont. Look for their masterings....

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

Dig the JVC 20-bit Fantasy remasters.

I listened to the Ryko of "Ziggy" in the car today. I really enjoy that one on my Marantz 2238 and in the car. I keep the RCA downstairs with my modern hi-fi set-up, but I find myself favoring the original orange label, UK LP pressing for my critical listening. The Japan RCA "Ziggy" gets the bass mojo better, making it sound closer to the LP, but the clarity of the mids and highs on the Ryko compare favorably to the UK LP. Toss up - but when you consider price and bonus tracks, Ryko wins.

And I completely missed out on the Ryko reissues. I have a few RCA's that I bought new way back when, the rest are Virgin/EMI's that are *no noised* to death.

 

[jimimac]

Chesky recordings are awesome but you might not like the music he produces.And true Most recordings either pop or rock played through A reveiling system that are compressed sound bright flat and they just suck.I prefer speakers that are forgiving because I,m A music lover and I own many poorly recorded C.D,s.

 

[davidk5]

And I completely missed out on the Ryko reissues. I have a few RCA's that I bought new way back when, the rest are Virgin/EMI's that are *no noised* to death.

You can still find them used quite a bit i know my local stores when they have them they are about $12 each .
I agree thos new ones are awfull , I bought Diamond dogs & it sounds pretty bad , too bad , such a great album ! My ryko cassette kills the new cd .

 

[davidk5]

This is a great example of the subjective nature of "best" sound. I think the post 1994, Doug Sax, Floyd remasters are some of the best CDs out there and the new, RVGs are hit or miss.

It is rare to find any consensus - except for the Virgin Bowie CDs.

I have to agree with you now Ken on the RVG stuff , i have bought maybe 25 of them in the past 3 weeks , just got 3 more tonight & they run about 50/50 , some are really good & some are really 1 dimensional sounding , i'm think maybe the older one's are better & as the years go along they get worse ?? i should keep track , maybe the guys ears are going , he's gotta be close to 80 ??
anyways i have been buying them at Borders 50% off sale so i can't complain for $5-$6

 

[HatchetJack]

The first CD I bought in about 1984 was CCR and it sounds just as good as
the day I bought it.However I also have some early ones that sound kinda
flat now.I think there were good ones and bad ones just like LP's.I have been
pleasantly surprised at the songs I have bought and downloaded through
itunes.They do kinda have that in your face sound that newer cd's have.
I think they remaster them with everything turned up now.Thats how the kids
like it nowadays and they buy most of the music as has always been the case.

 

[mrt2]

I have to agree with you now Ken on the RVG stuff , i have bought maybe 25 of them in the past 3 weeks , just got 3 more tonight & they run about 50/50 , some are really good & some are really 1 dimensional sounding , i'm think maybe the older one's are better & as the years go along they get worse ?? i should keep track , maybe the guys ears are going , he's gotta be close to 80 ??
anyways i have been buying them at Borders 50% off sale so i can't complain for $5-$6

The RVGs have sounded bad from the beginning. I bought up as many of those as I could when they were premium priced, have since sold off many in favor of the old, McMaster versions. Rudy was the original recording engineer of many of these great recordings, many of which date back to the early 50s. As a remastering guy, he has not done his legacy proud.

That being said, at $6 a pop, you could do worse.

 

[wilkes85]

Older CDs do sound better than new CDs, but that's because music today is being compressed to hell, so it sounds just like crap.

Record a crappy recording onto a top quality metal cassette, and it's basically like that.

I'm not saying i enjoy the sound of CDs though, to me they sound plasticy and artificial, but if anyone actually enjoys the sound of CDs, then I guess it's an aquired taste.

 

[soundboy]

I think it is title-dependent. For example, the SACD of Steely Dan's "Gaucho" sounds amazing....even on my inexpensive Sony DVD/SACD/CD player. I can't imagine an old CD version of this title being better sounding.

With that said, I do believe for some titles, the old CD versions are better than the remastered versions. Which is why I also have a bunch of vintage CDs

 

[mrt2]

I'm not saying i enjoy the sound of CDs though, to me they sound plasticy and artificial, but if anyone actually enjoys the sound of CDs, then I guess it's an aquired taste.

:thumbsdn: Give me a break!

I am tired of this dogmatic view of digital. Poor mastering in recent years combined with many people playing lossy mp3s on cheap, digital devices has given people the erroneous view that digital sounds bad.

Digital sources, like analog sources, are of varying levels of quality. The thing is, you don't need to spend thousands of dollars for a decent cd player. There are many that you can get retail for less than $500.

Played through even a good cd player/DAC, and provided the cd itself is a decent recording, decently mastered, and not hyped up or compressed, cds are capable of sounding as good or better than even a very good multi thousand dollar vinyl rig. Under real world conditions, especially so as lots of vinyl records suck, either because of poor pressings, wear, warps, and dirt.

 

[BrocLuno]

Hmmmm ...

I'm having an odd moment here. There are good sources in all formats? I just bought a couple of used CDs at a thrift when on business. Got them home and they are both excellent. One is a Leo Kottke CD from 1988. Well made and not over compressed at all. The other turned out to be a home made CD of Tracy Chapman. Home printed label and CDR inside the case. Sounds just fantastic. I don't know who made it or what recorder they used, but it's fine. And I have a store bought version - this one is better. Go figure :scratch2:

 

[davidk5]

The RVGs have sounded bad from the beginning. I bought up as many of those as I could when they were premium priced, have since sold off many in favor of the old, McMaster versions. Rudy was the original recording engineer of many of these great recordings, many of which date back to the early 50s. As a remastering guy, he has not done his legacy proud.

That being said, at $6 a pop, you could do worse.

Yeh , i have just found that say the 2004's sound so much better than say the 2008 remasters , they seem to be going downhill as they go along in years ....... but at least i have something to listen to until i get them all on vinyl :yes:
When were the McMaster one's released in the 90's ?? and how tough are they to find ? seems the used piles filled up on the older masters once the RVG stuff hit & everyone switched over .

 

[mrt2]

Yeh , i have just found that say the 2004's sound so much better than say the 2008 remasters , they seem to be going downhill as they go along in years ....... but at least i have something to listen to until i get them all on vinyl :yes:
When were the McMaster one's released in the 90's ?? and how tough are they to find ? seems the used piles filled up on the older masters once the RVG stuff hit & everyone switched over .

The McMasters date from as far back as 1987 or so, though they continued to release the McMasters right up until the time they released the RVGs around 1998 or 1999. Another series of Blue Note remasters worth seeking out are the connoisseur series, released in the mid 90s through around the early 2000s. These were supposedly limited edition releases, though used copies don't go for any more then regular Blue Notes. Many were remastered by Ron McMaster, but I have one I am looking at right now from 1994 remastered by Larry Walsh.

I don't find them especially rare, though they are not nearly as common as the RVGs. The McMasters were not especially loved when they were issued, but compared to the RVGs, they sound (to my ears) much closer to the original lps than the reissues. This is puzzling as you would think cds remastered by the guy who did the original recordings would be a lot closer to the original sound, unless, of course he went partially deaf.

 

[stchedro]

Don't forget that more modern remasters, particularly SACD, are made with high bandwidth 100kHz in mind. If the system doesn't do high bandwidth, which most don't, it will sound awful. Of course you can't hear 100kHz, nobody can. But as Apogee do point out, in the White Paper on their website and the should know, if you are doing close miked recordings you an get some very high frequency input and if you do spacially miked (ie pure crossed par) the very high frequencies combine along the path length. In most recordings it is a balance between close and distant and changing this balance can change the character of the recording. Btw a recording that sounds amazingly improved on a high bandwidth system can sound really really awful on a limited bandwidth 20kHz system. The high bandwidth recordings rely on the high frequencies combining in the speaker ear pathlength (as they do in a real venue) which is why a good big room helps as well.

 

[Dr. Music]

I like the sound of CDs just fine. Agreed, some of the newer titles are engineered for a generation of iPod users, but for the most part I'm happy with the offerings.

I have nothing but respect for you fellas who prefer vinyl to CD; I stayed with vinyl until the CD all but took vinyl off the shelves back in the 80's. I fluctuated back and forth until I got to a point where I had tons of CD media to choose from, and then put my vinyl into storage. Vinyl has a wonderful sound, but I'm not going to go back to it. I've got a small place packed with DVDs and CDs as it is!