Cheap old 80's CDs that actually sound terrific

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Steven Henry, Jul 9, 2018.

  1. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    The old Warners CDs of American Beauty and Workingman's Dead by Grateful Dead sound fantastic to me.

    The original Queen - Jazz CD and Greatest Hits (CDP catalogue numbers). I also really liked the original Queen II CD but I don't have it anymore and haven't heard it for years.

    Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet and Aftermath (London), Exile On Main Street (CBS)

    Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks

    Neil Young - After the Goldrush, Zuma, Comes A Time and Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

    Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn (CDP catalogue number)

    The Dennis Drake mastered Ella Fitzgerald CDs

    The Smiths - 1st album (Rough Trade)
    Strangeways, Here We Come (Rough Trade - I have the gold CD pressing)

    Iron Maiden - 1st album (Fame CD)

    Metallica - Kill, Ride & Master (Vertigo CDs)

    Bee Gees First (RSO)

    Ultravox - The Collection

    The Stranglers - The Collection (1976 - 82)

    all sound great to me.
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2018
  2. ranasakawa

    ranasakawa Forum Resident

    Dire Straits
    Steely Dan
    U2
     
  3. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    Fleetwood Mac’s Tango In The Night is a classic example.

    Also, the Eurythmics’ 80s albums.

    The ABBA Polydor CDs

    Duran Duran’s Seven & The Ragged Tiger and Notorious.
     
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  4. Dr. Funk

    Dr. Funk Vintage Dust

    Location:
    Fort Worth TX
    There are many......here are a few
    David Crosby- If Only I Could Remember My Name
    Elton John- Greatest Hits
    Paul Simon- Graceland
    The Alan Parsons Project- I Robot
    Supertramp- Crime Of The Century
    Steely Dan- Gaucho
    Santana- Caravanserai
    Have fun :thumbsup:
     
  5. swintonlion

    swintonlion Forum Resident

    Location:
    Manchester UK
    Otis Redding Ultimate cd,mastered by Barry Diament i think ,stunning sound.
     
  6. yasujiro

    yasujiro Senior Member

    Location:
    tokyo
    Toshiba Black Triangle if you find cheap such as

    The Beatles - Abbey Road
    Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of The Moon
    Bill Evans - Undercurrent
    Tsuyoshi Yamamoto - St. Elmo
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2018
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  7. yasujiro

    yasujiro Senior Member

    Location:
    tokyo
    Bill Evans - Consecration on Alpha Jazz or Timeless

    Beach Boys CP21

    The Eagles CDs mastered by BD

    CSN&Y - So Far mastered any BD
     
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  8. melstapler

    melstapler Reissue Activist

    The MCA 1CD "I'm Always On A Mountain When I Fall" by Merle Haggard
    [​IMG]
     
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  9. samthesham

    samthesham Forum Resident

    Location:
    Moorhead MN
    3 that are far above most due to our host work on them....

    Buddy Holly From The Original Master Tapes

    Who's Next

    Dave Mason Alone Together
     
  10. CBackley

    CBackley Chairman of the Bored

    I think this discussion may be going off course. I had the impression that OP was specifically asking about cheap “budget” discs from the 80s that end up sounding great. He specifically mentioned What’s Going On from the “Motown Compact Classic” series. Most of the replies have been about 80’s mastered CDs in general, which isn’t quite the same thing. A discussion about budget discs, bargain bin staples, cheap-looking editions that sound great is, to me, a more interesting notion.
     
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  11. Steven Henry

    Steven Henry Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Well I have noticed that there's a preference for older CDs in a lot of corners of this forum. That wasn't really squaring with my personal listening experience until I recently started revisiting and doing some spot-checking.
    I think that once my ear began to get attuned to/seduced by the smiley "car EQ" and added volume of 90s CDs (usually with accompanying 20k or 24k hype), I lost interest in first-gen CDs which were probably truer and flatter in many cases.

    I've seen articles suggesting that the 90s' 20k and 24k remastering hype was essentially the "180 gram audiophile vinyl" marketing angle of the time. Maybe the difference I heard in many of these releases had more to do with added loudness and enhanced high and low end rather than sampling rate. Was I sucked in by added sugar and MSG?
     
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  12. dlokazip

    dlokazip Forum Transient

    Location:
    Austin, TX, USA
    Deep Purple - Made In Japan
    Al Di Meola - Casino
    Suzanne Vega - Solitude Standing
    Who's Better, Who's Best
    Warren Zevon
     
  13. goodnitesteve

    goodnitesteve bootleger

    That Patsy Cline one that is still selling to this day.
     
  14. majorlance

    majorlance Forum Resident

    Location:
    PATCO Speedline
    You mean this one?
    The Patsy Cline Story - Wikipedia
    Just about perfect except for that damn "Tra La La Triangle" song. :doh:
     
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  15. Isaiah Tolbert

    Isaiah Tolbert Forum Resident

    Location:
    Minneapolis
    Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation" are in very good quality...perhaps don't even need any remastering.
     
  16. NiceMrMustard

    NiceMrMustard Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia, USA
    All of Sting's original CD pressings sound great, from "Turtles" to "Ten Summoner's Tales" at least.
     
  17. majorlance

    majorlance Forum Resident

    Location:
    PATCO Speedline
    Jeez Louise, he was a handsome devil back in the day.
    Kinda had that Warren Beatty thing going on.
     
    melstapler likes this.
  18. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™

    Location:
    B.C.
    :agree: Afraid so, but you're not the first and won't be the last. I can't remember if it was you or someone else that mentioned as your equipment improves the fallacy of remastered become overwhelmingly apparent.
     
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  19. George P

    George P Notable Member

    Location:
    NYC
    How much time do you have? :laugh:
     
  20. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    Since MFSL has seemingly cancelled this previously announced release, maybe I'll just grab the old CD. You mean the Warner Bros. CD 3296?
     
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  21. mmars982

    mmars982 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    I definitely agree on the first 2, but would suggest to the OP read some threads here on them. They can both be found cheap but it is tricky to identify a Who's Next mastered by SH since he is not credited. And for the Buddy Holly, some feel the Made in Japan version sounds better (I am one of them). Still not too difficult to find it cheap.

    I do not have the Dave Mason so I may have to add that to my wish list.
     
    samthesham likes this.
  22. The original RCA CD of Bruce Hornsby was never remastered (except for 2 rare Japanese reissues), it sounds fantastic.
     
  23. George P

    George P Notable Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Some things will never change. .

    ;)
     
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  24. Steven Henry

    Steven Henry Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Yes, I said something along those lines.
    To me it seems harder to hear what’s good about a more balanced mastering job on cheap equipment. On the same gear, the caricature that exaggerated bass and crispy treble creates can sometimes seem like an improvement - particularly to the casual listener.
     
    Dave likes this.
  25. stef1205

    stef1205 Forum Resident

    I disagree wholeheartedly. The later remasters of these titles sound terrific to me. Beggars Banquet on London Records e.g. suffers from wrong speed and hiss.... there should be lots of threads about these titles.
     

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