Depeche Mode on CD...

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Taylan, Oct 25, 2010.

  1. Taylan

    Taylan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I only own the album Violator with cat. # CD Stumm 64/INT 846.859 made in W. Germany (Which imo sounds wonderful) and i am interested in getting the rest of the albums but i saw many different CD pressings and i want to get the best sounding ones, maybe somebody can help out? Thanks!
     
  2. Taylan

    Taylan Forum Resident Thread Starter

  3. SteveCooks

    SteveCooks Senior Member

    Location:
    Lyon, France
    Please do yourself a favour : buy the sacd hybrid
    + dvd. The sound is huge on them !
     
  4. SteveCooks

    SteveCooks Senior Member

    Location:
    Lyon, France
    But i have heard some of them weren't remastered (the last batch exciter+ultra). Any specialists here?
     
    David Stilesson likes this.
  5. gsteenac

    gsteenac Forum Resident

    Location:
    Belgium
    You should search the forum. There are aleady a number of threads talking about the DM releases. And yes, the west german Violator sounds wonderful!
     
  6. Taylan

    Taylan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I tried but i did not see a topic about the best sounding CD's only about the SACD's which is 50 pages long:eek:

    http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=72568
     
    David Stilesson likes this.
  7. roro1

    roro1 New Member

    Location:
    canada
    If it were me i would go to ebay uk and buy early mute uk version's.Or i would buy
    w german version's.
    After 1987 everything is digital so who know's?
    I can say uk mute vinyl sound's better so i think the early uk cd's will too?
    I will say for the high price some cost the sacd's are the go to version's.For the sacd layer.
    Then you have the surround version's that are in some way's whole new listining experences.bc for instance is a different album in 5.1.You have not heard blasphmous rumer's until you hear it in sacd 5.1's with subs.Imperial walker's apear lol.
     
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  8. KevinW

    KevinW Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bochum, Germany
    As far as I've heard Exciter and Ultra were left unremastered, as Simon Heyworth allegedly said he could not improve the previous mastering. However this remains to be confirmed. I haven't compared those with my original versions, but they do sound quite a bit louder than the rest, so I assume that it might be true. I think the documentary, 5.1 Mixes and B-Sides are worth the extra cost though.

    All Albums prior to Ultra received a new mastering for sure, and all and all they sound pretty good.
     
    David Stilesson likes this.
  9. DJ WILBUR

    DJ WILBUR The Cappuccino Kid

    get the recent remasters, they really do sound great and the documentaries on the DVD with each one are alone worth the price of admission. I had them forever before watching one and i found them very compelling and watched one after another. really well done biography films....
     
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  10. hutlock

    hutlock Forever Breathing

    Location:
    Cleveland, OH, USA
    I'm with Wilbur, but I haven"t heard any of the SACDs.
     
  11. Obtuse1

    Obtuse1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    The SACD layer on the EU Collectors Edition CD/SACD's is excellent.

    The CD layer is a bit loud/compressed for my tastes (not brickwalled, but "maximized" to a certain degree), so I prefer my old US Sire discs.
     
    David Stilesson likes this.
  12. orchidze

    orchidze Forum Resident

    Remasters are loud.
    Old CDs from 1981 to 1993 are the way to go.
    Remasters (SACD) for Ultra & Exciter (originals are even louder than remasters).
    First five albums are analogue recordings. I have UK Mute first pressing for Black Celebration and this one wipes the floor with any CD.
     
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  13. Billy Infinity

    Billy Infinity Beloved aunt

    Location:
    US
    Simon Heyworth did remaster Ultra & Exciter, but he said the difference between his mastering and the existing 1997/2001 masterings were very subtle. There's an interview online where he mentions this, and I'll try to track it down.

    EDIT: Here it is:
    http://www.side-line.com/news_comments.php?id=22201_0_2_0_C

    "Some unexpected Depeche Mode news popped in. In a phonecall Side-Line had with Simon Heyworth of Super Audio Mastering (the studio responsible for re-mastering the Depeche Mode backcatalogue) it has become clear that the upcoming remasterings of the Depeche Mode albums "Ultra" (1997) and "Exciter" (2001) will not be much different from the existing masterings done for the CD re-leases back in 1997 and 2001. Heyworth: "Except for a few details here and there, it will really be sounding like the recording as you know it." And he adds: "You actually need to have a trained ear in order to tell the difference between the two masters." The reason for keeping the remastering minimal is simple: "They already sounded great from the start and there was really nothing we could add to make it sound better and closer to the original recording."
     
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  14. Billy Infinity

    Billy Infinity Beloved aunt

    Location:
    US
    OP, if you're interested here are a few thoughts I had posted on the remasters this past summer:

    My problems with the Heyworth Stereo remasters.:
    - first note missing on "Satellite"
    - oddly placed slide-guitar sample at 3:21 or 3:22 on "Personal Jesus"

    What I'm unsure of with the Heyworth Stereo remasters:
    - reversed hi-hat on "Policy of Truth" (is the 1990 CD or the 2006 CD the artist's actual intention?)

    What I like about the Heyworth Stereo remasters:
    - "Any Second Now" stays in pitch from beginning to end
    - "Black Celebration" has the restored beat (right when the D-bass kicks in at the beginning... always missed a beat on the original US CD)
    - Annoying extra "plane nosedive" intro to "A Question of Time" has been fixed (it now plays once instead of twice as was on the original US Sire CD).
     
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  15. Taylan

    Taylan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I see many different cat. #'s for the older discs, which makes it hard to find the original pressings, i listed them below:

    Speak & Spell (1981) cat. # Intercord INT 836.805 & Intercord INT 846.801
    A Broken Frame (1982) cat. # Intercord INT 846.804 & Labels 7243 8 41800 2 7
    Construction Time Again (1983) cat. # Intercord INT 836.807
    Some Great Reward (1984) cat. # Intercord INT 836.808 & Pony Canyon PCCY-00577
    Black Celebration (1986) cat. # Intercord INT 836.809 & Intercord INT 846.818 & SIRE 9 25429-2
    Music for the Masses (1987) cat. # Intercord INT 846.833 & Virgin 30102
     
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  16. Marc 74

    Marc 74 Senior Member

    Location:
    West Germany,NRW
    First WG pressings: 1981-1985

    Speak And Spell(INT 846.801) metallic blue stripe on CD
    A Broken Frame(INT 846.804) metallic blue stripe on CD
    Construction Time Again(INT 846.807) metallic blue stripe on CD
    Some Great Reward(INT 846.812) metallic blue stripe on CD
    The Singles 81-85(INT 846.817) metallic blue stripe CD

    Later editions with the same cat.number have a light blue stripe. Cat.numbers with 836 numbers were issued in the late eighties and replaced the 846-CDs(with the exception of The Singles 81-85).
    ---
    First WG pressings: 1986-1990

    Black Celebration(INT 846.818) Light blue stripe on CD
    Music For The Masses(INT 846.833) Light blue stripe on CD(Sonopress matrix)
    101(INT 892.650) Silver CD(Sonopress matrix)/Digipak
    Violator(INT 846.859) Black CD with dark-red rose(Sonopress matrix)
     
  17. lechiffre

    lechiffre Forum Resident

    Location:
    phoenix
    in my opinion the remasters are the way to go.

    if possible i would get the sacd hybrids.

    the only case where i prefer the old cd is "songs of faith and devotion". the old cd is biased towards the bass. it sounds a little more natural to me. the remaster is sounds a little harsh to me.
     
    David Stilesson likes this.
  18. Taylan

    Taylan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    That's very useful info, thanks!
     
  19. hutlock

    hutlock Forever Breathing

    Location:
    Cleveland, OH, USA
    Wow, awesome avatar! Haven't seen one of those in forever! :righton:
     
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  20. red corner

    red corner Forum Resident

    Location:
    Padova, Italy
    I'd say... go with the remasters. I have the Mute hybrid SACDs and they sound excellent.
     
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  21. roro1

    roro1 New Member

    Location:
    canada
    The remastered exciter sound's infinetly better! The dead of night originaly sounded harsh.It's much better on the remaster.Mine's a uk version.
     
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  22. bonjo

    bonjo Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    The remasters are not "loud" at all, they sound fantastic.

    As far as errors go, in addition to that missing note on "Satellite", another anomaly is the missing "Everything Counts" coda at the end of Construction Time Again.

    Interesting-ningly, the remastered vinyl LPs do NOT have either of the above problems.
     
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  23. Billy Infinity

    Billy Infinity Beloved aunt

    Location:
    US
    Hmm... my remaster of CTA has the "Everything Counts" coda. Maybe you got an early batch and they later corrected this?
     
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  24. Stranjluv101

    Stranjluv101 New Member

    Location:
    Pomeroy, Ohio, USA
    The Canadian versions of CTA and ABF sounded very nice. As far as the other 1980's releases, you can't go wrong with any of the USA CD versions. I also had a few that were record club versions, and they sounded warm as well.

    As a matter of fact, from Speak and Spell up to and including Songs of Faith and Devotion, all the USA cds I had of those were nice. Not loud or brickwalled. Ultra was starting to get there, and then Exciter and Playing the Angel were distorted messes.

    In my humble opinion though, if you want to hear DM, especially for the last 3-4 releases, vinyl is the way to go. There is no distortion to the vinyl, it sounds like a different recording almost!

    A few of mine:
     

    Attached Files:

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  25. Stranjluv101

    Stranjluv101 New Member

    Location:
    Pomeroy, Ohio, USA
    I do recommend saving your money for an original cd pressing of The Singles 81-85, and not buying the North American "Catching Up With Depeche Mode".
     
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