Promo CDs - Question

Actually, glad this thread was revived because I discovered the other day that my Queen First Wave 2CD promo sampler set (from the Box 1 2011 remasters) does not sound on par with the other 2011 remasters I have.

I own boxes 2 & 3 and the remastering by Bob Ludwig is stellar. I only have the First Wave sampler from Box 1 though, but the tracks sound like they were thrown on the promo before they were remastered? The tone is off and the tracks have an almost grainy quality...the SQ is really hard to describe though.

I suspect this promo does not contain the 2011 remastered audio, but would anyone else know what the story is?

I also have the 2005 A NIGHT AT THE OPERA CD/DVD set, and the six (6) ANATO tracks on my First Wave promo sound terrible next to the '05 disc. Reportedly, the ANATO 2005 and 2011 CDs sound similar...so the First Wave tracks must be totally unique?

A friend of mine also told me that many promos actually have unique mastering and do not contain the same audio that is found on their respective boxed sets which are newly remastered. It's a stupid practice for some reason, but true. You would think a promo from a remastered boxed set or reissue would feature the new remastering...but not all the time apparently.

 

I try to stay away from promo, cut-out, and record club CDs, unless they have a unique mastering.

 

Actually, I'm discovering that many of the promo CDs I own do have unique mastering....not always better or on par SQ, but unique.

 

I guess I mean a unique mastering that is better than the rest.

 

There was a Geffen Promo CD (DGCD 98174) of the Beck album "Mutations" that features different mastering than the official release, different edits on some tracks, but omits "Diamond Bollocks"... It does include an extra minute of music at end of "Cancelled Cheque". If you're a fan of this album, it is worth tracking down.