David Bowie on CD: Ahhhggggg!

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mark f., Aug 7, 2006.

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  1. JP Christian

    JP Christian Forum Resident

    thanks to a fellow forum member on here I've heard the WG RCA of Diamond Dogs via a 320k rip and even though it's MP3, it puts the 1999 remaster to absolute shame - seems I'll stick to my vinyl versions for now as it's unlikely I'm going to see or afford original RCA CDs - by the way, it's the 40th anniversary of Diamond Dogs isn't it? I take it we would have heard by now about a 40th anniversary edition if there was going to be one...?
     
  2. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    I got the 30th anniversary one. Only to discover it featured the 1999 master. I really wanted 2 copies of that one. Thanks heaps!
     
  3. JP Christian

    JP Christian Forum Resident

    Well a Japan RCA (for USA?) of ChangesOneBowie has just arrived and it sounds great - so if the WG RCAs are even better then I'm in! Well I would be if (a) I could find any and (b) afford them - this CD cost me only £12 including postage - was worth every penny just to get an inkling of how Bowie SHOULD sound on CD - it's like remembering my original excitement when getting my first CD player and hearing discs of THIS quality, long before the countless remasters which only got worse with each subsequent repackage......
     
  4. noyoucmon

    noyoucmon Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    I suppose this is as good a place as any to ask this. When Virgin got Bowie's catalog, I swear there was a quickie interim run of Bowie albums that were just the Rykos hastily copied with the Virgin logo stuck over. I saw a bin of these once at Best Buy and then I never saw them again. Can anybody confirm that I'm not out of my mind? Whether they had bonus tracks I don't know--as bad as they looked, I wouldn't be surprised if the bonus track listings had just been covered up. I remember the back tray CD inserts looked like a bad photocopy job. I looked on Discogs and didn't see anything. This has bugged me for ages!
     
  5. will_b_free

    will_b_free Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boulder, CO
    When Ryko lost the rights, and the supply of Ryko CDs dried up I recall that some US stores like HMV imported the UK EMI versions of the Ryko CDs for awhile since they were still in production for a few months longer. Might that be it? But their back covers were the same - tinted color images. The crappy black back covers came later,
     
    Last edited: May 20, 2014
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  6. philly67

    philly67 Forum Resident

    After upgrading my headphone/gear situation a bit recently, i've been going back thru my cd collection. Popped in the Virgin Bowie Low the other week and i lunged at the player to shut if off. It sounded so SO impossibly bad, didn't notice it on my old set up before. But it was horrible! I quickly went & put in my old Ryko ChangesOne and breathed a sigh of relief . Would dearly love to get ahold of some of those RCA's but i don't think i'm gonna get that lucky (or rich) anytime soon. Did the rounds of the used record shops last weekend, but turned up nothing in that department. So, i'm settling for the Ryko discs, was easy to pick up the 5 i wanted and i'm going back for more on friday. The Ryko's are honestly probably a little bit harsh, but nothing that's offensive by a long shot. At least to me.

    Musicians aren't there to worry about the quality of their catalog i know, they're music makers not caretakers at that level. But, wow, those Virgin's are pretty disgusting. BAD engineers/masterers out there collecting wages for that...a shame. Make the cd's sound good on the best equipment and everyone will be happy up & down the chain of their listening/equipment budget. You do crap versions, only one part of the market is "happy". I know if i were a kid starting listening to music again, i would NOT be impressed by the sound of a lot of what's being pumped out today...

    ...but then again, if you're listening to crappy Beats, who's to tell the difference!
     
  7. Summerisle

    Summerisle Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA, USA
    I don't have any RCA versions on cd but I don't have any major issues with Ryko and Virgin copies. At times the Virgin CD's come off as dull and lifeless. I have never had a knee jerk reaction to turn them off even if my vinyl versions are ultimately better.
     
  8. noyoucmon

    noyoucmon Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    Thank you; this has GOT to be it.
     
  9. stenway

    stenway Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    maybe a stupid question: but is possible "fix" the Ryko's gold with a manual EQ?
    Im got 3 golds, Im play "Station to Station" and yes now I understand why some report the word "fatiguing" on high volume... to describe them.
    one thing that I love of that Ryko's is the artwork, very well made and great photos, but artwork don't make better the sound :D
     
  10. Logan S

    Logan S Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I've got the '99 EMI discs of STS, Low and Heroes, as well as CD-rs of the RCA versions. There's no comparison: the 1999 remasters are beyond horrible, shrill to the point of instantenous headache inducement. Then again, they're really not much worse than the Rykos. The RCAs aren't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but they are, at least, musical, and actually sound like albums from the Seventies. Such a shame that these versions are so prohibitively expensive-- they're the only listenable versions of Bowie's catalogue on CD, at least to my ears. More than anyone else, his catalog deserves a complete reissue in the style of Paul McCartney's back catalogue, with uncompressed HDTracks downloads of each album. But then I remember that Universal's got his catalog now, and I fear that the '99s will remain in print until CD production ends.
     
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  11. Gems-A-Bems

    Gems-A-Bems Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Duke City
    Yes
     
  12. Gems-A-Bems

    Gems-A-Bems Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Duke City
  13. Logan S

    Logan S Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Just like to note that the gold Rykos are, supposedly, nonoised to death. Never heard one myself, but since you can't really reverse NR, I'd recommend using the silver Rykos if you want to manually improve Bowie CDs.
     
  14. stenway

    stenway Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    "You do not add EQ, you subtract the bad EQ already there, first!
    Try removing 2 db at 8K, 1 at 6k. Add a db at 80 cycles and one at 250"

    thank you, mmm is possible do that on iTunes EQ? http://d.pr/i/1bR9Y
     
  15. Plan9

    Plan9 Mastering Engineer

    Location:
    Toulouse, France
    I once tried the EQ trick and it didn't help very much.

    Not sure about the quality of the iTunes EQ.
     
    Dave likes this.
  16. Halloween_Jack

    Halloween_Jack Senior Member

    Location:
    Hampshire, UK
    Or check out the UK 1990/1991 EMI versions.

    My 'perfect' Bowie mastering would be the bass & midrange of the RCAs with the clarity/resolution of the EMIs. Maybe one day...
     
  17. stenway

    stenway Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I even can't find any 6k on iTunes... Im lost :o

    yes maybe one day they release all bowie again sounding better than anything we have now... maybe... someday...
     
  18. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    Simply Vinyl used those 99 mixes for their reissues. They sound like different recordings compared to originals. Awful! Parlophone's recent Bowie compilation may point to what to expect in the future. I think this is actually OK sounding for CD though different mixes are sometimes used. The fact that the catalogue has changed hands I think makes new remasters more likely. I just wish they would continue were EMI left off with the Ziggy Stardust vinyl reissue (which came with an audio DVD version). BTW Parlophone is part of Warner now not Universal.
     
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  19. Logan S

    Logan S Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Oof, sorry about that.

    I had forgotten that compilation that was out out recently. I'll have to look into it...
     
  20. vinylman

    vinylman Senior Member

    Location:
    Leeds, U.K.


    I'm not the biggest Bowie fan, but those EMI versions of TMWSTW, HD, ZS & AS sounded good to me then and they still do. Never felt the need to risk any of the other series since then.
     
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  21. parkgrover

    parkgrover Forum Resident

    I have a few of the 99 EMI Bowie cps - they are pretty bad particularly Ziggy, STS and Aladdin Sane...very compressed and not pleasant to listen to. I took Ziggy and Station to Station down to the local charity shop today as I have decent RCA vinyl copies. Aladdin Sane will be going to same way once I can get that on vinyl. Shame Bowie isn't better represented on CD....I have Rykos of some of his other stuff and they sound a bit better I guess.
     
  22. Michael P

    Michael P Forum Resident

    Location:
    Parma, Ohio
    While Hunky Dory was my 1st Bowie album, don't exclude "The Man Who Sold The World" or "Space Oddity". The 3 "pre-Ziggy" albums are actually my favorites, they lead up to Ziggy quite nicely.

    As for CD versions, I have no opinion. I have all vinyl for these.
     
  23. 93curr

    93curr Senior Member

    What?! I've never detected any no-noising on an Au20. And I have them all except 'Sold The World.'
     
  24. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialistâ„¢

    Location:
    B.C.
    Welcome to the upgrade. The idea is good, but... those low volume old pre 1985 CD's were one of the reasons the whole industry changed because without revealing equipment, as you've just found out, and/or considerable added volume they sound a bit recessed, muddy or veiled. Keep in mind that the majority of us were starting to use portable CD players in the mid 80's and the major reason for consumer low volume complaints.
     
  25. clairehuxtable

    clairehuxtable Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    I'm sifting through multiple threads trying to figure out the SH consensus :) on the sound of the 2015 remasters (from the Five Years box).

    Space Oddity
    The Man Who Sold The World
    Hunky Dory
    Pinups

    I have Ryko's for all of the above, and a WG RCA Hunky Dory (which sounds great) and the Space Oddity deluxe. Are these 2015 RMs that much of an improvement? I like the sound of the Aladdin Sane RM from a few years back & if these sound as good I'll pick them up (when they're back in stock, of course....2 to 5 weeks according to amazon.ca).
     
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