Stevie Wonder "Innervisions" original USA CD issue, I need a copy, fast!

I think it is. Kevin Gray did a great job mastering it.

 

Some folks here prefer the MFSL by a slight margin.

 

That is the one that I own, manufactured by Sanyo, made in Japan, Distributed in The United States by MCA Distributing, Inc.

 

Is this the Ultradisc gold CD of Innervisions that has the 10k boost? Does anyone know if it uses the same tape as the Audio Fidelity reissue?

 

I have this CD and it sounds wonderful. My wife and I prefer the sound of it over the Audio Fidelity version.

 

I also prefer the original mastering of Innervisions over all other masterings.

 

Thanks Keith. Probably should've referred to you in the first place.

 

Hey Steve, mastering Legends Do it Again for Audio Fidelity?

 

Depends on who you ask.

 

I've never felt the need to replace it, it's a gem.

 

Here's hoping it's a slated AF SACD version. In STEREO. Enough with the mono, please!

 

So is it still true that the MFSL is the only time (other than Original Musiquarium) that master tapes were used for a cd transfer?

 

Redbook, perhaps. In my opinion the best version is the SHM-SACD from 2011.

 

Steve doesn't think so. See his quote below on this thread:

Nah, I think the MFSL is just the same old cutting dub, correctly Dolby A decoded (for once) but with about 6 db added at 10k. In other words, dull with top end boost. Remove the boost with EQ and it sounds "right" (or how it was meant to sound). That's why I like it..

 

Well, yes and no. It seems this is the only finished tape of the album available without going back and recreating it from other elements:

 

An other one:
Innervisions (Japanese Platinum SHM CD)
UICY-40020

Booklet states: DSD flat transferred from US original analogue master tapes by Ellen Fitton at Universal Mastering Studios, NY in 2011. Edited in DSD by Masaru Takagi (SIProject) at Sunrise Studio, Tokyo in 2011. 176.4kHz/24bit transferred from DSD by Yumetoki Suzuki at Universal Music Studios, Tokyo, in 2013. HR (High-Resolution) cutting from 176.4kHz/24bit at Victor Creative Media, in 2013.

(Played with PC Windows 7 - Foobar2000 - PS Audio Bridge - PS Audio Perfect Wave MKII, Goldmund SRA - Pawel Acoustic Studio Monitors)

 

The fun thing about these flat transfers is that, if you accept it's a flat transfer, and if you have EQ comparison software, you can see what EQ was applied to any other mastering you wish to compare. So, example, if you compare the famous MFSL CD to the flat transfer, you get:



The above picture shows the average EQ for the opening track, Too High. Where the EQ of the flat transfer and the MFSL CD coincide, you see light green. Where the MFSL differs from the flat transfer, you see dark green. So you can see that the MFSL has a little extra top end and a vast amount of extra bass compared with the flat transfer. The orange dotted line just tells you the same thing - basically, it just charts the EQ difference between the two, using the dB scale on the left.

All the other tracks show the same pattern.

The extra bass on the MFSL is obvious if you have big speakers or a subwoofer - almost overpowering, really. I like deep bass but it's a bit borderline even for me.

Of course, you could always argue that the SACD flat transfer isn't really a flat transfer because it was almost certainly taken from a copy of the master tape, not the original master itself, which is said to be closely guarded by Stevie Wonder. So make of it what you will - I'm just posting it for its curiosity value.

 

... ok its about 2-3db more on bass ... if you ever seen on a Measurement what a room doing with bass then that´s nothing ...

 

fletcher munson

 

This relatively small increase in the amplitude of bass frequencies could become a problem if they happen to be close to a room eigentone.

 

I should have centred the dotted line on zero. In fact, the bass lift is 4.7 dB at 50 Hz, not 2-3 dB.