Elton John - Your favorite CD Mastering of each of the First Eleven Albums

Was that because it was when a label change forced the major changes in content to Vol. 2? Or was it right around when DCC folded? Or some other reason?

 

Any previous CD pressings of Elton prior to the 1995 remasters sound way better. Right on.

 

I want to say it was right around when DCC folded, because the first Greatest Hits didn't come out long before that.

 

I have all the albums of Elton John on CD ... remastered.

 

Me too, but I've been slowly acquiring older issues at used stores. Still keeping the remasters and SACDs for the extra tracks and 5.1 mixes. I always had the MoFis of GYBR and Madman. Still need Tumbleweed. Have the MCA of Caribou, GH 1, and GH 2 and Polydor of self titled, 17-11-70, and Captain Fantastic. And the AF of Rock of the Westies, of course.

I really dig the Polydor issue of Captain Fantastic. I didn't realize how compressed the SACD was until I heard those drum-hits in Curtains on the Polydor CD. Wow! Just how much better is the MCA, for those who have heard both?

 

Thanks.

 

I've heard both and I don't think the MCA is better. There is a split opinion on Captain Fantastic. Two very different presentations. I can certainly see why some would prefer the MCA. It's cheap to acquire so everyone ought to do their own comparison.

 

I am still a Polydor fan for his early CD's. I still have a few MCA's including Don't Shoot Me (full artwork on back) but have not recently compared them. How I ended up with multiple copies of his S/T album on the Polydor label I do not know. I probably have that on MCA also but not sure. At one point I had all or most on both Polydor and MCA with a few DJM thrown in but not sure now what I have left. I grabbed a few of the remasteres just for the bonus tracks. I will say that the MFiT of Capatian Fantastic and Elton John albums are pretty good and sometimes pretty cheap on iTunes.

Pat

 

It's just different. It's like comparing two different types of chocolate. Each has its virtue but one will probably be your favorite.

 

Has anyone heard both the 2013 platinum SHM/SHM and MFSL version of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road CD and can comment how they compare? All of the Platinum SHM 's I have are some of the best versions on CD that I have (Rolling Stones, Derek and the Dominos, Rod Stewart EPTAS etc.) curious if GYBR is of the same great quality, I would prefer to get a new, cheaper SHM over a used, more expensive MFSL if they're close in quality.

Here's the DR values from the 2013 SHM that shares the same mastering as the 2013 Platinum SHM from an older thread:

"OK, here's the DR of the 2013 Platinum SHM-CD (actually it's the standard SHM-CD issued on the same date, which I understand has the same mastering).

foobar2000 1.1.12a / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2014-03-28 10:28:00

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: Elton John / Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (SHM-CD)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR11 -1.57 dB -16.14 dB 11:09 01-Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
DR11 -2.65 dB -16.98 dB 3:50 02-Candle In The Wind
DR11 -2.64 dB -17.37 dB 5:24 03-Bennie And The Jets
DR13 -0.89 dB -17.57 dB 3:13 04-Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
DR10 -3.18 dB -17.57 dB 2:24 05-This Song Has No Title
DR11 -0.42 dB -15.88 dB 4:01 06-Grey Seal
DR12 -1.89 dB -16.45 dB 3:40 07-Jamaica Jerk-Off
DR14 -1.36 dB -18.34 dB 6:01 08-I've Seen That Movie Too
DR13 -2.70 dB -18.22 dB 3:55 09-Sweet Painted Lady
DR11 -1.78 dB -15.71 dB 4:25 10-The Ballad Of Danny Bailey (1909-34)
DR12 -0.25 dB -15.76 dB 5:03 11-Dirty Little Girl
DR11 -1.38 dB -16.69 dB 5:12 12-All The Girls Love Alice
DR10 -1.44 dB -14.93 dB 2:42 13-Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock 'n Roll)
DR11 -1.54 dB -14.73 dB 4:56 14-Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting
DR11 -2.87 dB -16.83 dB 4:08 15-Roy Rogers
DR12 -1.43 dB -16.19 dB 3:44 16-Social Disease
DR12 -1.15 dB -16.32 dB 2:47 17-Harmony
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks: 17
Official DR value: DR12

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 914 kbps
Codec: FLAC"

 

The SHM SACD of GYBR is a good disc. It sounds a little bit weak in parts mainly because it appears to be a flat transfer of the master... That being said, it is more dynamic than the MFSL, which uses some compression. MFSL wins the tone battle, SHM wins dynamics. But honestly the SHM does sound good, and if it's much cheaper than the MFSL, then get it.

 

There's almost certainly no compression on the MFSL.

 

I have the MFSL of GBYBR and I think it sounds really good. Have to play it a decent volume to really hear this version shine. I don't have the SHM but do have the Polydor and the DVD-A (or is it SACD?) for the surround version. Had the MCA years ago.

Pat

 

There is! Maybe not compression but perhaps some gain riding on parts. Compare the SHM or the DDL Superdisk to the SHM... Especially on songs like Danny Bailey and Social Disease, where the dynamics are key. You will hear it. I can post samples if you want

 

Also very unlikely.

The MFSL was licensed from MCA, so it's possible they used copy tapes rather than the masters.

 

You can disagree, but my ears and the waveforms tell a different story. Top is MFSL, bottom is SHM-SACD, both have been volume matched. Both start at the same volume but the SHM gets a LOT louder. I have heard the one quality of the MFSL people do not like on this forum is that it can be too "polite" at times and I think that is because some of this dynamic range has been lessened. The Superdisk has the same dynamics as the SHM, which leads me to believe that's how the master sounds.

 

As above, if there was any dynamic manipulation, it was almost certainly on the tape used.

 

Interesting. Looks like it is worth comparing the MCA CD to the MFSL CD to see if this is the case.

 

If memory serves, around the time the Rocket Remasters were issued, ICE Magazine had a Gus Dudgeon interview where he stated the original masters had never left his possession. The intimation was that MoFi's reissues were mastered from copy tapes, probably MCA's US copies.

 

Are all the redbook layers of the hybrid sacd's from around 2004 the same as the Rocket Gus Dungeon remasters from the mid 90's??

 

I don't believe they are.

 

I remember reading a while ago that they were the same, but cant seem to find the post. So are they completely unique masters with no clones? Who mastered them?

 

Yes, new remasters by Tony Cousins at Metropolis Mastering, London.

 

It seems like I've read praise for the hi-def version of the "Elton John" album. Opinions?

 

I have the MFSL of GYBR and whilst it is decent, there was always something that bothered me about it. These posts piqued my interest and I tracked down a copy of the SHM SACD and ripped it to PCM to do a comparison. It was obvious from the start that the SHM SACD is much more dynamic and as Michael pointed out, on tracks such as Danny Bailey it is almost like a level of congestion has been removed and it opens up wonderfully.

Having said that, the SHM SACD is not perfect and on some tracks I preferred the tone of the MFSL despite the difference in dynamics. I think the SHM SACD can be a little "hot" in the upper mids/low highs and when I compared plot spectrums in Audacity, the main difference was a 1dB to 2dB variation in the 2kHz to 8kHz range. I tried some EQ with a blanket 1dB reduction in that range on the SHM SACD tracks and to my ears this smooths things out a touch without compromising the openness in any way. Maybe I could be a little more scientific with the EQ but this tweak sounds pretty good for now and it will be my "go to" version.

It is interesting why these two releases sound SO different......the small plot spectrum differences don't really equate to what you hear, so if there was no compression used on the MFSL then perhaps it does all come back to the tape source used as lukpac suggested