Hi Jrr, like I said before, ABBA (like a few others) ist best consumed on vinyl, so it's quite alright to prefer it. I don't know how many vinyl-seekers come to this thread, but hey, there are far worse posts inside this forum than a hint to available, good-sounding LPs!
It was said in here that they're volume-rised versions of the Polydors, I don't know anything about them...
The Hits 1-3 on the Pickwick label sound great imo. My guess is they used good vinyl cutting masters for these compilations. Cozy and warm but with no sense of detail lost.
Thanks for that! A lot of vinyl haters here for some reason, and I hate the very kind of blanket type statements I myself made but it's just what I have found with ABBA's catalogue. It's just harder to get there as so many things regarding vinyl have to be right. I may or may not have to backtrack. To be fair, I do have that Pickwick box that others keep mentioning over the years of being good. I don't recall how it sounded on my set up but I will give it a go tonight and let you know. I have a pretty high end digital system which is odd since I don't like the sound of CDs but it shows how hard I tried to get there! Not showing off, just didn't want people to think I'm comparing a high end vinyl system to a low end digital. Have spent a lot trying to have both. And I do agree some CDs are amazing so I don't just dismiss the format arrogantly. In fact, anything our host has done sounds fantastic, like the Razor & Tie compilation that beats some of the vinyl I have of the same songs. Just seems vinyl does a better job with some types of music, depending on how it's mastered, which seems to be the key to a lot of this whole sq issue, as Steve says. I have plenty of garbage vinyl too!
Well, I am in the camp that like all their covers but I sure have to agree on the aging. Hate to say something negative (but notice it isn't stopping me!) but they are two that I have to agree that time hasn't been the greatest element for their appearance. That said, I always thought Agnetha was by far the better looking though Frida was certainly easy on the eyes too, but I think Frida has aged far better. Geez...why am I even talking about this!
Well, with all the money they had maybe they did have a time machine! I will try and weigh in later on how it sounds on my set up. The more comments the better chance the op will have getting the right one. I really should sell mine and let someone else enjoy it if it sounds nice. It looks nice on my shelf but I just don't listen to my cds. Is this set easy to find?
Maybe, but still it's a great album and one of my favs as well. Can't say that about too many groups where an older album is up there with the newer one's. They matured but never lost the fun aspect to their music.
I really enjoy the 1997 remaster of Voulez Vous and the Deluxe Editions of Super Trouper and The Visitors.
I came across the "Love songs" compilation from Pickwick today in a second hand store. I listened to it via headphone and the sound is very decent. I compared "Tropical loveland" with the ones appearing on the self-titled "Abba"-cd from Polar (1988) and from the Reader's Digest collection. The Polar and the RD are mastered significally louder. The most pleasant listen for my ears is the Pickwick .
Was the RD issued on CD? I have the vinyl version and it's lovely. I probably should have specified more clearly it wasn't the CD I was comparing.
There are quite a lot of different RD ABBA releases out there. Is your RD vinyl this one? There's no CD equivalent for it. I have this Reader's CD box. Not bad but certainly not an audiophile revelation.
That is the one I have and that I was referring to. The mastering is n o t identical to the vinyl version. I wish it was regarding all the praise this gets here...
Yes, it is. From the posts in another ABBA thread it seems to be the consensus that for purely audiophile purposes, and considering the vast amount of material, this is the magic bullet. I have to agree after hearing it. I don't have any import CD's and only a couple UK imports on vinyl, so it wouldn't be fair of me to make that claim across the board, but if you are in the US and don't know of anything better, this is what I also highly recommend. I really don't think Atlantic had actual masters so that would rule out any US pressings if one wants the very best. Everything on this comp sounds much better. Except Fernando. It sounds more like a US cut, a bit dull but still acceptable. Of course, we know Fernando wasn't on any ABBA albums other than the first US comp so maybe they didn't have the master for that one somg, but the rest just rocks...even the old material! Thanks for the RD info...I didn't know about it. I wonder, for CD fans, if any of the RD comps on CD were mastered as well? They really went out of their way to make this collection all it could be. If you are a big fan, it's so fun to hear this if you are really familiar with their material as you will things you likely didn't notice, assuming you have a decent set up.
That one seems to have the same list of songs, with the fun sequencing imo. I like how it jumps around. Sorry to hear it may not be up to the standards of the vinyl version. Hopefully you are enjoying it anyway.
The original non remastered CD's sounds just fine to me and close to the vinyls, the remasters I know of are brick walled and should therefore be avoided - that's all I need to know.
The 1997 CDs are not brickwalled, but louder, compared to the older CDs. Sadly, some noise reduction and a few strange EQ choices were made on the 1997 versions, otherwise they could have been nice versions. In the end, there are no perfect CD versions of ALL albums available.
I love the brickwalled versions of the Deluxes. Perfect for car audio. probably not great for headphones but I dont listen like that anymore.