AJA on SACD!

I thought Steve has said that the original analog masters were used for the MFSL Aja CDs.

I just received a sealed copy of the MFSL UD1 version of Aja and have briefly compared it to the following versions:

* Steve's 1984 CD (CD-R)
* Roger Nichols 1984 CD (original CD, Japanese pressing)
* 1999 remaster

I have not yet heard a bad version of Aja, but I prefer the UD1 version over these others. Now, with four discs, I have not done a detailed comparison, but in comparing "Peg", for example, I feel the UD1 is incredibly dynamic. I love it. The 1984 versions (Steve's and Roger Nichols' versions) are very smooth. While the UD1 disc has punch, it is not harsh. Finally, the '99 remaster is dynamic, but not as three-dimensional or layered as the UD1 to my ears.

How does the MFSL UDII disc compare to the UD1?

 

I compared the UD1 version and Japanese Nichols version of Aja a bit more last night. The main track I used for the comparison was "Aja". Both versions sound good to my ears, but I still prefer the UD1 disc. The Nichols disc is warm, and the vocals sound quite good. However, everything sounds a bit closed in on this disc. The soundstage is wider on the UD1 disc, and this disc provides greater separation and greater dynamics. I do feel that the vocals are a bit warmer on the Nichols disc, but overall, I prefer the UD1 version.

 

I think the MOFI Aja sounds fine, although the levels are a bit low. Not a major probelm. The newer remasters are very nice, although I tend to think they are ever so slightly toppy - I also noted a couple of dropouts a while back, but they are very minor. I guess those tapes are getting on in age...

 

I can't resist an SD thread.

Steve has said (recently) that the MFSL CD of Aja was made from the original analog masters. Roger Nichols had struck special (how were they special? I don't know) digital copies of these masters that he wanted MFSL to use instead. But MFSL used the original analog masters; in Steve's opinion they did the right thing.

(Nichols made the digital masters because he and Becker/Fagen thought the analog masters were deteriorating.)

I don't have the MFSL CD of Aja. I do have the
MFSL LP: a bit bass-shy, a bit too crisp on top,
the first Roger Nichols CD: very nice flat transfer, and
the newest remaster: sounds okay but far too compressed and too bright, plus it sounds no-noised

The Aja tracks on the Ludwig/Nichols mastered Decade seem to be identical to those on the first CD. They sound very nice.

The tracks on the first (and only?) Steely Dan "Gold" (not to be confused with the gold Decade) sound pretty good too.

The Aja tracks on Citizen Steely Dan are too bright and compressed. They also sound no-noised to me.

This is all IMO of course, but that's how they sound to me. My listening impressions of compression/limiting are borne out by my measurements of dynamic range.

I believe the gold Decade, like the newly remastered Decade, is mastered by Glenn Meadows. If so, I'm not surprised the sound is too bright and the dynamic range is constricted.

 

Wow! I bought a sealed MFSL LP about a year ago (for more than I'd care to admit), and because it was pricey, I have resisted the temptation to open it. From the comments I'm hearing here, it sounds as if I should resist completely, and put it back up on eBay. Is there ANY compelling reason to keep the MFSL LP if I already own the regular CD, remaster and UD1 of Aja? Enquiring minds NEED to know. Thanks in advance! :0)

 

Not IMO, though I don't have the UDI.

 

Gardo, your impressions of the various reissues are very interesting. I used to have the Citizen Steely Dan box, and while I thought it was very good for its day, I always wondered how they so completely eliminated the noise that was clearly audible in the Mofi CD reissues. The tape hiss levels on the Mofis are significant, while the Citizen tracks are completely silent - they must have no-noised it somehow.

I thought the latest remasters sound very similar to the Citizen box set, perhaps a little crisper on the top end, but not much of a difference. Over time i have wondered whether that crispness is not such a good thing..... But it also seems to me that the latest remasters must also have been no-noised in some way, and the tape hiss is negligible.

Perhaps the Dan boys need to go back once more and do the definitive digtial master of their tapes for archive purposes, and don't mess around with any digital trickery.

 

Gardo,

I too find your impressions of the various Steely Dan releases to be quite interesting. I have similar problems with the current remasters. The older versions of A Decade of Steely Dan and Aja are quite good, but I am continually amazed by the clarity of the UD1 Aja CD. The vocals are ever so slightly crisp, but otherwise, it's perfect to my ears.


Paul said:

Yes, they should make DSD masters of everything. Well, I guess there already is a DSD master of Gaucho, or there will be one soon. I wonder how Becker and Fagen feel right now about making digital masters. I wonder how they would do it. Seeing as their forthcoming album will be an analog recording, I wonder if they feel comfortable making any digital masters of their older albums.

 

For bands and labels with the resources, I think making flat-transferred DSD (and 24/192) 'digital safety' masters is certainly a good idea at this point in time (even if you aren't rereleasing the material in question).

Then keep using the original analog master for each new release as long as it holds up.

 

Michael, absolutely. Keep your options open by preparing both DSD and high-resolution PCM masters. Makes sense to me.

 

I have heard that the MoFi CD uses tape copies, not the master tapes.

The tracks on the Dan box and the 1999 remasters do not sound no-noised to me at all.

 

I beleiev Steve has recently reaffirmed the view that the Mofi CDs did not use copies, but did in fact use the masters (someone correct me if I got that wrong).

As far as no-noising goes.... they may not sound "no-noised" in the way that some very badly de-noised CDs have sounded. In fact, I thought the Citizen box sounded pretty darn good. But I cannot see how else they could have so dramatically removed the noise for that box. Listen to the Mofi (of Aja or gaucho) and you hear significant tape hiss - on the box set tracks, that hiss is pretty much gone. Perhaps someone could explain to us how they would have achieved that.

 

Kevin, you've got the UD1. Get rid of that "not as good" MFSL Vinyl and buy the UD1 of Gaucho if you don't own it already. For some, unbeknownst to me, reason I've heard a lot that the SD MFSL vinyl sounds no where near as good as the UD1's, and now that I own both MFSL SD UD1's, I'm happy as they sound as good as any other UD1 MFSL that I've heard and not one bit too bright as some have suggested.

 

This is slated for SACD. I'd wait and see how it turns out.

Regards,
Geoff

 

Paul said:

Steve has said this a few times in recent months. It seems as though ICE broke the news some years ago that MFSL did not use the acutal master tapes, but Steve has refuted this.


Geoff said about Gaucho:

Although I love the MFSL UD1 CD of Aja and am tempted to track down the corresponding version of Gaucho, I plan on holding out for the SACD.

 

I am looking forward to AJA on SACD.

 

Yes, I'm pretty well convinced some kind of noise reduction was used on the CSD set and on the latest remasters. I can hear the pumping and some decay oddities on "Babylon Sisters" pretty clearly.

Your impression of the latest remasters vs. the CSD set tally with mine. The biggest difference to my ears is that the latest remasters are a little smoother in the mids and also a tad more compressed.

The Dan gang definitely needs to stop updating, already, and do a definitive digital master. My preference would be DSD.

As are most folks these days, the Dan gang is chasing the market with their remastering philosophies. I'm a little surprised that they'd do this, but it does demonstrate how willing even such audio perfectionists are to change the sound of their classic albums for commercial reasons.

 

I have bot the MOFI and remaster. Prefer the mofi just, the remaster being a tad too bright and 'glassy' to my ears\system. Both sound good to me though.

 

Glenn Meadows used CEDAR on the box set.

 

Ah ha! Good to know this.

How did you find this out? And do you know what Roger Nichols used on the latest remasters--or was he simply tweaking Meadows' master?

 

Ah, just like he did on the Gold MCA A Decade Of Steely Dan.

 

CEDAR eh? That has yucky connotations for me, and I don't even know much about it. I seem to recall seeing it referred to on some really old Duke Ellington reissues, where they HAD to clean up the sound because it was so noisy - but to use it on Dan masters seems a travesty.

Like you say Gardo, they need to do a definitive DSD remaster. There's no need for digital processing, filtering or what have you. We can live with tape hiss, can't we? Let's hope they don't muck it up for SACD......