Bowie's Young Americans blind listening test

When is the next listening test? I enjoyed the last!

 

And here's the new test, for The Man Who Sold the World:
David Bowie – The Man Who Sold the World (1970): Blind listening test

I'd like to do a "Heroes" test as well, since there's some Bowie traffic going on and it's hot new – maybe by the end of the week. However, if you want more tests, I'll need more votes to motivate me!

Thank you!

 

E sounds like the version released in 2016. Seems muffled at first, but as you get used to it it's the best one. C and G sounds like 2007 master. It's EQed toward the top.

 

Didn't notice the results are up. I guess I was right about E.

 

I can't vote for any of these, and here's why:

The samples for both tracks showcase only the vocals.

So clearly, the RCA Japan for US is the winner from the samples given.
The vocals here have more depth and detail than the (usually preferred previously on the forums) WG.

But there's a lot more to this than the vocals.
Yes, the WG RCA has more bass than the Japan.
And yes, the Japan for US RCA has more detailed and wonderful vocals.

Which is more engaging overall?

Longer or additional samples are needed for a truly fare comparison.

The Ryko AU20 and Ryko US are omitted.
The EMI is NOT the same as the Ryko silver US.
All three, before remastering came from DAT tapes of the original masters.

Tsomi, you've done a wonderful, and obviously time consuming amount of work here.
And I don't mean to be overly critical. Just helpful.
Those vocal samples are really helpful.
I had never noticed the difference in vocals between the WG RCA and Japan for US before your doing this.
Thank you!

 

You're welcome, thank you as well for these comments, which are, indeed, very helpful!

I agree that the samples used here were too short, and two songs were not enough. This was more of a warm-up test, and I hope the new test is better in this regard (while trying to remain OK with fair use). The Ryko AU20 is included in the new test, thanks to karmaman. For the EMI/Ryko stuff, I thought they were the same, except for very small level differences (that is, same transfer and same EQ once level-matched). If you can prove that they're different and ABX them, then why not yes.

I was also thinking of maybe including the "mastered for iTunes" versions. They are higher-resolution transfers being tweaked by Apple, so they might be considered different (my small experience with them is that they may also change the EQ a bit, and save a tiny bit of headroom). My only problem is that we'd be comparing lossless and lossy sources, but hey... I'm still undecided on that one.

 

I like muddy so I was about to pick D or E until I realized how unnatual the murk was on D and how annoying the "hum" was on E.

So the least awful after that was A followed by C.

 

BTW the RCA WG and RCA JPN for JPN are the only releases that doesn't contain total dealbreakers for me...

Virgin 2007: sounds awful
RCA JPN for US: missing the first two drum beats on YA
EMI/Ryko 1991: inferior mix
Parlophone 2016: humming
EMI 1999: sounds awful

 

voted for A - for YA it was hard to decide between A or C, third was F / for CYHM: A, C second

 

Even though this one is done I wanted to participate, so I listened and voted without reading any of the comments.

A - strong bass, darker than B
B - strong bass, brighter than A, distortion on vocal at 6 seconds on Can You Hear Me
C - not as bright as B
D - more muffled than A but less bass
E - pumped up bass
F - more clarity than D
G - pumped up bass/bright, distortion on vocal at 6 seconds on Can You Hear Me

Overall I went for A with C in second.

 

Can you open the results please? You started this in July and have abandoned all your listening tests. There's four currently open David Bowie tests with pages and pages of wasted replies.

 

You mean this: Bowie's Young Americans blind listening test

 

There are only two open tests: Diamond Dogs And Scary Monsters. The results have already been revealed for Young Americans, The Man Who Sold The World, and "Heroes".

 

I think what I meant to say was we don't know what the samples are.

 

Did you check the link in my reply to your post? The samples are in the post I’m linking.

 

Thanks for doing this. Interesting thread - 7 digital versions of a 1975 album! Madness. I have all the cds in the samples given save for the Japan for Japan RCA. 3 different sounding cds in 1984! Again I can live with the Who Can I Be Now version on vinyl or cd and I have the hi res file as well.

 

Late to the party as usual, but I voted for F, it sounds like A but with a tad more punch. I actually really liked the way E sounded on the first sample though.

 

I haven't listened to every single one of the masterings in the samples, but earlier this year I happened upon the RCA Japan-for-US at a local used shop in NM condition for $4, so I picked it up and then did my own, admittedly not blind, comparisons with most of the other masterings.

I definitely prefer the Japan-for-US, and for $4 I don't mind the two missing drum beats at the beginning of the track. But for anyone who doesn't own any of the RCA versions and is looking afresh, I would recommend saving your money for the Japan-for-Europe CD instead because if you're going to drop real money on this title, you might as well get the version with all the drum beats in it, and the Japan-for-EU is close enough to the Japan-for-US sound quality wise that it's the best overall option IMHO.

Normally I'm a big fan of clarity and not a big fan of masterings described as "warm" or "analogue/vinyl-like." But for most of the Bowie catalogue, I do agree that the RCAs tend to be the best and that most of the Rykos and Parlophones are too bright and/or compressed and/or deficient in one way or another.

 

Old thread but does anyone know if ChangesOneBowie RCA release is missing the drum beats on Young Americans as well?

 

Try the below link the answer maybe in there somewhere!

Dropbox - RCA CD comparisons.pdf - Simplify your life

 

I have ChangesOneBowie Japan for US and Fame and Fashion Japan for US, and both have the complete intro.

Tim

 

Would be a more useful guide if I had the money for all the RCAS! But some I found for dirt cheap in good condition and one of them is a JPN for US Young Americans.

 

Tl;dr but is the 2007 reissue brickwalled is all I need to know?

Oh, and Do you remember.. your President Nixon? Etc

 

Depeche Mode's singles too. They are not only abbreviated, but also inferior musically.

 

It's certainly louder than the RCA's and Rykos but maybe not totally brickwalled. The virgin remasters including the 1999s were pretty loud and harsh but not a complete wall of sound. The 2007 to me just sounds like the 1999 except more bass and with the no-noise process not used. I'd go with an RCA West Germany if you got the money but a good alternative is the 2016 remaster. RCA Japan for US has issues with the title track and the Rykos use remixes with 3 songs.