Bruce Springsteen BORN TO RUN, final comparison of 3 CBS/Columbia CD versions by SH..

THAT.... and of course EAC levels.

 

Thank you, Ben, for your informative post. A couple of weeks ago I actually came across holy grail #2 in a music store and tossed it back into the bin because it wasn't a Made In Japan 35DP-21.

 

Don't know about EAC times but my Levinson 37 transport reads...


#1 TT 39:38
#2 TT 39:36
#3 TT 39:30

 

Mine's no. 2 and I've never felt the need to find another. Having said that there is another copy in the budget "The Collection" box set which I bought a couple of years ago and have never listened to. Can't imagine it would be an improvement.

 

Hi Ben,

Two quick notes here.

First, my copy is the Made in USA Digital Audio Corp Matrix: DIDP 50021 21B10, and it has the label of your mastering #2 above (CBS on left with eye logo beside it, upside-down triangle on right). My copy also has the EAC levels of mastering #3 in your list. So that label is not unique to mastering number 2, unfortunately.

Second, given that none of the masterings above in your list has the exact same matrix number of Steve's mastering #3, are we sure that what he's calling "mastering #2" is what you're calling "mastering #2"? Looks like we'd need Steve to check EAC levels to be sure, yes, or at least look to see what matrix numbers trail the DIDP 50021?

Note to Steve: I know all this is stuff that you may not want to revisit, but I take your judgment seriously, and when there's a difference that will make more and more of a difference as one's equipment improves, I want to be sure we're in sync so I can continue to train the ol' ears. Thanks!

 

Thanks for the info Steve.
As a side note:
I was working for a TV station in Terrible Haute, er Terre Haute, IN and got to tour the plant when it 1st opened up. (I believe Terre Haute had one of the 1st cd pressing facilities.) This would've been in '82' or '83' (I think) and they were pressing this disc, if my memory serves me right, and they gave us all multiple copies of it for demo purposes.
I will have to dig it out and give it a spin.

 

Steve did say his CD was made in Japan. Is there a mastering #2 with a non-DADC hub or "made in Japan"?

 

In this comparison that began this thread, Steve said the CD with the first mastering was made in Japan, and that the CDs with mastering 2 and 3 are made in USA.

The above quote is from an earlier thread in which Steve discussed what I take to be mastering 1. Quoting from that thread confuses the issue here a bit.

Steve's remarks in this thread about the improved A/D converter make me think that he's thinking mastering 1 and 2 are from the same tape, but 2 sounds better to him because of the improved technology used in the transfer.

 

Okay. Thanks. This is all too confusing for me to follow . Scott J was posting in the other thread it was the 35DP and made it seem like he PM'd Steve to check. The 'you can always PM Steve ' post would make one think this way.

 

Understood. I hope Steve will chime in here with more information when he gets a chance.

 

I just checked the following discs in EAC:


1. Early U.S. DADC pressing, "Made in USA - Digital Audio Disc Corp.", matrix code "DIDP 50021 31A1"

Mastering #2


2. Japanese JVC pressing, matrix code "CK-33795-V1E23"

Mastering #3


3. Early U.S. JVC pressing, matrix code "CK-33795-V1E51"

Mastering #3


4. Later U.S. pressing, matrix code "1A CK33795 17 B2"

Mastering #3

 

This is the timing I get for mine in dBPoweramp.

 

Mine is a very early made in USA CBS disc, CK 33795, DIDP 050021. Digital Disc Corp. It also has DIDP-050021 3 on inner ring. I assume this is mastering 2, am I correct?

 

Hi Ben,

My #2 has this (and the Made in the USA by DADC in the hub) but...

...iinstead of what you have there, mine has DIDP-050021 3

Does that mean it's actually this?

 

That's a later DADC pressing than Ben and I cited, so it could be mastering #3.

 

It is number 3. EAC values - 93.5, 99.9, 86.4

 

Timing is 39:30, so looks like it is the #3

Oh well, I do have #1 on hand, so...

 

My apologies to the group. From the info in the OP, I had thought that I had a copy of #2, when I actually had a copy of #3. So I need to revise my OP on this comparison:

I have #1 and #3 and I enjoy the sound of both. For a few years, I only had number three and had no complaints about the sound. None. But recently, I came across a cheap copy of the 35DP and couldn't resist. To me, on mastering number one, Bruce's voice sounds a bit more realistic, more open on top. I hear more hiss on the 35DP-21 as well. I used "Meeting Across the River" to do my comparisons. I listened to number three first and was amazed at how great it sounded. My first thought was, yeah, this one can't be beat. It sounded like Bruce was right there between my speakers. Then I switched to the 35DP-21 and immediately noticed some more high frequency info (and hiss) and the piano sounded a bit clearer as well. When Bruce entered this time, he was clearer and more realistic sounding as well. Rather than sounding like he was there, he actually was there. Freaky. The best way I can explain it is that he sounds a bit closer to the mic than he does on the second mastering.

Now I need to find a copy of #2.

 

I'm wondering if mastering #2 is the hardest one to find. It seems you have to find an early U.S. DADC pressing (i.e., between the Japan-for-U.S. pressings and the myriad U.S. pressings that followed). Mastering #1 isn't impossible to find since there are few Japan-for-U.S. pressings (e.g., early with crude matrix code font to later with neat 35DP-21 41A_ font). Of course, mastering #3 is very common. Mastering #2 may be the tough one to track down.

For the record, my mastering #2 copy is an early U.S. DADC pressing without "Now Made In The U.S.A." on the back insert.

 

Thanks!

 

Guess I'm the only one that has a CDCBS 86304/ CK38653/ DIDP-10095 CBS/ CBS and Sony in Japan

 

That's Born in the U.S.A., not Born to Run. For the record, that's a Japan-for-Europe pressing of Born in the U.S.A..

 

As I posted earlier in this thread, my CD is CBS CK 33795 / DIDP 50021, with a crude "Made in Japan" at the very bottom of the disc; matrix: "CSR COMPACT DISC" three times around the hub. Does anybody have any idea which mastering this could be?

 

Why are you nitpicking? We're all trying to get on the same page here, and you're focusing on something trivial like album titles.