David Bowie CD's Ryko vs. Virgin....

I too own five of the Au20 Rykos, and a couple of the silver Rykos, but still prefer the RCAs hands down. I now own about 13 RCAs. Nice and smooth sounding. The 10K boost in the Rykos may add "air", but also adds listening fatigue in no time flat (IMHO). You guys keep buying the Rykos and Virgins, and sell all of your RCAs to me, OK? They can go for quite a tidy sum on eBay (especially when you are bidding against a fellow SH member, huh Dave? )

 

I have the Ryko Au20 versions of Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust and I think they're quite good, compared to the original RCA discs.

 

This is my opinion as well. I really like the MOFI lp of Ziggy Stardust.

 

I tried one of the RCA's against and AU20. The gold disc was superior IMHO. I have an RCA for sell if you want it for 20.00. That's what it ended up costing me after shipping.

 

You are correct sir. I wasted money on a RCA Honky Dory just to see what all the rave was about. What a bring down when I heard that unmusical piece of crap.

 

Yep, different strokes for different folks. This is why I told WW to simply search the archive. I think this same thread has been played out 5+ times. We should set up a poll: Which CD version of David Bowie's "Ziggy" sounds "right" on your system? Let's contain it to just CDs for now.

RCA
Ryko silver
Ryko Au20
Virgin
Virgin (mewtilation) remaster

Then we can simply agree to disagree.

 

I don't remember liking this LP, but maybe I should give it a re-listen. Try a Japanese or late 80s UK re-issue. They sound more open and balanced, my recollection of the MOFI was that it sounded a littled closed and bass heavy.

John

 

Ouch! The language!

 

I wouldn't use the RCA Hunky Dory as the golden standard. I think where the huge differences are to be found is with Low, Heroes and the later catalog. I have Rykos and RCA's for both Low and Heroes, and the RCA's just slay them IMO.

 

You may be right. The MOFI is the best sounding version I have heard. The other lps are not easy to find in good condition. Too bad all of the versions aren't done the right way, the Steve Hoffman way!

 

I listen to the Virgin cd releases of 'Ziggy' (30th), 'Low', 'Heroes', 'Lodger', 'Scary Monsters' in the car and at work.

I listen to the japanese vinyl of 'Hunky Dory' exclusively.

I listen to french vinyl (box) of the 3 'berlin' lp's (all named above of course) at home.

I listen to the US tan label RCA 'Space Oddity' and black labels of 'Young Americans' and 'Scary Monsters' at home.

I listen to the UK picture disks of 'Ziggy', 'Diamond Dogs', and 'Pin-Ups' at home.
Yes, the surfaces are noisy.

I have almost all of the Ryko cd's, Toby made all the drums sound like those plastic pickle buckets that kids play 'drums' on in the street. They do not get played very much.

- - -

The only speakers that I've ever heard the Ryko's sound like anything on were a
mid-priced pair of Alon's. The same discs sound atrocious on Magnepans, N.E.A.R.'s and Thiels.

- - -

My impressions of the RCA's were that they were compressed & eq'ued for lp cutting, and hissy.
Bought only one, and then traded it away.

 

My very first CD purchase was Bowie's Fame and Fashion greatest hits CD.

I thought it was rather weak and compressed.

Just last summer I found a Japanese LP of the same title in decent shape for only $7.00. That one is a heck of a lot better in the sound quality department.

As far as Ziggy goes, I remember Humorem saying once that the best version was the original RCA UK LP, and he said that the MO-Fi was "overripe" (whatever that means), but not bad.

 

My karma when it comes to Ziggy Stardust must be horrible. I own two copies: the Ryko limited edition CD (with slip case and extra booklet) and an RCA reissue LP on Dynaflex vinyl!

The Dynaflex might sound better, if I could hear it through the noise...



Ryan

 

I'm not that big a David Bowie fan but like some of his hits. BTW, I do have to save money so that in a couple of weeks, my local vinyl record shop will open.

 

Maybe somebody knows this. Do you think Bowie had greater interest in overseeing the Ryko catalog since he toured behind it? I always had a feeling that he was fairly involved with those, especially since they had bonus tracks. I'm sure he approved the remastering.

 

Ooouuch!

 

I wish you hadn't said that Steve - what a loss to mankind!
But then again, think of the money I've saved not having to buy them all

 

Maybe he feels less involved with his old catalog since he sold off the rights as a bond offering.

I wonder how shares of Bowie are doing these days, compared to the initial asking price?

Ryan

 

WAAAAAAAHHHH!!! I would love to have this catalog on DCC vinyl and CDs.

 

Rykodisc was riding high there for awhile there, weren't they? Frank Zappa, Elvis Costello, David Bowie, the Hannibal roster, including Richard Thompson, even a couple authorized Jimi Hendrix releases. It looked like they were going to be Rhino II.

Now the Hendrix estate, Bowie, and Costello have moved to greener pastures; the Hannibal catalog is slowly falling out-of-print. They've still got Zappa, and a quality roster including Kelly Willis, but they seem to have abandoned the big-name catalog business otherwise.

 

As I was groovin' to the new HEATHEN SACD last weekend, I couldn't help but think "wow, just wait till ZIGGY comes out on SACD!".

But this thread... talk about a buzz-kill.

 

Yes, Ryko certainly seems to have peaked. They lost Bob Mould recently, too.

They've got the new Joe Jackson Band album in March, though, so they're still getting my money.

Ryan

 

In a recent article (maybe 4 months ago) in CMJ new music they said Bowie was worth between 250 million to 1 billion dollars!! So whatever you think of the guy he is one hell of a business man in contrast to many of his piers who go broke, or need to do a reunion tour to make money.

Steve, shame on you for saying that. Low/Heroes/Hunky Dory/ DCC vinyl, I can't help but think about it now. Oh, it probably would not have been that good anyway .... NOT!

Seriously, my feeling is that many times these disagreements about SQ could be traced back to system dependent issues. For instance I always felt that the RYKO cds (and vinyl for that matter) were a bit harsh, bright, and strident. I like music that makes me want to crank the volume and you can't do that with these pressings. I could easily imagine that on another system which is less open than mine, one might like these discs.

John

 

Well, it's not like Mould's more recent music was setting anything on fire commercially... thier real coup in regards to Mould was releasing the early Sugar discs, although the shine had certainly worn off by the time of F.U.E.L..