Elton John comparisons

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by David R. Modny, Jul 27, 2002.

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  1. David R. Modny

    David R. Modny Гордий українець-американець Thread Starter

    Location:
    Streetsboro, Ohio
    I was combing through some older threads late last night folks and stumbled across the Elton John MCA vs. Polydor CD thread. I have both issues of Greatest Hits. Vol. 1 and decided to do some comparisons to "Your Song".

    Guess what?...they're absolutely identical right down to the last bit (save for 1/ 100th of a DC voltage offset between one of the channels of the two files!

    Waveform the same, checksums the same, bit comparisons the same (using AG's bit comparing software), noise-floor profile the same, everything!
    I can't vouch for any of the other MCA's and Polydors...but this disc (at least this tune so far) is absolutely identical!

    I also thought it would be interesting to see how dynamically compressed the latest Rocket remasters were. I chose "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting"...just cause I thought it sounded super squashed on the GBYBR remaster and I like the tune.

    On the MCA and Polydor GH's, it had an average dynamic range of between 22 and 23 db...pretty darned good as I'm starting to see for a rock song's average range. Sure enough, on the latest Rocket remaster of GBYBR it was reduced to a total of roughly 11 to 12 db of average dynamic range. Levels were maximized up to about 99% also. Whereas the old GH versions were maxed out *really* low (a bit too low probably)...only about 63% of full scale. No *true* hard clipping on the remaster...just too much dynamic leeching IMO!

    I'm not doing this to pick on the recently departed engineer...I frankly don't care for the EQ on this particular tune on any of these three versions (aggressive and brash...really brash on the remaster!). I have the original GH on vinyl and though it's pretty rolled off there...I can at least listen to it. Bad mix and all...I think tonally the "Superior Sound" version is more to my liking.

    Guess I'll have to spring for the DCC and give *it* a try!


    Here's the MCA "Your Song":
     

    Attached Files:

  2. David R. Modny

    David R. Modny Гордий українець-американець Thread Starter

    Location:
    Streetsboro, Ohio
    and Polydor:
     

    Attached Files:

  3. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Well, when I bought and listened to the Polydor disc and A/B'd it to the MCA disc they sounded VERY different, as if someone went crazy with the noise reduction on the Polydor CD. Polydor didn't even have the rights long enough to do remasters, so...
     
  4. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    :)


    I guess the Greatest Hits Vol 1 was a digital clone when they changed from MCA to Polydor. Interesting, I wonder if the regular albums were the same?
    i must be one of the very few who don't have a problem with the "Rocket Remasters" Have you compared the original boxset of "To Be Continued"...with the limited edition reissue? I'm very curious on that one. I have the original issue and did not want to rebuy.
     
  5. David R. Modny

    David R. Modny Гордий українець-американець Thread Starter

    Location:
    Streetsboro, Ohio

    I'll be honest Grant, I don't hear any noise reduction differences between the too. But at first listen, I too would have bet that they sounded a tad different. After awhile, I wondered if my ears were playing tricks on me. That's when I ran the tests. They measure identical in everything I could throw at them - even their noise profile snapshots! Just to make sure that I have the same pressings - here's my catalog numbers.

    MCA
    MCAD-37215 DIDX 52 9 (disc says DIDX 000189)

    Polydor
    314 512 532-2 (disc inner ring also has an 02! after the catalog number)
     
  6. David R. Modny

    David R. Modny Гордий українець-американець Thread Starter

    Location:
    Streetsboro, Ohio
    Re: Re: Elton John comparisons


    LOL...unfortunately my Elton John CD collection is pretty sparse. Just the Superior Sound disc, the MCA GH (I got the Polydor out from the local library), and the Rocket remaster of GBYBR...oh yeah, that 76 to whatever hits package on MCA. As far as the cloning goes...they did insert "Candle In The Wind" onto the Polydor too for whatever that's worth.

    I was also reading a debate on the newsgroups recently where someone claimed that he felt that the Rocket remasters were inferior to their UK counterparts that came out a year or so earlier. Same mastering job...just something different possibly done to the master or clone.
     
  7. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    Re: Re: Re: Elton John comparisons

    Thanks David! I moved my "To Be Continued" question to a separate thread. Might get more coverage.
    :)
     
  8. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Re: Re: Elton John comparisons

    Nope. I don't have a problem with them either...mostly...
     
  9. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    I'm now guessing that there WERE two masterings of the GH by Polydor because my Polydor copy sounded VERY different! It sounded very noise reduced, edgy...it gave a headache! The biggest giveaway was that it had no tape hiss, as I remember it. The MCA, on the other hand, while not perfect, sounded smoother and had tape hiss. I'll never forget that day! I took the thing right back to the store and complained until they gave me credit for something else! I cursed Polydor for putting out such garbage!
     
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