Ever been pleasantly surprised by the sound quality of a CD or LP?

For me it was Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Blood Sugar Sex Magic". Being from early 90's I expected Shrill, lifeless sound. What I found is big, fat analog-like sound (except for the track "Breaking the Girl"; sounds thin). Sounds great through the tubes. I think Rick Rubin produced this one. Any others?

 

I was pretty surprised at the excellent sound on the Bear Family Records Dean Martin Reprise collection (the first Reprise set only, I haven't gotten around to listening to the second box set).

The Reprise engineers really knew their stuff and Bear Family did a great job of getting the original stereo master tapes (as opposed to the people at Collector's Choice music who issued the Dean Martin Reprise CD collection individually in pretty lifeless, tinny, terrible sound).

 

I have both sets also, Did you notice the lackluster bass on "Everybody Loves Somebody"? The whole song was weak. I know it can sound much better elsewhere and it does! I was very disappointed. I believe it was Inglotized?

 

I find myself being surprised by the very good mastering quality of some of my late 80's issued CD's - some examples are:

kd lang's "Ingenue"

Steely Dan "A Decade of Steely Dan" (best version before the remasters were issued)

Mary Margaret O'Hara "Miss America"

It is fun coming across these in my collection from time to time!

 

Michael wrote:

I have both sets also, Did you notice the lackluster bass on "Everybody Loves Somebody"? The whole song was weak. I know it can sound much better elsewhere and it does! I was very disappointed. I believe it was Inglotized?

I reply:

I have listened to that album on the Bear Family set versus the original LP (a late pressing to be sure) and I'm not sure that I hear what you're hearing. It seems to be superior on the CD to my ears. Also, Bill Inglot didn't master the Bear Family set, he was some sort of consultant, not the remasterer (I called Bear Family to ask them this very question).

I don't really know the "brand names" of re-mastering engineers. What is so bad about Mr. Inglot's work?

 

Yeah, I just picked up the 2 vintage collectibles cds from MCA. Those discs sound really good.

 

I was pleasantly surprised about two Rhino CD's, The best of Faces and George Benson's Breezin' (25th anniversary edition).
Steve could do 'em up better I'm shure, but for Rhino, not bad.

 

This could be a long list but I'll spare all of you and just name a few

Donovan: A Gift from a Flower to a Garden amazingly life like on some cuts

Led Zeppelin: Houses of the Holly late American pressing. Stnds up to DSOTM on many cuts and is as good as the Classics reissue

Bread: Best of One of the best sounding pop albums I've ever heard. Varies from cut to cut as would be expected on a compilation album but it varies from really good to amazing. What is truely amazing is the late seventies reissue sounds great. The original is better though.

 

Scott Wheeler wrote:

Donovan: A Gift from a Flower to a Garden amazingly life like on some cuts


I ask:

Are you talking about the mono reissue on BGO/EMI records from the 1993? I believe that there may have been a later version done by Collector's Choice? Thanks!

Fred E

 

Quite a few have pleasantly surprised me.

Deep Purple: Machine Head
Bon Jovi: Slippery When Wet & Blaze Of Glory
Aldo Nova: All four albums
Chilliwack: Greatest Hits
The Doobie Bros.: Greatest Hits
Bad Co.: From 10 til 6
Cinderella: Long Cold Winter
Dire Straits: Brothers In Arms
Donald Fagen: Kamakirad (promo gold cd)
The Headpins: Greatest Hits
Jerry Doucette: Mamma Let Him Play (on K-tel, no less)
ZZ Top: The Best Of

And last, but never least, everything (so far that I own) on MCA that Steve has laid his golden hands on.

A few of the Sony Mastersounds as well, but technically they are audiophile releases so I won't list them.

All of the above have nice warm sounding analog qualities about them, very flat, no over use, if any, compression. They are all original pressed cd's and not remix/remastered cd's.

 

My Donovan A Gift from a Flower to a Garden is the original stereo LP set

 

Now that one really surprises me as the cd version is plagued by over-compression. Bright and fatiguing. Which really sucks because I enjoy David Gates & Bread.

 

Scott wrote:

My Donovan A Gift from a Flower to a Garden is the original stereo LP set

I reply:

Yes, I was wondering! I have the original Epic box set on LP and the BGO set on CD (which is in mono -- apparently EMI lost their stereo master for this album). I didn't think that the BGO CD was all that thrilling. I'll have to drag out the Epic box and take a listen again.

Scott, do you have the Epic U.S. version or the U.K version of this LP?

 

In a nutshell, according to many forum members, Bill Inglot:

a) favors mono even when the stereo sounds better
b) spikes the treble excessively on many CDs (though not all--listen to his CHIC)

Personally, I don't know enough about the first matter to be concerned. The second gripe does have its merits, though his work doesn't bother me as much as other members. I'm sure they could give you a fuller explanation.

 

I have the U.S. version. I have never heard the UK version. It could be better for all I know. I'll say this about UK vs. US pressings in general, they make for interesting comparisons with often suprising results. I have found few rules of thumb. I think I might mull over my personal comparisons and start a new thread later today.