just received original BACK IN BLACK CD; please view

I am getting all my information from post #15 in this thread. I am trying to learn the details so I can be sure to purchase a great sounding mastering of this hard rock classic.

 

OK ........ It's been awhile since I've had a decent headache, so I'll fire the first shot. This is my copy of Back In Black.

Atlantic 16018-2
Europe 050 735
MADE IN USA by WEA MANUFACTURING INC (around bottom edge of disc)
1980 Leidseplein Presse B.V.
1980 Atlantic Recording Corporation
Printed in U.S.A.
No barcode

MATRIX : 3 16018-2 SRC+05 M3-S9

EAC LEVELS : 87.0 / 87.0 / 87.0 / 87.0 / 87.0 / 87.0 / 89.1 / 87.0 / 87.0 / 87.0

 

Thanks. I don't recall reading about the different masters before. Hopefully we can sort it out here.

 

C'mon, Dave... much better? It's the same mastering fer cryin' out loud. I will happily acknowledge that pressing differences can yield subtle sonic differences, but "much" better is really a stretch.

 

AC/DC Back in Black Manufactured by Victor Company of Japan Ltd.

X Lossless Decoder version 20120226 (139.1)

XLD extraction logfile from 2012-03-23 14:48:01 +0000

/ Audio CD

Used drive : MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-898 (revision HC09)

Ripper mode : XLD Secure Ripper
Disable audio cache : OK for the drive with a cache less than 1375KiB
Make use of C2 pointers : NO
Read offset correction : 102
Max retry count : 20
Gap status : Analyzed, Appended

TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
---------------------------------------------------------
1 | 00:00:37 | 05:13:13 | 37 | 23524
2 | 05:13:50 | 05:17:67 | 23525 | 47366
3 | 10:31:42 | 03:35:43 | 47367 | 63534
4 | 14:07:10 | 03:32:17 | 63535 | 79451
5 | 17:39:27 | 04:14:15 | 79452 | 98516
6 | 21:53:42 | 04:15:40 | 98517 | 117681
7 | 26:09:07 | 03:30:28 | 117682 | 133459
8 | 29:39:35 | 03:59:07 | 133460 | 151391
9 | 33:38:42 | 04:05:55 | 151392 | 169821
10 | 37:44:22 | 04:15:33 | 169822 | 188979

List of alternate offset correction values
# | Absolute | Relative | Confidence
------------------------------------------
1 | -257 | -359 | 17
2 | -93 | -195 | 13
3 | 158 | 56 | 2
4 | -188 | -290 | 2

AccurateRip Summary
Track 01 : OK (AR2, confidence 2)
Track 02 : OK (AR2, confidence 3)
Track 03 : OK (AR2, confidence 3)
Track 04 : OK (AR2, confidence 3)
Track 05 : OK (AR2, confidence 3)
Track 06 : OK (AR2, confidence 3)
Track 07 : OK (AR2, confidence 3)
Track 08 : OK (AR2, confidence 3)
Track 09 : OK (AR2, confidence 3)
Track 10 : OK (AR2, confidence 3)
->All tracks accurately ripped.

All Tracks
Album gain : -3.84 dB
Peak : 0.891235
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 1
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 01
Filename : /Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/01 Track 01.m4a
Pre-gap length : 00:02:37

Track gain : -3.59 dB
Peak : 0.870972
CRC32 hash : CCC52778
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 46E6459C
AccurateRip signature : 747FBFBA
->Accurately ripped! (AR2, confidence 2)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 02
Filename : /Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/02 Track 02.m4a

Track gain : -3.08 dB
Peak : 0.870972
CRC32 hash : 2BF41187
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : D27B2C98
AccurateRip signature : 41490866
->Accurately ripped! (AR2, confidence 3)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 03
Filename : /Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/03 Track 03.m4a

Track gain : -3.14 dB
Peak : 0.870972
CRC32 hash : 154F0259
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 58E1BD38
AccurateRip signature : 0B711ECC
->Accurately ripped! (AR2, confidence 3)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 04
Filename : /Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/04 Track 04.m4a

Track gain : -2.67 dB
Peak : 0.870941
CRC32 hash : 35DAE307
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 0F56D796
AccurateRip signature : AC1E8905
->Accurately ripped! (AR2, confidence 3)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 05
Filename : /Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/05 Track 05.m4a

Track gain : -3.16 dB
Peak : 0.870941
CRC32 hash : 5C6C96F3
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : B09802F9
AccurateRip signature : D304AA19
->Accurately ripped! (AR2, confidence 3)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 06
Filename : /Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/06 Track 06.m4a

Track gain : -3.05 dB
Peak : 0.870972
CRC32 hash : A557B610
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : ECDE8DEE
AccurateRip signature : CF7B6B13
->Accurately ripped! (AR2, confidence 3)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 07
Filename : /Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/07 Track 07.m4a
Pre-gap length : 00:00:70

Track gain : -3.88 dB
Peak : 0.891235
CRC32 hash : CEA2E43F
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : C621DBFA
AccurateRip signature : 61B74790
->Accurately ripped! (AR2, confidence 3)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 08
Filename : /Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/08 Track 08.m4a

Track gain : -4.38 dB
Peak : 0.870972
CRC32 hash : C44E627A
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 334CCAE4
AccurateRip signature : 8399BC5D
->Accurately ripped! (AR2, confidence 3)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 1
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 09
Filename : /Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/09 Track 09.m4a

Track gain : -5.11 dB
Peak : 0.870972
CRC32 hash : F3E0EB56
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 709D67E8
AccurateRip signature : 2AA87388
->Accurately ripped! (AR2, confidence 3)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 10
Filename : /Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/10 Track 10.m4a
Pre-gap length : 00:00:30

Track gain : -3.76 dB
Peak : 0.870972
CRC32 hash : 0FBE8DFD
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : C3F91C37
AccurateRip signature : 5D78B5CE
->Accurately ripped! (AR2, confidence 3)
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

No errors occurred

End of status report

 

Ivan, Even Barry the noted proponent of digital identical discs sounding different has said the differences themselves are extremely slight at best and that mastering is all that counts. For Mr Hoffman's point of view see my sig.

Now in other threads stuff like this:

I'd love to know Mr Hoffman's opinion on that but my guess is he is smart enough to stay far away....

 

Yeah, we need to stay away from the hyperbole when comparing discs with the same mastering.

 

Keith, Roland found an un-remastered Atlantic German Cd which didn't have the the same peak levels as Barry's mastering (which is generally 87%). I think this is the thread we have all been looking for. I also believe those Gold 40 Atlantic Cds used this other mastering, as well as the one with Catalogue 7567-81472-2.

Rolands post http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=2921883&postcount=194

Thread- http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=112245

I also think that the US Atlantics and Japan 32XD and 20P2 were all shown to be Barry's mastering.

 

I have the numbers for the Albert CD's somewhere, they do differ from the ones in the post above.

 

Thanks for the info. So it seems that this non-Diament mastering was only released in Europe. I wonder if it was first issued as the gold CD and then was used subsequently for aluminum CDs. If that's the case, it could be very common in Europe since the first official remaster came along years later.

 

Correct, this mastering seems unique to Europe.

 

Thanks again.

 

WOW you guys get way too technical. I don't have a clue what you are going on about.

To me i don't care about graphs etc; does this pressing sound as good as others; simple.
cheers

 

I don't care about the graphs so much either, but others do, so let them post them. The graphs can help folks make their point about the mastering, and that's fine.

EAC peak levels are helpful to determine if various discs have the same or different mastering. Good info. there.

Opinions on mastering are just that. Opinions.

 

Wow, I am gone for half a day and all that old info is being found and dug up. Great work, guys!

Whenever I use the term "clearly inferior" you can be assured that I am never referring to pressing differences. I am only using this term if there are indeed very very noticeable mastering differences. I try to be somewhat consistent when I am describing mastering differences, although it is sometimes difficult.

 

There is only one table shown in this thread, so only one graph.

No waveform was posted in this thread, not necessary.

What people often do here is, they compare different masterings of the same album on CD. Sometimes, one specific mastering is identified to have the best overall sound (at least by the opinion of a strong majority).

Then other people want to find that specific mastering on CD, which usually appears on different pressings from different countries.

A good example would be the recent Bruce Springsteen "Born to Run" thread. One mastering was identified (by Steve Hoffman, by the way) as the best sounding one. So other people want to check if they own that specific CD mastering.

Checking the peak levels is a quite safe way to identify if a CD has the same mastering (as long as the peak levels are not all 100% = 0 dB).

There are tools with which you can check the peak levels (like EAC).

To make the peak levels easier to view and compare, some people put them in tables and give them different colors for easier viewing.

It is indeed quite helpful. But the numbers don't say anything about the sound, but they are used for identification purposes.

Wave-forms are also used sometimes. You can't tell from a wave-form if a CD sounds good. But you can see somewhat (not precisely, of course) if the dynamic range of the CD was somehow reduced by means of additional compression and/or limiting during the mastering process (I am not talking about compression/limiting used during the recording, which is different).

Wave-forms are only useful for people who are sensitive to CD's with reduced dynamic range. If you don't care all that much about dynamic range as long as the music is not totally brick-walled, the wave-forms will not be of much help/use for you. You can simply ignore them.

I personally think that these things are helpful, and I do use them.

 

Two other masterings:


Albert Japan

Track 1

Peak level 70.1 %
Extraction speed 14.9 X
Test CRC 6F2E2AA2
Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [56C17B2F] (AR v1)
Copy finished

Track 2

Peak level 82.8 %
Extraction speed 21.3 X
Test CRC 4DEC464B
Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [174E7E06] (AR v1)
Copy OK

Track 3

Peak level 87.3 %
Extraction speed 23.2 X
Test CRC 705447AF
Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [388B2945] (AR v1)
Copy OK

Track 4

Peak level 86.7 %
Extraction speed 24.7 X
Test CRC 11EA6AB5
Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [C8E13A8A] (AR v1)
Copy OK

Track 5

Peak level 71.0 %
Extraction speed 26.1 X
Test CRC 754A3CD8
Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [2EB688C7] (AR v1)
Copy OK

Track 6

Peak level 84.3 %
Extraction speed 27.6 X
Test CRC 2EB9200E
Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [0DB2E798] (AR v1)
Copy OK

Track 7

Peak level 86.0 %
Extraction speed 28.9 X
Test CRC F9B5A165
Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [0E2E4E0C] (AR v1)
Copy OK

Track 8

Peak level 92.4 %
Extraction speed 30.1 X
Test CRC 0874ABF2
Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [85D60946] (AR v1)
Copy OK

Track 9

Peak level 86.5 %
Extraction speed 31.3 X
Test CRC 440CFDE2
Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [67BE2A08] (AR v1)
Copy OK

Track 10

Peak level 85.4 %
Extraction speed 32.6 X
Test CRC C316471E
Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [687E03B1] (AR v1)
Copy OK

Albert Australia

Track 1

Peak level 78.7 %
Extraction speed 14.6 X
Test CRC 689BA82B
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [C7FA87A9] (AR v1)
Copy finished

Track 2

Peak level 92.9 %
Extraction speed 20.7 X
Test CRC 8A18C526
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [BCA9088D] (AR v1)
Copy OK

Track 3

Peak level 97.9 %
Extraction speed 22.6 X
Test CRC 5832C2CB
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [FAE90276] (AR v1)
Copy OK

Track 4

Peak level 97.3 %
Extraction speed 24.0 X
Test CRC BA2243E7
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [57A663C8] (AR v1)
Copy OK

Track 5

Peak level 79.7 %
Extraction speed 25.4 X
Test CRC 023565F7
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [1E9B2A0E] (AR v1)
Copy OK

Track 6

Peak level 94.6 %
Extraction speed 26.9 X
Test CRC AF1E2ABB
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [FC21BCCE] (AR v1)
Copy OK

Track 7

Peak level 96.5 %
Extraction speed 28.2 X
Test CRC 85AC16F8
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [46C494BA] (AR v1)
Copy OK

Track 8

Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 29.3 X
Test CRC BBB9AE1B
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [FEB4082D] (AR v1)
Copy OK

Track 9

Peak level 94.8 %
Extraction speed 30.6 X
Test CRC A2437FE3
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [727A7988] (AR v1)
Copy OK

Track 10

Peak level 93.6 %
Extraction speed 31.8 X
Test CRC 8B07D09B
Accurately ripped (confidence 4) [902A329A] (AR v1)
Copy OK

 

How does it sound, the mastering for cat# 7567-81472-2 ?
Does anyone have an opinion on it ?

 

Well, it sounds "clearly inferior". I don't have it anymore, but it sounded thinner, colder, more digital, coarse and harsh.

 

That's a record club edition, correct?

 

Thanks Roland

What's the word on the Dualdisc ?

 

Well, I once owned that one also, but it was compressed (loud) and I didn't like it.

 

So any "early" US pressing of this title is the way to go, right? Japan-for-US, W.German, US JVC, Specialty...

 

Well, that's the least complicated way to go I think, but there's differing views in the fact that - if you had two discs sitting in front of you, both containing the same mastering, and one is pressed in the US, the other in Japan, they could sound different. That's how I understand the argument anyway. Now, whether that happens to be correct or not I have no idea. Some forum members have compared discs such as the scenario described above, and the verdict is .........

 

I just got the 7567-81472-2.....I think.

Peak level 87.0 %
Peak level 87.0 %
Peak level 87.0 %
Peak level 87.0 %
Peak level 87.0 %
Peak level 87.0 %
Peak level 89.1 %
Peak level 87.0 %
Peak level 87.0 %
Peak level 87.0 %

"Shake a Leg" audio clip: http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=95934720734696985752