Pink Floyd The Wall, my shoot-out

My Wall set is a US Columbia C2K6819, is this a different mastering than C2K36183?

 

As far as I know, yes these are quite different masterings.

The opinions on what the preference is vary quite strongly. Some like the early Japan/USA Columbia C2K36183 and similar ones, others like the European/Japan early Harvest versions and others like the current Doug Sax remasters. Only a few like the MFSL version on this forum.

Roland

 

Is the current Wall CD on Capital mastered by Doug Sax? Is this the same mastering as on the Columbia 20th anniversary C2K68519, which preceded the Capital only by a year or two, I believe.

I originally owned the Harvest black label from Japan but sold it when the MFSL Gold came out. I parted with the MFSL when the 20th anniversary issue came out, which sounded better than the MFSL. It looks like some like the old black triangle CD on Columbia.

I always assumed remastering always meant a stop forward before I discovered this forum. I still find it hard to believe that a lot of the early '80's CD's, many of which I once owned and long since parted with, sound better than their remastered counter parts.

I had a lot of the old targets and just remember them as having a lot of tape hiss and being lower in volume than what we are used to now. They rarely mastered from master tapes in the '80's. I think a lot of the early CDs were from multi-generation LP eq'd tapes.

 

Okay, Well I went to my local used independent CD shop today and found a mint copy of PF The Wall C2K36183 Columbia black triangle. I am listening to it right now and yes, it sounds great. It seems to have more life and ambiance to it than the later 20th anniversary CD that came out in '99. If it had not been for reading this thread or this forum, I never would have considered picking up such an old mastering. I'm impressed. I wish I had held onto my old black triangle Columbia CD of The Final Cut.

 

I hate to disagree but I think the Harvest is better than the MoFi and Columbia issues by a mile. Far more open sounding and natural. I have not heard the Japanese pressing yet.

 

I might add that I honestly feel the SACD is best version of this classic album.

 

Lee, it's the Wall we are talking about, not DSOTM.

I myself prefer the Harvest Japan for The Wall, but ymmv.

 

I have to stop surfing while watching HBO.

 

Lee,
Let's be honest, you would have posted; "I might add that I honestly feel the SACD is best version of this classic album" , no matter WHAT else you may have been doing!!! ;-)

 

LOL.

Seriously, there are so many DSOTM threads I just assumed no one was talking about The Wall.

 

Black Triangle Pink Floyd albums = Dark side Of The Moon and Meddle. For The Wall you may have a black-faced Canadian Columbia pressing or a UK or Japanese Harvest black-faced pressings, maybe even the Japanese 1st pressing with the 50DP catalog number that's 3/4 black-faced. The Final Cut has a Japanese 1st pressing that is 3/4 black-faced on the CBS/Sony label only.

 

So, what's the opinion on the Japanese pressing of the C2K Columbia version?

 

To clarify, the Wall CD I picked up was the DADC made is USA C2K36183. I originally owned the black faced Harvest pressed in Japan, but traded it when the gold MSFL came out, which I thought had a lot more volume and dynamics at the time.

 

Sorry to come in so late in the thread but I just sat down and listened to four different CD versions... the US C2K 36183, the Doug Sax Remaster, The Mo-Fo and the UK Harvest 46036.

All of them are quite different and I now have a clear favorite.

The Mo-Fi is my least favorite of the bunch. It's boomy on the low end and the midrange sounds sucked out. I guess this is the MFSL U curve everybody talks about. ICK!

The US C2K 36183 is my next least favorite. It's bright and is from a lesser tape as there is hiss present that is not on any of my other versions. It sounds like emphasis without the de-emphasis curve but I don't think this disc was made with emphasis.

My second favorite is the Doug Sax remaster.

The best sounding version I own is the UK Harvest. It's just right. The Sax remaster is actually very close in tone but it has a slight lift in the top end and the bottom end has been cleaned up a bit making it less full sounding. The Harvest didn't have these problems and sounded very nice on any system I played it. Plus... there's no click on Comfortably Numb!

There you go. Thank you all for helping me find a Wall that sounds this good.

 

Wow! With the exception of the Doug Sax remaster, which I don't have, those mirror my findings. I started some A-B-C comparisons a few weeks ago among MFSL, US C2K 36183, and the [EDIT: not UK] Harvest made in Japan, but didn't feel that I'd compared enough tracks to make a definitive decision, so I kept quiet.

However, at the time I was leaning toward the Harvest, despite its very low overall volume. I also noticed the hiss on the US C2K 36183 but didn't know what conclusion to draw from it other than it was distracting because it was so much louder compared to the other two - I did wonder if some EQ'ing was done at the band where the tape hiss lives.

Seeing that someone else basically heard what I was hearing among those three versions gives me confidence that I was on the right track with my A-B-C comparisons.

Craig(VC).

 

UK Harvest "made in Japan"? Is that the black face Japan Harvest, or a UK Harvest?

I'm sooooo confused...

If the UK Japan Harvest is the same as the black face Japan Harvest then I agree..it's my favourite. Check this thread, I've been saying it all along.

My next favourite is the CDN C2K...I've never checked it versus the US version, but I imagine it's the same.

 

Silver faced "Made In UK" Harvest with EMI Swindon on the inner ring and Printed in England on the back cover.

 

Cool! I was surprised how close the remaster was to the Harvest. I guess that's close to what the tapes sound like.

Once I adjusted the levels (Harvest at 0, remaster -5.5dB, MFSL -2dB and CBS -4dB) it was quite obvious what was going on.



Anybody know if the C2K 36183 has emphasis?

 

I have never heard the MFSL (and don't plan to do so), and I have also not heard the Doug Sax remaster, but I agree with you on the comparison of the other two. The Harvest is just really nice.

But now the search continues, there are at least three different Harvest versions, which were all created from the same original analog to digital transfer (because they run exactly in sync from the first to the last second), but are different masterings (probably the original transfer was later modified in the digital domain).

Here are the different versions:

1. Made in Japan - black-faced disc with silver lettering (i.e. the text is simply not printed black and the original silver of the disc shines through) - peak levels are quite low, max. around 50% or a little more

2. Made in W. Germany - black-faced disc with white lettering (i.e. the text is actually printed in white color on black background) - higher peak levels, but never reaching 100% (max. around 98%)

3. Made in the UK/Made in Holland - silver-faced disc with black lettering - peak levels reach 100% in a few songs (the UK and Holland version are digitally identical, at least the ones I have compared)

Jamie, your UK Harvest, is it number 3 or number 1?

I have compared 2 and 3, and they do sound slightly different, but I haven't been able to put my finger down which version I like better. Both sound great and very close to each other.

Roland

 

Oh man, I should not try and post detail-intense stuff like this from memory while I'm at the office and away from my music collection! To clarify: I have the black label Harvest - is that just made in Japan and that's it?

You know what - I think I may have called it "UK" because I bought my black label Harvest from a guy in the UK!

Craig(VC).

 

I am not 100% certain, but yes, I think it has pre-emphasis.

Roland

 

Oh, that may change everything. I was playing them on an Alesis Masterlink and I don't know if it does the de-emphasis curve.

 

Where am I looking?

 

O.k., I think it is getting more confusing now.

Jamie, you said your Harvest was"Made in the UK" and is a silver-faced design with black lettering, made by EMI Swindon, and "Printed in England" on the back inlay. I also have a version like that.

But then you are mentioning your level adjustments, and I take it from there that the level of your UK Harvest is quite a bit lower than the other versions. This sounds like the same levels as the "Made in Japan" Harvest (black-faced).

My UK Harvest has higher levels, the volume is about the same as the US Columbia version, even slightly higher.

Could you post the peak level of Hey You from your UK version in % (I expect it to be around 30-35%), and maybe also your matrix information.

Is there a UPC code on your back inlay?

It seems like your silver-faced UK Harvest is different from mine, even though the physical description sounds the same.

Roland

 

Post #69

This thread is BUSY right now.

Roland