Ah, so. My theory is that the guy who mastered all of the Creative Sounds CDs with pre-emphasis sounding EQ grew up with only a cassette player and no turntable. Further, his cassette deck did not have Dolby decoding. Thus, he played all of his cassettes back with extreme high end attenuation, making him think that that is how rock music should sound. There are other possibilities, but I'd rather just imagine that this is what happened.
One more for the list; Barbra Streisand's Greatest Hits Volume 2 - CDCBS 86079, matrix DIDP 10025 41A2, Japan for Europe
A lot better. I'm just listening to it in winamp with my approximate de-emphsis curve and it's already an improvement. I'll apply a a true de-emphasis for the ipod.
Wynton Marsalis - Wynton Marsalis CDCBS 85404 JforE 35P-33 151A3 +++++ has pre-emphsis just like it's American cousin The JforE Black Codes (From the Underground) does not.
The Denon classical titles have been mentioned, but here's a specific case (not in the TOC) Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra/Heinz Rögner , "Schubert Symphony No. 9", 38C37-7035, A-25 | 7035 matrix
More Adventures in Modern Sound - Various Artists - WEA 240 568-2 - just track 6, What is Love by Howard Jones Makes sense since Human's Lib has pre-emphasis also.
I can confirm another version of Michael Jackson's Off the Wall: Japan, Epic/Sony 32.8P-233 dBpoweramp missed it but CUERipper flagged it, must be sub-channel.
Grrr. Zoolook is driving me crazy. I got a W. German pressing "823 763-2 01 #". Original versions 1984, no PE. Then I got another W. German pressing "823 763-2 03#". 1985 pressing with remixes, still no PE, even on Track 7. So, 823 763-2 02 must be the magic number. Question is, is there really PE, or is it just a flagging error?
OK, this is fun. Comparing the two Zoolooks that I have. 5 of the 7 tracks are the same so I looked at them all in Audacity, comparing their spectrum plots. Tracks 1,2,4 are pretty close, other than a level shift, the EQ looks about the same. Track 6, Blah-Blah cafe, is loud and clipped on the 03 copy, DR10 vs. DR12 on the original, lots of red clipping marks on the waveform in Audacity. What happened here? Track 7 is where it gets interesting. The 01 version sounds bright compared to the 03 version and sure enough the EQ looks different. Applying de-emphasis to the 01 version brings it pretty close to the 03 version. So, it kind of looks like the 01 version is missing the pre-emphasis flag on track 7, the 02 version adds it, and the 03 version is mastered with no need for de-emphasis. Interesting.
The Japanese Black Triangle of Kim Carnes - Mistaken Identity - CP35-3018 is already in the list. I can confirm the following Japanese re-issue also has pre-emphasis: Kim Carnes - Mistaken Identity - CP21-6067 (Pastmasters edition) Great thread!
I confirmed my copy with PE flag on track 7 is the 02 version. Strangely, track 6 measures DR10 like the 03 release! Apparently it isn't just a "fix" for 01 to add the PE flag. Full list of DR values: DR11 over -15.01 dB 01. Ethnicolor.wav DR13 over -16.32 dB 02. Diva.wav DR11 over -12.83 dB 03. Zoolook.wav DR12 -3.62 dB -19.39 dB 04. Woolloomooloo.wav DR11 over -13.37 dB 05. Zoolookologie.wav DR10 over -11.65 dB 06. Blah-Blah Cafe.wav DR14 -0.18 dB -16.84 dB 07. Ethnicolor II.wav Abbreviated EAC log: Track 1 Copy CRC 3C05D4A6 Accurately ripped (confidence 38) [C33532BF] (AR v2) Track 2 Copy CRC E3B385C5 Accurately ripped (confidence 39) [D3413DE7] (AR v2) Track 3 Copy CRC 7CD61C4E Accurately ripped (confidence 39) [B3DEC2F3] (AR v2) Track 4 Copy CRC E1A58F51 Accurately ripped (confidence 39) [1226D69E] (AR v2) Track 5 Copy CRC 69A52109 Accurately ripped (confidence 39) [F7077B90] (AR v2) Track 6 Copy CRC 3D1A7CB0 Accurately ripped (confidence 39) [CF862342] (AR v2) Track 7 Copy CRC DA25026D Accurately ripped (confidence 39) [F067EFBE] (AR v2) (I just re-ripped it so the AccurateRip confidence values would be current -- last time was 4.5 years ago, with confidence 37. I guess it's not a popular disc!) For what it's worth, the ambient sounds in track 7 always seemed bright to me, even with PE. Do either of your copies have index markers on track 1? I have a vague recollection of it being divided into 2 or 3 sections. I'm not seeing it on mine, but I knew someone else who had this disc "back in the day." It might be on a different pressing, or I could just be imagining it...
Here are the 01 and 03 DR values Zoolook 01 DR13 -0.79 dB -17.23 dB 01 Ethnicolor.m4a DR14 -0.36 dB -18.51 dB 02 Diva.m4a DR14 -0.22 dB -16.26 dB 03 Zoolook.m4a DR12 -2.62 dB -18.39 dB 04 Wooloomooloo.m4a DR14 -0.71 dB -17.06 dB 05 Zoolookologie.m4a DR12 -2.18 dB -15.44 dB 06 Blah-Blah Cafe.m4a DR13 -3.10 dB -19.64 dB 07 Ethnicolor II.m4a Zoolook 03 DR12 -2.19 dB -18.61 dB 01 Ethnicolor.m4a DR14 -1.76 dB -19.89 dB 02 Diva.m4a DR11 over -12.83 dB 03 Zoolookologie (remix).m4a DR12 -3.62 dB -19.39 dB 04 Wooloomooloo.m4a DR11 over -13.37 dB 05 Zoolook (remix).m4a DR10 over -11.66 dB 06 Blah-Blah Cafe.m4a DR13 -5.90 dB -21.95 dB 07 Ethnicolor II.m4a
Ah, so 02 has much more in common with 03... I see now that my track titles are wrong (since 02 has the remixes). I guess it's time to track down an 01...
In investigating early Columbia pressings with out the upside down triangle, I looked closely at this and found pre-emphasis, both in the Japanese and early US DADC. Neil Diamond - 12 Greatest Hits, Volume II - CK 38068
Didn't expect this one, but I check everything I get 'cause you never know... Yellowman - Rambo - Moving Target MT 003 D - Made in Switzerland Swiss pressed Reggae with pre-emphasis. Irie.
Nice catch Steve! I have the IFPI later date issue, I'll give it a run, though I think they may have de-emph'd it on the re-issues as I recall it sounded pretty good, I'll double check
Not sure if it's been reported... Santana - Shango from the 2009 Original Album Classics Set shows pre-emphasis in dBpoweramp (all tracks). I know that Shango - 35DP 23 is already on the list.
It is believed that the Creative Sounds Black Sabbath are the same masterings as the Castle CDs. I only own the first 2 of the CS but both do sound very much like they were mastered with PE without the flag being set. I have applied de-emph on both rips and they sound right. Unlistenable when played as is. Anyway, one surprising pre-emph CD that dBPoweramp discovered was Everything but the Girl's Eden from the Original Album Classics. Sorry if this has been mentioned before.
All those poor unsuspecting people ripping them and complaining about the brightness, these all should have been de-emphed, who knows, the company's probably have no idea
Feel free to contribute to my "Ultimate Black Sabbath Creative Sounds" thread if the spirit moves you.
