RUSH - Signals on CD: Blind Listening Test Poll

I've been wanting to start a Rush blind-listening test for a while now, and after participating in @grandegi's Led Zeppelin threads, I feel the time is right. And what better Rush album to use for this intital test than Signals, which will be celebrating its 35th anniversary later this year. For this test, I'll be using 8 CD masterings. A bit overkill, yes, but I wanted to include all of the known masterings here. Replaygain was applied to all of the masterings. Each FLAC sample is approximately 3:41 and contains 50 second clips of these 4 songs: Subdivisions, Digital Man, The Weapon, and Countdown. Despite including the instrumental section of The Weapon, I did not include the part with the missing vocals. That would've made the MFSL way too easy to identify.

Click here to download the samples

The rules for this thread will be the same as they were in @grandegi's other blind listening threads:

• If you intend to vote, it's recommended reading the discussions after you have listened to the samples and voted, in order to escape confirmation bias.
• It's recommended listening to the samples and discussing what you heard. Please take into account that discussions based on visual inspection of waveforms, spectral plots and DR values might condition the poll results while the poll is open, if folks read the discussions before listening to the samples.
• You can choose no more than one sample.
• You can't view the results before you vote, in order to escape confirmation bias (the results are viewable to everybody when the poll closes).
• Votes are publicly displayed.
• This test will expire in exactly 10 days from now and you can change your mind until the end.
• The sources will be revealed after the expiration of this period, when the poll is closed (and it's impossible to vote).

I'd like to thank @grandegi for inspiring me to make this thread. Hopefully you can get a chance to vote!

@ricks, @kevin5brown, @Majestyk, @ytserush, @Ambassador, @Holy Diver, @rcsrich, @TheJosh, @Ben C., @Scope J? Would any of you guys want to give this poll a shot?

 

If you guys would prefer a streamlined poll with a few of the samples removed, then let me know.

 

I voted B.

I found A the worst with every sample other than B to be only very subtly different from one another.

All, in my view are closely related in some way or another sonically. A black eye on the sonic signature of Rush, compared to the albums of that shared era of synth drenched sound.

 

I should probably add why I liked B the best, since after I stated that fact, the rest didn't really matter.

Sample B had just the slightest bit more air around Ged's voice and the it had a bit more mid/bottom with an ever so slightly less washed out sound it seemed to always have as an album overall.

 

To be honest, there's not a bad sounding version of Signals. It was hard for me to pick between many of these masterings, but in the end, I went with sample H. The low-end extends really deep and the vocals are more powerful than the other samples. A is pretty similar, but the low-end sounds slightly dialed back in comparison. G also has some pretty nice bass. D is perhaps the smoothest of the lot, but it's not quite as rich as H, A, and G. Sample F is the worst to me since it sounds like a dull radio broadcast. E has nice midrange, but it begs for more low-bass IMO. B and C are somewhere in-between the others. In order of most to least favorite, here's my order:

H, A, G, D, B, C, E, F (really, this is the only one that sounds close to bad)

 

the low mids and the high highs (Alex's highest lead line notes) sound fantastic on the MFSL

 

How does Signals sound in the Sector 3 box? Is it too loud or compressed? I'm actually looking to find the best sounding SIGNALS on CD...I didn't pick up the '97 remaster because I thought the '97 GRACE UNDER PRESSURE and POWER WINDOWS CDs sounded too thin and bright. Bob Ludwig did a better mastering job on the '97 Retro 2 comp, which has better tone, than he did with the individual '97s.

 

First, I hate you. Eight samples are a bit much to commit to.

I chose F. I felt like it had the most clarity while still sounding like the album.

I liked B, E, and G, as well. E was closest to F, IMO. G was kind of bright. B was a bit on the dull side.

I dismissed the other samples as inferior.

I have never owned Signals on CD. I've only had the first pressing US cassette, which sounded dull, and a CRC US LP, which, strangely, sounds amazing.

 

I'm not going into detail on how the Sector 3 Signals sounds as I don't want to spoil which sample it is, but I will say most people here (including some who despise compression) actually find it to be better than the '97 remaster. It's certainly listenable IMO. As for Retrospective 2, the DR and peak values are identical to the individual '97 CDs. I'll have to actually listen to it and see if they're truly different, though.

 

OK, thanks for the non-spoiling info on the Sector 3 CD As for Retro 2 versus the individuals, there is a difference when you actually listen to the CDs, so don't just go by the numbers here...I have always found the Grace Under Pressure and Power Windows individual '97 remasters to be a little too thin and bright, while I really like how the '97 Retro 2 CD sounds...the tone is firmer and it just sounds better to me than the individuals.

Also, as a side note, I really like how Subdivisions in particular sounds on the Rush Gold 2CD set, which is essentially a remastered version of the '97 Retro 1 & 2 CDs. Disc 2 from Gold (with the Retro 2 songs) is a mixed bag actually when it comes to SQ, but the Signals tracks sound the best to me, with Subdivisions being the SQ standout IMO, sounding modern but with a nice balance of bass and high end.

 

Thank you @Diablo Griffin, I'll listen to the samples as soon as I can

 

Wow! I think your list is the reverse of mine. That's weird.

Then again, this is not exactly a blind test for you.

 

Just a suggestion for those who are overwhelmed by the number of samples; just download a few at a time and compare those. Then compare the next batch and discard the ones you don't like.

 

I'll give a listen either Saturday or Sunday and report back.

 

Sample D with Sample B a close second.

 

This will take some time. Don't have any Anthem CDs or any of the Japanese CDs which I imagine are part of this.

I embrace the challenge.

 

For the next blind listening test, I'm trying to decide between Grace Under Pressure or Moving Pictures. I'd like to do 2112, Hemispheres, Permanent Waves, and Power Windows as well, but we need to see how the other 2 will perform.

 

Sadly, I'm having some trouble downloading these.....

 

I can put the samples put the samples on another site if Dropbox isn't working for you.

 

Sorry, I'm in the midst of a move so turns out I really don't have any time to do this.

Good luck.

 

Anyone else want to give this a shot?

 

That CD made for good conversation on the ICE newsletter regarding the "missing lyrics" in The Weapon.

 

Since there isn't much interest, I'm probably just going to start a new thread for Signals with only 4 choices. It's my fault since I didn't think the overabundance of samples would scare people off.

 

I was going to listen and vote, since you're thinking of starting a new thread I'll wait for the new one

 

This poll has 5 days left. Depending on the results, I'm going to either start another poll for Signals with the 4 more popular choices from this thread, or I'll do one for Grace Under Pressure. If I did GUP next, then I'd still make a condensed Signals poll at at a later date.