Steely Dan's Aja: which pressing?

OK, in the past, I have said that the most recent CD remaster of this title sounds exactly like the original LP. Some have said that I do not have an original pressing, or that the newest CD is too bright, and Steve's CD is the more accurate.

I finally found my ABC Records LP copy. Here are the numbers/letters in the dead wax:

AA AB (AB scratched out) 1006 (RE-3) -A

It was mastered by Bernie Grundman at A&M Mastering.

What do I have? The LP is clean and clear-sounding.

 

No takers, eh? Tom Port? Anyone?

 

Sounds like the one I have, U.S. ABC. I'll check the details tonight. Mine sounds great. I find Bernie Grundmans LP masterings often have a trademark bit of a bite to the upper midrange which gives impression of openness, clarity. Others might prefer a warmer sound.

 

I own an ABC pressing that wasn't that hot, but this LP went through MANY laquers.

 

Re: Re: Steely Dan's Aja: which pressing?

That's what i'm trying to get at. The most recent Roger Nichols CD master sounds exactly like this pressing, but some of the guys here are saying no.

At first, when I got the CD, I thought it was too bright as well. But when I did a direct A/B comparison, they both matched in every way, in tonality! Even the frequency response matched. I was using a pretty smooth-sounding Shure cart.

 

Are you saying that the latest CD is not from the master tape? Why would my LP have a treble spike? Were all LPs remastered by Grundman?

This is a mess!

 

Grant, I'll check to see if I still have a Canadian GRT/ABC copy. GRT Canada usually got things OK tonally, even if their pressings were a bit shoddy at times. If not, I'll pick up a used one and compare to my US copy.

 

Grant, my dead wax info is identical to yours. I didn't find a Canadian copy. But no matter...

I gave the U.S. press a refresher listen last night and I do like the sound of it. Quite clean and transparent. Great definition and clarity on pretty much everything. Cymbals are very crisp, transients very natural. I don't think I'd want to really change anything. I think in this case we cannot mistake clarity for brightness.

You can spot a Grundman mastering just by looking at the record. The grooves have a consistency and there is a black hue or shadow around the 'divider' area between tracks. This separation is also consistently the same size between all tracks. The grooves also look smaller, flatter, less upraised so to speak. I notice this on all his A&M stuff and Jackson Browne's "The Pretender", for example.