Supertramp Crime of the Century, Even in the Quietest Moments, etc. ?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by kevin5brown, Jul 23, 2007.

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  1. kevin5brown

    kevin5brown Analog or bust. Thread Starter

    Any consensus for the best CD version (I did search and found a lot of info for vinyl. :) )? 1990, '97, or 2002 release? (1999 for Crisis? What Crisis?)

    I only have Breakfast in America and I'm looking to get some more. Doesn't look like any bonus tracks on the remasters either?
     
  2. The Great One

    The Great One formerly known as SCARSE

    Location:
    Ascot
    MFSL Crime is pretty fine, as is Breakfast in America.
     
  3. ChristianL

    ChristianL Senior Member

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    Besides Crime and Breakfast, the original CD's are considered as the best sounding versions. Avoid the European remasters from the mid 90's. They are very bright sounding. Only Famous Last Words gained from this treatment. The 2002 remasters are slightly better, but not really good (I can only refer to the Quietest Moments CD).
     
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  4. monewe

    monewe Forum Resident

    Location:
    SCOTLAND
    The MFSL discs for both. Crime is one of the best sounding MFSL's IMHO.
     
  5. Dam

    Dam Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    For EITQM...the West German, Polygram 394 634-2 is the best sounding version on CD I have heard.
     
    Carlox and sat7 like this.
  6. TommyTunes

    TommyTunes Senior Member

    I like the 1st issue Japanese for USA pressing of Crime over the MFSL.
     
  7. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    Really?! I need to do a close comparison. I've listened to the MFSL disc extensively and love it.
     
  8. Dam

    Dam Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    I agree. The MFSL bests the Japanese first pressing of COTC, IMHO.
     
  9. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    Interesting. "Quiet" is my favorite Supertramp album. I've only ever heard USA issues.
     
  10. I'm sure if you have a fairly early U.S. pressed CD, it's the same mastering as the Japan or West German pressed CD's.
     
  11. Here's my picks for these titles...

    Crime Of The Century - MFSL by a hair over the original A&M

    Breakfast In America - MFSL

    Even In The Quietest Moments - West German, Japan or early U.S. pressed CD
     
  12. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    Are all pre-remaster US releases the same, or is there an earlier better-sounding issue that you're referring to?
     
  13. kevin5brown

    kevin5brown Analog or bust. Thread Starter

    Cool. :) (I checked yesterday, and my BIA is an early W. German version. I like when that happens!)
     
    mikaal likes this.
  14. onlyconnect

    onlyconnect The prose and the passion

    Location:
    Winchester, UK
    What difference does the Audio Master Plus series make?

    I've been looking for these. I got Crime and Breakfast on A&M which both sound great - both have the AM+ logo on the CD. I then got EITQM, UK Nimbus, and it sounds OK but a bit dull compared to the other two. No AM+ on this one. All are on A&M, none say anything about being remastered.

    Or is EITQM just less well recorded?

    Tim
     
  15. tootull

    tootull Looking through a glass onion

    Location:
    Canada
    AM+ are fine.

    ...but, I like the sound of the remasters of Crime Of The Century, Even In The Quietest Moments & Crisis? What Crisis?
     
  16. onlyconnect

    onlyconnect The prose and the passion

    Location:
    Winchester, UK
    Thanks. Do you know what the AM+ signifies? Is it a different mastering from the earlier CD?

    Tim
     
  17. tootull

    tootull Looking through a glass onion

    Location:
    Canada
    Audio Masters Plus Series:
    I believe AM+ was the first CD release of Supertramp albums.

    :angel: My guess (let's see if this gets shot down) + indicates a 5 inch album CD.
     
  18. Javimulder

    Javimulder New Member

    Location:
    Spain
    I've only had the mid 90s and 2002 remasters, and the latter are not bad at all... A good compromise if you're on a budget and/or can't be bothered to track down the originals...

    But you need Crime and Breakfast on MFSL... really lovely sound...
     
  19. clayton

    clayton Senior Member

    Location:
    minneapolis mn
    I like the U.S. remasters, of course I'm taking cost into account since the msfl of crime is going for 65.00 on Amazon
     
  20. onlyconnect

    onlyconnect The prose and the passion

    Location:
    Winchester, UK
    According to this post:

    http://www.juliuswechter.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=62012

    Audio Master Plus was used on the earliest A&M CDs.

    Interesting, because the CD I have without the logo looks older than the ones that have it, but it's hard to tell of course. The only date shown is the date of original release - 1974,1977,1979. One (unreliable) indicator is that the non-AMP CD has the plainest lettering on the CD itself.

    Might be more to do with the different places of manufacture.

    Crime: Made in France by PRS. AM+ logo. 393 647-2. Sounds great.

    Quiet: Made in England, Mastered by Nimbus. CDA 4634. No AM+. Sound fine, but I don't like the sound quite as much as the other two.

    Breakfast: No place of manufacture shown. "A polygram company" (others do not have this). AM+ logo. 393 708-2. Sounds great.

    Tim
     
  21. ElevatorSkyMovie

    ElevatorSkyMovie Senior Member

    Location:
    Oklahoma
    Can anyone guess as to why Mobile Fidelity was so conservative with the levels on "Crime"? the highest peak is only about 55-60% of the max level a cd can hold, and those are drum hits. there is a lot of unused resolution on that cd master.
     
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  22. ChristianL

    ChristianL Senior Member

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    The highest peak sample is actualy -1,55 db during the song "If Everyone Was Listening" at 2:59.650 and the intersample peak hits 0 db.

    The CD is so quiet because MFSL did not alter the huge dynamic range of the master tape. They had to limit this one peak to get this CD louder (with a higher resolution). But that was against their policies.
     
  23. ElevatorSkyMovie

    ElevatorSkyMovie Senior Member

    Location:
    Oklahoma
    So they did limit that one spot to allow for higher levels?
     
  24. 8tracks

    8tracks Forum Addict

    Location:
    San Diego, CA USA
    There was a thread here about a year/year and a half ago where someone posted three clips of "Give A Little Bit" from 3 different CD versions of Even in the Quietest Moments. I was stunned by how much better the mid 80s West German disc sounded compared to the others. (Sorry, don't remember what the other two versions ere.)
     
  25. ChristianL

    ChristianL Senior Member

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    Sorry for the confusion, I meant they left the dynamics untouched and because of this out of band peak (and a few others) the loudness of this CD is very low. IMO, with some peak limiting, the CD could be 3-5 bd louder without changing the sound quality. But MFSL were purists back in the late 80's.

    That was me. The other versions were the European remaster from the mid 90's and the 2002 remaster.
     
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