The most poorly/worst mastered CDs EVER!

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by stipe, Jul 18, 2011.

  1. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    Album I'm not sure there is a consensus maybe a UK?
    Here's a small thread on the compact disc, I have a Canadian that sounds better than the US, but not by much... I think it's the recording itself that suffers...
    Preferred version of "The Cult-Love CD"
     
    Bernard hansen likes this.
  2. Excellent! Thank you!

    I'm going to grab the deluxe edition!
     
  3. Joe Monteiro

    Joe Monteiro Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX USA
    Genesis Foxtrot. The first CD edition UK import. Don't have it anymore but remember it being such a disappointment. The thin sound coupled with the excessive background tape hiss made the CD unlistenable.
     
  4. Wombat Reynolds

    Wombat Reynolds Jimmy Page stole all my best riffs.

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA, USA
    unless nobody has mentioned these, (this is a really long thread so far!)

    Jason and the Scorchers, Still Standing

    and

    Frida - Somethings Going On

    the vinyl versions sound 100 times better than these terrible (in comparison) CDs
     
    Christopher B and mbrownp1 like this.
  5. Scotsman

    Scotsman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Jedburgh Scotland
    I once bought a Gene Pitney compilation album in a petrol station. It must have been about 1988 or 89. It had obviously been mastered from a misaligned cassette as, between the tracks, you could faintly hear music playing backwards. Memory Almost Full does nothing for me, it is appalling no matter what you play it on. And there's a recent Four Tops compilation released in the UK which could pierce concrete! Talk about harsh!!!
     
    timind likes this.
  6. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    Sounds much better after a slab of Vic!!
     
    paolo likes this.
  7. pinkchris1967

    pinkchris1967 Exalted and Revered Member

    Location:
    Avondale, Az.
    If you can somehow get a hold of it, I would suggest the vinyl version from the box set. I know this thread is about cd's, but you can always make a needledrop and rip it to cd :D
     
  8. pinkchris1967

    pinkchris1967 Exalted and Revered Member

    Location:
    Avondale, Az.
    Barry Diament did that one, but I read on another thread that he was given bad source material to work with.
     
  9. wingsoveramerica

    wingsoveramerica The Dude

    Location:
    Chambersburg, PA
    The worst one I've heard in a while is the 1997 Lennon Legend by John Lennon CD. It's pretty baffling how bad the 1969-1975 tracks sound.
     
  10. Pinknik

    Pinknik Senior Member

    I never had a problem with the sound on that set. :) Clearly my audiophile credentials are suspect.
     
    originalsnuffy likes this.
  11. Scott6

    Scott6 Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    What is The Who's Kids Are Alright like on CD. I need to get a copy but read once the sound is awful. But have never seen anyone say that.
     
    mdm08033 likes this.
  12. mdm08033

    mdm08033 Senior Member

    The original issue sounds good, but omits the Join Together/ Roadrunner/ My Generation Blues medley. I love that medley so much I ended up getting the re-master, warts and all, just for that track.

    Happy listening, Michael
     
  13. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love

    Location:
    Norway
    Agree about the sound - I have both version of the CD and an LP as well. The sound is not great, but I find the music itself simple and charming - and sometimes very funny. Not a classic for the time capsule, but a lovely collection of songs all the same.
     
    ShardEnder likes this.
  14. originalsnuffy

    originalsnuffy Socially distant and unstuck in time

    Location:
    Tralfalmadore
    I never thought this was a particularly great sounding record to start with. Some of the early material is from TV shows; so how good can it be? I have owned the vinyl and both CD issues. No big problems with any of them; but I must admit I play other Who catalog releases more. I am really in to some of the HD Tracks material; Live at Leeds Deluxe and Who's Next Deluxe.

    I imagine that the second release received a dose of no noise which led to criticism. I have not followed the threads on that album much. Most of my Who listening is concentrated on Quadrophenia, Who's Next, Live at Leeds, and the hi res version of "Singles". Oh, I have just about everything by the Who but that is what I actually listen to as opposed to owning.
     
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2017
    mdm08033 likes this.
  15. Empty Glass, All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes and White City all sound remarkably harsh, compressed and wrong. Give me either Barry Diamant or Ted Jensen"/ any day.
     
  16. Blue Cactus

    Blue Cactus Forum Resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    If you heard the same tracks on the Japan SACD's it just might just change your mind. Lennon Legend does sound pretty rank but most of the songs were ruined in the mastering stage.
     
    wingsoveramerica likes this.
  17. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    Dave and Sugar's Greatest Hits on Wounded Bird...no highs and a muffled mess...just sad...what did you think?
     
  18. The CD was mastered as I recall by Peter Mew.
     
  19. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    I disagree...the first issue of Aqualung with the missing seconds on Wind Up is fabulous...grey print on label. too bad we had this mishap on WU...still love it though.
     
  20. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    Wilson Aqualung...I like it except for the mixing choices on Locomotive Breath...too bad.
     
  21. wingsoveramerica

    wingsoveramerica The Dude

    Location:
    Chambersburg, PA
    IMO, The John Lennon Collection from 1989 is much better in sound,but Legend has a better track listing.
     
    phillyal1, Carlox and wayneklein like this.
  22. For the stereo or multi-channel?
     
  23. Actually Wilson did the mastering for the Aqualung set as well as the remix. Some parts of Message in a Box are pretty good, other parts not so much IMHO with the worst issues being a couple of lousy needle drops (and not a very good one at that), the beginning chopped off from Shambelle, the Ghost in the Machine album. It ain't perfect for sure.

    Almost everything else I agree with you on. I'm assuming the Dire Straits SACD doesn't refer to Brothers in Arms from Mofi but from the Japanese issue. Mothership is pretty rank sounding.

    Tales of Mystery and Imagination is badly botched it's not even funny. I stick to my Blu-ray and, for CD, the Mofi. The garden variety remix of the album on CD sounded pretty good as well. It's a pity, really.

    I find super compressed masterings more offensive than bright ones but painfully bright ones are almost as bad.

    Which pressing of Avalon?

    Seems you're in the minority for those.
     
  24. chewy

    chewy Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Coast USA

    does this include the original pdo made w. german blue polar (frida)
     
  25. this is horrible fidelity, and no, her box sets - I used to have a couple of them - sounded WAY better - so it wasn't just the recording technology. This is a horrible sounding CD, and the mastering is to blame.

    [​IMG]
     

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