What is the best CD version of the Wall by Pink Floyd

Yeah, I don't think there is a bad version as such. The 2011 remasters were quite good.

 

Yea, but there's so many different masterings of this album I'm having a hard time sorting them all out. Thank you. Now I can search for it and see how it's regarded!

 

The Sax is my favourite. I prefer the 1992 Sax remasters from Dark Side onwards.

 

The UK/EU re-issues from around this time were labelled as being Doug Sax re-masters, but in fact they weren't remastered at all.
It might be worth checking where it says it was manufactured, you may very well have the highly regarded 1980's UK mastering which sounds incredible.

Do you know how to get the peak level info so you can determine which master you have?

 

No I don't. It sounds really good, that's for sure!

 

I remember when it came out on CD for the very first time.

That is all......

 

Click, click, clickety click

A sample of the un-comfortable click;

01 – 1987 UK CDS 7 (no barcode) from the beginning of the Index point and 33 seconds duration without click
02 – 1989 Japan DP48 from the beginning of the index point and 2 seconds duration with click
http://dropcanvas.com/#P7bIoHgiGNZAcw

Available for 3 days.

 

Oops, that should be 48DP not DP48 and so not an obscure uncatalogued release, this will not do.

I also like the 1994 release which delivers more impact to parts (where it certainly works) when compared to the more laid back presentation of the 1987 CD.

Waveform, Empty Spaces + Young Lust;

 

Hi, it's my first post on stevehoffman!

I have thoroughly compared three version of The Wall.
1. Harvest, CDP 7 46036 8, 1st UK pressing, Black Label.
2. CBS-Sony, 50DP 361~2 Japan.
3. MFSL.

All the tracks normalized and analyzed.
The Harvest UK has more content above 15kHz but that is way below -65db, I doubt anyone would hear the difference.
The 50DP Japan version has the infamous CLICK in the beginning of Comfortably Numb.
The MFSL is phase reversed to the other two (not that it matters), but otherwise flawless.

They sound, look and smell absolutely the same in terms of dynamic range and EQ.
All of them are direct transfer from the master tape without any mastering tweaks like compression or EQ, so if you believe you hear a difference, know that it is 100% placebo.
Any one of them will do as the 'perfect' version.





foobar2000 1.3.11 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2017-01-15 10:30:57

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: ? / ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR14 -0.05 dB -18.29 dB 4:41 ?-Harvest
DR13 0.00 dB -17.93 dB 4:41 ?-Japan
DR13 0.00 dB -18.13 dB 4:41 ?-MFSL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks: 3
Official DR value: DR14

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 1411 kbps
Codec: PCM
=================================================

 

I can't edit, so here are the images:

 

I'm assuming you added the correct EQ for the Japan?

 

Mastering's that share these levels have pre-emphasis-
Disc 1-
96.8/78.7/87.4/100/83.2/100/48.0/100/100/100/86.1/100/26.3
The Japan 50DP has been verified as carrying it also
Some Euro's with the glitch have similar levels, but some are different so I'm not sure if the EQ was added to those later pressings

 

No EQ was applied, the tracks were only normalized and spectrum analyzed.
None of the tracks actually reached 0.0dbFS before normalization, so the DR values and the spectrum analysis are only to show that there were no EQ or Compression applied to any of the three pressings during mastering.
The point of this comparison was to try to show that there is no difference between the three except in volume.

The song was Hey You.

 

Welcome to the forum.

I have done some double blind listening tests (level matched via Foobar) between the Capitol and MFSL and can pick them apart each time. The pervasive bass on the MFSL always seems to stand out.

 

I don't know about Capitol (is there one?) but Columbia C2K 36183 pressing is 1:1 with Japan 50DP so much so that they blend into one color when overlayed, both have the same clicks and pops in the same places.
Both Columbia C2K and Japan 50DP after they have been de-emphasized are indistinguishable from Harvest 7460368 when level matched in terms of EQ.
Seems like Harvest had a different (original?) cleaner master (click-less, pop-less), in comparison to the Columbia and Japan pressings, which may have been a copy of the original with added clicks in some places.

MFSL has 2.6db boost around 50Hz and 7.5db cut at 20Hz, probably involuntary because of the Tape-to-Digital transfer equipment MFSL used, otherwise it is the same clean master tape as the Harvest.
Anyway, I don't know why MFSL considered to have pervasive bass where actually there is none, and is a much cleaner version than C2K and 50DP.

EDIT:
I have to mention that the previous comparison has some problems with the treble, so it is not accurate.
This comparison is untampered except de-emphasis on the records that needed to be.

 

Yes, Capitol. There were two Capitol label releases, the early Sax masterings and the later Guthrie Discovery/Experience/Immersion issues.

I have been fooled in the past into believing different masterings were used on different CDs (eg Abbey Road Black Triangle Vs 1987 CD) but I don't believe it is the case with The Wall as I get 10/10 on Foobar's DBX tests.

Btw, having certain imperfections, such as the click on Comfortably Numb, does not in itself indicate they are the same mastering. They could have come from the same source but still mastered differently. Likewise, the absence of the imperfections does not necessarily indicate a different mastering as it could have just been removed from the dub.

 

In fact, the mastering information and EAC levels of all the releases are compiled here.

Pink Floyd Archives-U.S. CD Discography »

 

From what I see all Capitol releases are compressed and clipped.
I don't think the remastered releases are up to par with the releases before 1990.

 

Which Capitol issue are you referring to and where do you see that? Mine sounds quite close to the early LP.

I prefer the early Capitol and the later Discovery release over the MFSL.

 

It is easy to see and hear because The Wall is one continuous album with very little cuts between tracks.
Peak values from the 1st Harvest pressing vary between tracks yet never reach 100% and retains perfect balance between tracks.
On other pressings including the C2K and 50DP there are at least ten tracks with 100% (or 97.7%) peak values, which are definitely not the original peaks and if I would have to guess the master was compressed a little.
The 1st Harvest pressing exported from Japan to all other countries is actually the most accurate version in terms of retaining peaks and balance between tracks, followed closely by MFSL where only one track reaches 100.

The Capitol re-issues are even further compressed with more and more tracks reaching 100% peak value, which is definitely not the original dynamics of the album.

 

From some screenshots I've seen in other threads, it's more of a case of mild limiting than compression.
It's an "optimization" to make it translate better on every support. So I'm told.
Many sound engineers would tell you that such a light limiting is transparent and unnoticeable.
Some audiophile would obviously disagree, but certainly that treatment has none of the consequences we hate in heavily compressed mixes and doesn't automatically mean bad sound. A wrong EQ can do much worse, even if ending up with the same DR/peak levels.

 

I agree that one can enjoy a 'modern' version of the album, but it's not the main question of this thread is it?
Since this thread is about "the best" version of The Wall among too many of them, it is only fair to say that "the best" would be the one that has not been truncated in any way and is a completely identical to the original master tape (reel) in a studio.
In my personal opinion of course, because 'the best' is very subjective.

Since the 1st Harvest and MFSL versions retain all the peaks, have no pre-emphasis, and lack the click in Comfortably Numb and The Show Must Go On, they have my vote as the "the best" versions.
I personally prefer MFSL for having better track timings.

 

Thanks James for taking the time and effort to do all this, there are however more clicks (CD1) to listen for which may be present on the 2 editions you mention and others.

Another Brick In The Wall Part 1 click (If the track has a duration of approx 3.41)
At 3.14 (three minutes 14 seconds) as the Children are playing and the Helicopter is heard approaching.

There are more clicks on CD1 but less noticeable, may-be.

I have been (having fun) adjusting levels on a UK Silver Face (cheap and readily available), quite pleased with the results so far.

CD1 original Levels;
100.0 / 78.1 / 100.0 / 100.0 / 94.1 / 100 / 47.7 / 98.8 / 55.5 / 100.0 / 100.0 / 100.0 / 24.0

CD1 Adjusted Levels;
52.9 / 39.0 / 53.3 / 57.1 / 46.9 / 60.9 / 23.8 / 49.7 / 27.7 / 56.3 / 57.9 / 57.5 / 12.1

 

Fun apart, why did you do that (I mean, what was your goal) and why so much headroom left?

 

Click present -15 second mark on The Happiest Days of Our Lives, this press is indexed different
US Pre-Emphasis disc
Also found on the 2016 LP pressing and US TML cut
Possibly just part of the recording