DCC Archive When did you first see the light?

I'm not talking about getting into heaven, but when you first heard the heavenly sounds of an audiophile recording from DCC, MFSL, etc. and the light went off in your head that said, "Hey, that sounds better than I've heard before. I need to buy more of those."
Mine was picking up Al Stewart's "Year Of The Cat" on MFSL back in the 80s. I want the disc and didn't know why it cost $1 more than the standard issue. I certainly found out when I got home...and that was it.

 

I started out buying several half-speed vinyl and cassette releases from Nautilus and CBS in the early 80s. The cassettes really impressed me but the vinyl left a lot to be desired.

The first gold CD I ever bought was the CBS Mastersound CD "All 'N All" by Earth, Wind & Fire in the late 80s. The second and third were DCC's "Eagles Greatest Hits" and "Linda Rondstat's Greatest Hits". After those I was hooked. I didn't like the "Elton John's Greatest hits" or several Mo-Fi discs.

I personally think it's time to ditch the gold plating.

[ October 20, 2001: Message edited by: Grant T. ]

 

Aaahhhh the first light.
It was in 1990 when I saw an ad by MFSL and thought wow that's a pretty bug claim. But being the Barracuda that I am, shiny gold things, I just had to get Pink Floyd: The Wall, and it was the short box original pressing and not the long box without the artwork. Slapped that baby in my less than adequete Jap scrap system and that was it, I was a believer. Didn't get into DCC for another 6 yrs. because I hadn't heard of them yet, due to a lack of advertising up here and availability in stores as well.

 

Hmm.. not really sure about "the light" part, but my first "audiophile" purchase was a MFSL LP of Supertramp's "Breakfast In America", must have been sometime in the early 80's.

My first MFSL cd purchase was, believe it or not, Procol Harum's "A Salty Dog", must have been in '86 or '87 - and it was NOT a gold disc...

 

Magical Mystery Tour MFSL Lp back when it first came out. My first impression was that the vinyl was much quieter than what I was used to.
I avoided "audiophile" CDs for a long time because I was always told there was no difference. I passed up the DCC "McCartney" (my favorite of his solo Lps) at a CD store at an outlet mall for $9.99 I went back years later after I had "seen the light" but, of course it was gone.

-Jon

 

I was at the library when I found Robert Cray's Strong Persuader on CD. I had heard great things about it, but I was surprised to see it on a MFSL gold disc. I had seen those before, but I always thought "Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure I'd rather save twenty bucks rather than pay more to have this music on gold." This time, I checked this CD out and found MFSL on the web. This was where I first found out about master tapes, how albums often used multigeneration dubs, and countless other things. The one thing on MFSL's site that caught my eye was a tidbit on the "Murmur" CD. They talked about how they were surprised when the kick drum and the bass just leaped out of the speakers; apparently, the music had been really compressed for Lp and CD release, possibly due to the band's popularity on college radio. A few days later, I went to a local used CD store, and to my surprise, they had that exact same "Murmur" gold CD on sale, used, for $18.00. I was really hesitant at first, having never spent that much on one disc, but I gave in and bought my first audiophile disc.

 

First light was MFSL Lp of Jackson Browne's "The Pretender", the sound was impressive and so quiet. That and the different ending (sudden stop)on "The Fuse". It scared me amd I liked it!

 

I first "saw the light" in 1980 when I was picked up a standard copy of "Abbey Road" that was warped and unplayable. Upon bringing it back we checked out two other standard copies. One bowl warped and the other had a bad crackle on side 2. The manager hypothesised that probably a good majority of that pressing was defective and I was pretty much sol unless I wanted to pay extra for a special "Master Copy" as he put it. I figured anything was better than the crap that I'd heard so far. A total of $16 dollars well spent for a MOFI "Abbey Road". Sadly, when it was released on cd I figured that it would sound much better in that format and so gave the vinyl to my older brother (as partial payback for the original copy I scratched up as a toddler) I have been kicking myself ever since.
My first MOFI CD... Greatful Dead "Mars Hotel". The sound quality was not very impressive so I ended up shying away from the brand for nearly ten years until picking up a copy of Theloneous Monk "Live At The Monterey Jazz Festival Vol I" Now with the sad demise of MOFI I kick myself again for not jumping on more the titles.
First DCC "Pet Sounds". Every DCC title has been worth the extra dough. Thank you Steve.

 

Hey gang!

My first "audiophile purchase" was MFSL's "Tommy". Too young at the time to REALLY understand the whole purist ideal. But as I got a little older (I was only 16 then), I "saw the light". Now, many dollars spent and a job in mastering later...you could say that "Tommy" changed my life...

 

I was first turned on to audiophile editions of albums way back in the mid-70's, with Mobile Fidelity's first batch of half-speed mastered LP's cut by the legendary Stan Ricker and pressed on JVC Supervinyl. As to when I first heard Steve Hoffman's stellar mastering work, it was about 16 years ago, when he was still working at MCA/Universal Music. I heard his "Vintage Music" CD's along with the "From The Original Master Tapes" compilations of Buddy Holly, Billie Holliday, Bing Crosby, John Coltrane and the Mamas & Papas and was absolutely floored that CD's could sound that great! Remember that Steve only had 16-bit digital hardware in its 1st generation infancy back then, so this was a revelation to just about any listener who heard these collections.

 

MoFi and Fleetwood Mac/Fleetwood Mac - that deep sweet bass and quiet vinyl did the trick for me. Remember the warranty that came with those early MoFi's? I wore mine out and sent it back and ta-da they sent me a new one! Also, the Thelma Houston direct-to-disc lp from Sheffield Labs was a fun one to crank up. Still, my fave Mo-Fi is Atlanta Rhythm Section's Champagne Jam - that thing has stupendous bass and dusts the Polydor pressing - too bad Mo-Fi was cheap when it came to the cover - nonembossed like the Polydor (which makes the DCC presses of stuff a treat for remembering the little details). Now Steve, since I've begged a zillion times for ARS can we get that treat redone???

 

I made mental notes to myself, as getting a decent copy of any Badfinger LP in the late 80's was a chore. I found a VG+ copy of "No Dice" on the US Apple, and I paid the most I ever did for a single LP at the time: $35. After that I found a counterfit copy of "Straight Up" with the pale-green drawn Apple on the label, and a flimsy color copied German cover, very washed out and cheap too! $20. Actually, it sounded great, possibly pressed from a commercial reel copy of the record. At that time, anything I could get my hands on Badfingerish was bought swiftly. Oh, and during that time I was able to pick up a Mofi LP of Styx's "Grand Illusion". At the time, I was using a simple Onkyo belt drive with an Ortofon OM10 cart. I coulnd't believe the way the vinyl stayed very quiet, very rich in sound. When the CD craze got on, I always kept a turntable going, and I'm glad I did. I still buy MOFI LPs and Japanese LPs, as I've long missed the JVC plant's stringent quality control standards. I don't think it'll ever be the same.
I still collect with a passion, but I don't feel that fighting to the death on eBay is fun anymore. Going to Boston, yard sales, all kinds of other places sometimes yield the best stuff for cheep. Collecting is an ongoing process, and it's not cool to spend bunches all at once. Best luck I've had is when I've bided my time, and bingo!

 

I got my first MFSL 1/2 speed mastered version of DSOTM in the early 80's or possibly late 70's. Now I'm trying to play catch-up after having rejected the CD for about eight years...

 

It was only a few years ago that I picked up the DCC version of Badfinger's "Straight Up". Before that I had been listening to the Capitol version and I thought it was very interesting the way the acoustic piano sounded almost like an electric piano. In my ignorance, I thought this was an intentional studio effect and I found it kind of interesting. Then I picked up the DCC version and, lo and behold, the acoustic piano sounded like an acoustic piano! So I built a life size statute of Steve Hoffman that stands in my living room and protects me from harm.

Mike

 

In 1993 I was a very poor college student, but I knew I was unhappy with the stock CD I'd bought of Joni Mitchell's "Court & Spark." It was just lifeless.

When I saw the DCC version in a CD store, I wondered how much difference there could really be ... $29 was a lot to me back then, but I went for it ... and have never looked back. I've bought so many DCC titles since that I've lost count ... I've also checked out many MFSL LPs and CDs, but apart from one or two of those I prefer DCC's releases in terms of both available titles and sound.

P.S. -- I've been a vinyl nut for some time, so it might seem slightly ridiculous that I've only just bought my VERY FIRST DCC LP ever this past weekend! Picked up an open but mint copy of "Willy & the Poor Boys" at my favorite Massachusetts used-record shop ($12!). I've been a DCC fan strictly on the basis of the gold CDs, but WOW ... this album sounds great. I'm going to have to hunt me down some more of these. (And one more time ... when you get rolling again, PLEASE include vinyl in your plans, DCC!!)

 

DCC "Hotel California". I mean, my God.....

 

I had bought Jethro Tull's "Thick as a Brick" CD on MFSL, and was not extremely impressed. I thought it was a somewhat better, but not really worth the extra $$.

I had seen DCC CDs but I didn't like the packaging (I was never sure if they even had booklets inside! *****) so I never really considered buying one...

Then I read an article in a hi-fi magazine of some sort (I forget the name of the magazine, but I still have my copy around here somewhere!) that proclaimed that Elvis Presley's 24 Karat Hits was the best remastering job that the writer of the article had ever heard. It was an interview with Steve and he talked about using vintage equipment to master his recordings. It told of the incredible amount of time that he put into the Elvis...blah blah blah...

Being an Elvis fan, I had to hear for myself...

I called DCC and requested a catalog, and eventually a friend and I ordered 2 copies of the CD and two copies of the LP.

Anyway...I heard things in the Elvis recordings that I had never heard before...

It is now a few years down the line, and I am now married thanks to Steve. (I think she finally decided to say "yes" after hearing her favorite band (CCR) on my DCC CDs!) Just kidding, Honey

I have since bought a ton of DCC CDs, and I only wish that I had "heard the Angels sing" before so much good stuff went out of print!!

Tony

 

"Fortunate Son" is a *great* make-out song.

 

Oh? Personal experience?

 

on getting my first decent hi-fi i noticed that south african pressings of vinyl and CD's were awful compared to overseas copies (you cannot believe how bad they are). so the quest was initially to only buy imports of course once you start with that you notice how some imports are better than others....another upgrade in equipment and 4 years living in London and NY allowed me to start getting gold CD's - Pink Floyd "Wish you were here" by Legacy/Mastersounds was a revelation. Also missed out on the DCC stuff because it looked cheap (sorry Steve but your marketing department didn't do you any favours). Got my first DCC vinyl about a month ago Queen "A night..." absolutely blew me away...

now i have an itchy finger over my credit card...can't wait to get more

 

Doors "The End" for me. And yes it's only from experience. It's just an odd eerie song musically, and the whirling dervish part does a great job. Lots of increasing tempo. Actually the whole 2nd side of The Doors LP could be sublimital warming for a hot date.

For some reason, Esquivel (pad music) doesn't make chicks all hot. When I owned a parrot, he loved it. Australian and African imports -love- Jethro Tull. Birds (pets) make crazy noises when I put on "Thick As A Brick".

[ October 23, 2001: Message edited by: Sckott ]

 

Pets making funny noises? You dont, by any chance, own any barnyard animals, do you Sckott? (I'm getting to like these smiley things)
My Boston Terrier loves Django Reinhardt! He prances around like a show horse.