Best sounding David Bowie albums on the RCA CDs (only)?

each TMWSTW can be sold for this amount...

 

Congrats,great price!

Would like to know if the Japan for US 'TMWSTW' is definitely better than the WG.

 

the JPN for US is a little more open and detailed (the WG can be considered warmer in comparison) but both are excellent.

 

see above on TMWSTW - system and taste dependant.

the JPN for US Diamond Dogs is preferred by some, the darker WG appeals to others. very minor gripe on the JPN for US is the "pre-echo" (what's the correct term for that?) at the beginning of Future Legend is missing. i consider it part of the track. not as significant as the missing intros on "Heroes" and Young Americans (both JPN for US) but worth a mention.

I'm pretty sure Pin Ups sounds equally good on either version. the US for US uses the same master as the JPN for US, the JPN for EUR is different. great sounding album in any form.

 

just did a quick comparison in cool edit and the JPN for US Pin Ups is 3dB louder (with a couple of 0dB peaks), and with a little more clarity/presence than the EUR which also has a slight bias to the right channel. regardless, they both sound really good.

 

TMWSTW

i have the WG now to compare with the Jpn for US. i like the WG. does anyone agree with me?

 

Just read this thread for the last hour, lots of info to sort out. Wow. I have several of the RCAs, I guess I need to sort them out with some listening comparisons. It's amazing how different (from what I remember) the WGs sound from the Japanese versions.

 

To me, the only master that beats the RCA is the newer Station To Station (2010), warmer and more detailed. Sounds like SACD to my ears. And I haven't checked but it's probably a DR15. Very quiet , punchy and dynamic. I borrowed from a friend who's compulsive by Bowie, and the boxset contains the old RCA master - so we compared them both. And much to my surprise, the "original analogue master" wins. It's gotta be the definitive master of this album.

 

How bad is the distortion on DJ on the Jpn for US PCD1 Lodger disc? How loud is it and how long does it last?

 

It is quite severe, but I found it much more intrusive on headphones than speakers.

Tim

 

Tim,

Thank you. Do you or does anyone know if there are early pressings that have that corrected? Such as W Germany sunburst design? Just doing research for I track a copy down....

 

WG is OK.

Tim

 

IMO the best sounding WG RCA is Station to Station, together with the Japan Aladdin Sane...then Heroes and Low.

By the way...do you think it's worth spending Usd 31 on the "return of the thin white duke" bootleg...the 1976 Nassau Coliseum show. This cd is said to be one of the best sounding cd's from that show, but is missing 2 songs...Stay and Panic in Detroit...and the songs are not in the correct order.

 

yes,rca aladdin sane sounds so good! l have the well regarded Canadian vinyl and it's the closest thing one could find. same goes to ziggy.... rca has a little more top end than the us first pressing, but to my ears, it's also perfect!

 

Finally got the Ziggy PCD1-4702. Cheap too!

Wonder if I should track down the German PD 84702 just to compare.

 

Finally was able to track down the PD 84702.

Sonically the difference is minimal. Maybe the PCD1-4702 is slighly more robust. Maybe.

But the winner is still the german disc, simply because the beginning of Moonage Daydream is not stuck at the end of Soul Love. For someone who listen to music on a computer 90% of the time....this is a big deal.

 

I have the USA versions of "Man Who Sold The World" and "Young Americans".
Are the German or Japanese versions considered superior?

 

TMWSTW: These are system and taste dependent, as neither one is bad. JP for USA is brighter and more detailed. Some feel it's too edgy. WG for Europe is warmer and more relaxed. Some feel it's muddy.

YA: The JP for USA sounds beautiful. It's cleaner sounding than the WG for Europe, however it cuts off the first two opening drum hits from the title track, which may be a deal breaker depending on how you feel about that. Again, the WG is warmer, but it loses some of the focus which the JP for USA has, though it's perfectly listenable.

 

You should check out Karmaman's excellent comparison document: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24721385/RCA CD comparisons.pdf

As I recall, in these cases it is not clear-cut.

Tim

 

Thanks for the info.
Looks like I'm going to have to track down the German versions of both in order to decide.
Shame they're so bloody expensive these days, I may have to hold off until after Christmas.

 

That's a very useful document, many thanks for sharing.

 

Sorry.

Too bad you weren't asking about, say, Station to Station or Lodger. Then the answer would have been much more decisive!

But are you happy with those two which you have? Because if you are maybe it's not necessary to bother with the WGs.

 

I don't dislike them as such, they're just a little bit bright and aren't as warm as my other Bowie titles which are the German ones, (apart from Aladdin Sane which is Japan for Europe).
I'm pretty much happy with all of them apart from the 2 I mentioned so I thought I'd find out more about the German versions.

Sadly, after looking on discogs etc. it looks like the prices have gone through the roof since his passing.
They've always been pricey, but nothing like they are now.
I may have to give them a miss unless the prices drop to something more reasonable.

I wish record companies would introduce downloads of old masterings so you could get stuff like this at a reasonable price.

 

Ah, then yes, it's worth trying to get hold of them. Seems likely you'll prefer the WGs in both cases. And with Young Americans, you'll get the bonus of the drum opening being intact.

Yes, I've also noticed this. And the prices, IIRC, seemed to somewhat be coming down before he passed away. Now, they're pretty insane. At least the ebay Buy-It-Now prices are. Not sure about the auctions because I haven't been following them. But maybe winning bids are a little more reasonable.

A better bet might be to search the used bins. Sometimes, the stores don't realize that the RCAs are more special than Bowie CDs on any other label. You might just luck out that way.

 

Anyone know offhand which Pin Ups has the best sound?