Bob Dylan Nashville Skyline which version should I get?

As is the case with most Dylan albums, there are only two masterings available for this album on CD (the one you have, and Calbi's hybrid SACD mastering which also appears on the current redbook-only CD). So you might as well check it out. It sounds good.

 

the original 360 red label lp

 

... Doesn't sound as good as the SACD.
To my ears.
C

 

Just to confuse things, I picked up an original UK stereo LP pressing of "Nashville" and really love it. Clearer than the Columbia LP, but it still has that warm/fuzzy thing that makes this such a special album.

I've been partial to the UK pressings lately after snagging an original stereo "Blonde on Blonde." The UK LPs have a clear warmth if that makes any sense. The UK "Blood" is a treat.

The old Columbia "Nashville" CD lacks some clarity. Not bad, but I'm gonna hafta seek out the SACD.

 

I find some of the Dylan remasters too bright, but I think Nashville Skyline came out really well.

 

+1

 

I wouldn't call it murky but dark (meaning the opposite of bright) and the vinyl of my copy isn't quiet enough if I listen with headphones.

 

I have only heard the redbook layer, but it sounds wonderful.

I just listened to it after spinning John Wesley Harding from the mono box.

 

Another vote for the remaster (or hybrid SACD/CD); it is now one of my fave Dylan albums of all time. Quite short, but every song is great.

 

After being disappointed by the Sundazed vinyl (see post 32) I got the hybrid SACD and can say that the redbook layer sounds better than the Sundazed vinyl.

 

This is such an amazing, under-rated album. I wish he'd done a couple more like it at the time, or at least had some out-takes.

And the regular layer of the SACD issue sounds beautiful, can't wait till I get a SACD player to hear the other layer!

 

I totally agree.

 

My go to is still the Columbia 360 Sound Stereo with handwritten Nashville deadwax overall. Best digital version the SACD hybrid or the redbook only current master of the CD layer.

 

What's the matrix info on your copy? All the original 360 label copies I have seen only have one side or the other with handwritten matrix info but not both.

 

I'll have to dig it out. It was a Nashville mastering bought new in Alcoa, TN at Roy's Record Shop. Still has the sticker on it. I am it's second owner.

 

I've been listening to this SACD a LOT lately. My question is what else from this era would I dig? Not necessarily Dylan (I have them all), but what other Nashville albums are there from this era with the same vibe? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

Watched the movie "Silver Linings Playbook" last night, and the recording of "Girl from the North Country" sounded superb coming through my TV's system. Better than my original Columbia LP.
Must be all the Compression

 

I got that too - alas, mastered in New York (with machine-stamped matrix numbers in the deadwax) - and pressed in Santa Maria, CA, with Pitman NJ label typesetting. I do seem to recall very first pressings mastered in Nashville with hand-etched deadwax matrix numbers (presumably by M.C. Rather or Jerry Watson or who else worked in Columbia Nashville's mastering department in those days).

Can't really complain about the sound quality, though.

 

Yes...indeeed

 

A friend dropped off a box of records for me to evaluate today. He'd just received them in the mail. A box of 10 records or so...half of them seem to be pretty impressive for their age - little wear, 1st pressings...almost glossy like a fresh record. He pulled out "Nashville Skyline", smelled it, and said "It's a bit musty-smelling". I smelled it but decided it wasn't as strong as the odor of a Goodwill record. The jacket is split across the top and bottom, giving it a 'gatefold' modification. The original paper sleeve held the record, and when I slid it out I realized how pristine this copy was. I took off my glasses and focused and could not see any signs of dirt or damage. Just...the faint musty odor.
I've never done comparisons with the SACD, but when I finally got to listen to the record this evening, it was apparent throughout every track that this was a sonic gem. Red Columbia, 360 Sound with arrows. I'm sure there are a few clunkers out there that suffered poor manufacturing, but this one is superlative. The matrix has '1-A'...making a guess that this was a 1st stamper or close to it.

I wonder if he will forget I have it...?

 

Well, if you "lose" it, you can always get him the MFSL SACD as compensation. (Honestly, the MFSL SACD may even sound better since it'll come from the original master tape, which wasn't used until it was unearthed for the 2003 reissue campaign.)

 

Love the quad version with the tricks that the engineer (Neil Wilburn -- one of the original engineers on the stereo version) played on "Nashville Skyline Rag" having the instruments "answering" each other from all 4 corners of the soundstage. Lay, Lady Lay is also stunning in quad.

 

What's MFSL's SACD of
>New Morning<like?