DCC Archive I'll probably get slammed for this question but.....

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Dave, Nov 8, 2001.

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  1. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™ Thread Starter

    Location:
    B.C.
    Does anyone know about or own these four albums on UD1? Were they ever created?

    The Who: Tommy UDCD533
    Robert Cray: Strong Persuader UDCD564
    Tom Petty: Hard Promises UDCD565
    John Lee Hooker: The Healer UDCD567

    Thanks to anyone who knows for sure :rolleyes:

    [ November 08, 2001: Message edited by: Dave ]
     
  2. joachim.ritter

    joachim.ritter Senior Member

    Hi Dave,

    according to John Harp's gold CD pages all
    of them were released as UD I. "Tommy" definitely exists as UD I, the others are
    on my wantlist.

    Best regards,

    Joachim
     
  3. Jeffrey

    Jeffrey Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    South Texas
    Hi Dave,

    Yeah, they were all produced & most I've owned or heard. Many people don't care for the Tommy release but me thinks the others are pretty nice. The Strong Persuader would be my first recommendation of the four.

    The Music Never Stops,
    Jeff
     
  4. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™ Thread Starter

    Location:
    B.C.
    Joachim and Jeff,
    I have yet to see any of those four yet. FYI The Who: Tommy has possibly thousands of copies that were mistakenly packaged as UD1s (Booklet and back flap) when in fact they were UD2s and Tom Petty: Hard Promises has no indication whether it's UD1 or UD2 on the back flap. I know because I have 2 copies of each and have seen at least half a dozen copies of Tommy like I described. So the ONLY way to be sure is to look at the cd itself at the bottom. ;)
     
  5. Sckott

    Sckott Hand Tighten Only.

    Location:
    South Plymouth, Ma
    Mr. Ritter is correct. I have all of them except for...

    Nope, never mind, I have all of them. Yes they were all UD1s. John Lee Hooker, to me, is the best sounding of the bunch, but we're talking about a newer recorded title too than the rest.

    -Sckott
     
  6. pigmode

    pigmode Active Member

    Location:
    HNL
    It must say "made in japan" right? Is there any other indication?
     
  7. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™ Thread Starter

    Location:
    B.C.
    Totally correct Joachim. :D
    And what's the address of your new house Sckott? LOL ;) If you ever decide you don't like or want them anymore Scott I'd be happy to take them off your hands at a respectable price.

    [ November 08, 2001: Message edited by: Dave ]
     
  8. Paul C.

    Paul C. Senior Member

    Location:
    Australia
    I would like an explanation of why UD I's should sound any different from UD II's. I am skeptical, but open to persuasion. Unfortunately, I don't have any pairs with which to do the comparison.

    I would have thought that the same mastering should result in the same sound, irrespective of whether it was pressed in Japan or the US (notwithstanding minor differences in the error rates of the different pressings, which may have occurrred).
     
  9. Andrew

    Andrew Chairman of the Bored

    SLAM!(sorry, couldn't resist!) [​IMG]
     
  10. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™ Thread Starter

    Location:
    B.C.
    It's ok Andrew,
    I was waiting for that!! :?)
     
  11. Sckott

    Sckott Hand Tighten Only.

    Location:
    South Plymouth, Ma
    I don't mind making CDRs to cure a craving. I don't see me getting rid of any MFSLs right now. It's great to use a lot of those as reference.

    Been playing the Dr. John double a lot. That one's very good, but it's not an UD1.

    Don't get played to the fact that if it's not a UD1, it's crap. The titles MFSL had on it's second run were really very good, and some of them are quite amazing.

    MFSL was never perfect. They led the way in a lot of respects, and changed the recording industry more than anyone could guess. It's kinda funny that a lot of what they did was 1/2 accident, 1/2 art.
     
  12. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™ Thread Starter

    Location:
    B.C.
    Paul,
    The difference between the UD1 and UD2 (UDCD-503 to UDCD-567) is a bigger more defined sound stage (the instrumentation is much more real sounding). The UD2's of these sound squished.
    I myself have compared over 10 albums, UD1 & UD2, and the difference is large especially concerning Pink Floyd: Dark Side Of The Moon the difference is fargin' huge.
    The later UD2's (UDCD-568 and up) are about 70% good but there are the lemons.
    The Americans, when MFSL first started to produce in the US., had never done anything even close to what the Japanese had done in regards to audiophile recordings (with the exception of Steve) so even with the same masters they didn't have the Japanese know how and thus began with an experimental phase to try and duplicate the Japanese sound and couldn't until they figured it out, all at the consumers expense.
    Check it out if you can with Floyd (comparing UD1 & UD2) I think you'll understand right away as with DSOTM it's blatantly obvious.
    Hope this helps :D

    [ November 08, 2001: Message edited by: Dave ]
     
  13. John Carsell

    John Carsell Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northwest Illinois
    Just ran home to check my MFSL DSOTM. Couldn't remember if it was a ultradisc I or II. Aaah it's a I. Life is good!
     
  14. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™ Thread Starter

    Location:
    B.C.
    Sckott,
    I had planned to get in touch with you next year in regards to getting some cd-rs from you. I have your address (Gary and I are buds). Just gotta get past the Xmas thing first. You know. :)
     
  15. Sckott

    Sckott Hand Tighten Only.

    Location:
    South Plymouth, Ma
    I do. So do I.

    The mail isn't fast enough either. I have that sub woof, the capacitors to fix it still haven't arrived, Doc at Bottlehead said 2 more weeks and I'll have my Foreplay.

    If I push time, I'm asking for Christmas to come sooner. That has its backlash.
     
  16. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    You got that right, Sckott.
     
  17. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™ Thread Starter

    Location:
    B.C.
    Now don't be doin' that Sckott the longer it takes to get here, Christmas that is, the better, especially this year for some reason.
    [​IMG]
     
  18. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Eh...if the same digital master is used, the differences should not be *that* great. I'm not saying there won't be any differences, but...

    Methinks it's more than just US vs. Jap pressing plants.
     
  19. Unknown

    Unknown Guest

    At least in the case of DSOTM, I can tell you that MoFi confirmed for me (via e-mail) that the same digital master was used for UD1 as UD2.

    [ November 09, 2001: Message edited by: Patrick M ]
     
  20. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™ Thread Starter

    Location:
    B.C.
    Well Luke,
    I'd be interested in hearing your theory. Have you had the chance to compare the two? Gary, the other Canadian guy on the forum, came over to my house and brought the UD2 version of PF: DSOTM and we compared it to the UD1 that I own and the difference was monsterous, the most dramatic I've heard. Perhaps the Japanese sent a second generation copy on purpose I dunno? How would you explain it?

    [ November 09, 2001: Message edited by: Dave ]
     
  21. Gary

    Gary Nauga Gort! Staff

    Location:
    Toronto
    I'd like to confirm the difference between the Dark Side UD1 and UD2. I have heard this on two different stereo systems - Dave's and Eric's (another friend - but not a forum member yet).

    The UD2 is miles ahead of the stock copy, no doubt. But the UD1 is even better than the UD2. It has a much bigger soundstage, more depth, etc. The UD2 is very compressed. The only difference - apparently - is where it was pressed.

    In a previous post, Sckott mentioned that there were different quality pressing plants in both the USA and Japan. Not everything pressed in Japan is sonically better than pressings in the USA - look at the Japanese card sleeve releases of Floyd. Sounds exactly like North American releases. But better packaging. (Whooopee. Who cares?)

    My theory is when the MFSL's were pressed in Japan, the owners ensured that they picked a quality conscious pressing plant. When the new owner(s?) took over, they created UD2's, brought the manufacturing contract to the USA and chose a pressing plant based on economics. Not quality.

    Why, you ask? 1) a better bottom line (more profits), 2) MFSL could coast on it's quality reputation and 3) UD2's were still miles ahead of *most* stock copies.

    In addition, some UD2's have "JVC" in the inner CD circle. You'd have to flip over the UD2 CD to see this as the black surface covers the "JVC" writing. To me this also means that they took the old CD "unburned" stock of blank CDs and gave them to the US record plant - another cost saving measure.

    Perhaps there are some members here who can confirm or deny this theory. I'd be delighted to get to the bottom of this!

    By the way, anyone want a UD2 Dark Side? I'll trade for a UD1! :D

    PS I am really happy :) :) :) that Steve sends TEST CDs to the DCC pressing plant to ensure quality control! Thanks, Steve, for following through every phase of production. But I guess it only makes sense - why take all that care and do all that work just to ruin the results by a bad pressing plant? ;) I guess that's another reason why DCC is #1!

    [ November 09, 2001: Message edited by: Gary ]
     
  22. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Er...not quite sure what you're getting at there. The little JVC text would be pressed right along with the rest of the CD. Keep in mind that JVC has a pressing plant in the US - almost all of MCA's stuff was done there for quite a while.
     
  23. Gary

    Gary Nauga Gort! Staff

    Location:
    Toronto
    Oh, OK, Luke! Thanks for clearing that up for me. I was not aware that it was all one process.

    So the USA JVC pressing plant did the UD2's and somehow (quality control issue? pressed as an "economy" CD issue? tape-to-CD issue?) made DSOTM sound more compressed.

    Of course I am assuming that since the same master tape was used for both runs (UD1 and UD2) the problem lies with the JVC pressing plant. Or could there be another variable or something that I have missed -or don't know about?) :confused:

    The good news: DCC is consistant in their CD quality! :)
     
  24. pigmode

    pigmode Active Member

    Location:
    HNL
    Gary, I'm not sure I've seen any evidence yet that UD2s are "economy" CDs. It's all conjecture right? Personally, I have to take most of the stuff that was said in that Mo-Fi interview with a grain of salt. Yeah he slammed the new management pretty bad, but he also left for reasons not quite confirmed. That has to raise some questions I think. The nature of his narrative seems to indicate that they (the originals) were pretty much the cowboys themselves.

    cheers
     
  25. Gary

    Gary Nauga Gort! Staff

    Location:
    Toronto
    Yes, Pigmode, this is just all specualtion on my part. I have no idea why there is such a sonic difference. I just know it's there.

    Imagine my horror when I did the A/B testing for the first time. *sigh* MY CD was crap (well, comparatively so...!)

    Ahhhwell, live & learn, as they say!
     
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