I have a few bronzed discs pressed by PDO but they still play without any problems. I wonder for how long though...
Adding to the lot, the first Nimbus CD manufactured in 1984 - "Elkie Brooks - Screen Gems". Please note, the matrix is CDA 1984. The CD issued under the catalogue number CDP 240236 2
Nimbus pressed the CDs for my Washington DC area band GUM's album "Chew" in the late 90s. They did a great job for us. We had a promotion deal with Warner Lambert and Nimbus was very accommodating as far as packing Tiny Sized Chicklets into some of our CDs. They also did a very good job manufacturing our CDs which contained a data section with Macromedia/Quicktime content. We didn't meet the "Enhanced CD" spec (or more likely weren't willing to pay for it), but Nimbus did a great job on our run of CDs. We even got them to put "GUM - CHEW" in the dead area (I would call it "deadwax on vinyl, don't know the name for the area on a CD). I am very proud of this CD; it's one of the best things I've ever done musically. Recorded by us, mixed by multi-platinum mixer Jeff Juliano, an old friend of mine. 90% of our budget went to the mix and it was worth every penny.
They pressed Todd's UK Castles (original issues), too. That may have been mentioned earlier in this thread.
Here's an old 1992 article I came across: The battle of the little and big horns: Nimbus Records like doing things the old-fashioned way. So when they began worrying about the loss of low frequencies on their CD transfers of old 78s, there was only one solution - to stick a bigger horn on the old gramophone BRIAN MORGANSATURDAY 01 AUGUST 1992 Nimbus Records is to recorded music what a real ale brewery is to beer. It is an unashamedly 'eccentric' company. There are no studio recordings - preferred venues are large reverberant halls or echoing church naves - and its chairman and founder is a count (Numa Labinsky) who gets to sing bass on his own label under the nom-de-microphone Shura Gherman. So it's no surprise to hear that Nimbus's CD transfers of early operatic 78s are recorded using a 1930s wind-up gramophone, with a hi-tech Ambisonic 'surround-sound' digital microphone perched in front of the horn.The bizarre idea came from former Scottish Opera bass Norman White, whose 20,000 disc collection of 78s and handbuilt EMG (E M Ginn) gramophone, with its 3ft-across-the- mouth papier mache horn, formed the basis of Prime Voce, Nimbus's new 78 transfers label, in 1988. White is now Nimbus's Prima Voce musical consultant, with 35 CDs comprising 700 78s of the greatest operatic stars from the opening decades of this century in the catalogue. For those original recordings, the soloist stood in front of the horn, and his or her voice travelled down a tube on to a diaphragm and through a lever arrangement into a needle cutting hot wax. White maintains that, by simply reversing the sequence, the voice is reproduced with absolute fidelity. 'For these early 78s the engineers of the time had worked out exactly how to get the best from the records.'White's thesis - that the acoustic gramophone perfectly complements the original acoustic recording process - stands up to listening tests, for solo voices at least. The trick in making the transfers is to place the microphone in front of the horn in the precise volume of space occupied by the soloist's voice. All the rest is digital technology. Even the expected hiss and sounds of 'frying eggs' disappear when using a traditional gramophone. In White's view, modern hi-tech players with magnetic cartridges and diamond styluses actually create the very 'surface noise' which then has to be removed with electronics. Connoisseurs of the 78 never use anything but a sharpened thorn needle, in a heavy brass soundbox. 'The thorn quickly moulds to the exact shape of the groove,' White explains, 'where a diamond stylus just bounces around.'However, just like real ale, Prima Voce has had its detractors as well as its supporters. Some critics have complained that its early transfers lacked bass. Adrian Farmer, the company's music director, is ultimately responsible for the kind of sound the company puts out. He concedes that the horn that came with the EMG gramophone would have been a compromise in its own time - being small enough to fit into a drawing room, it was not large enough to reproduce the lowest notes. Unlike other recording companies, though, Nimbus would not countenance electronic or computer-aided solutions such as the CEDAR system (said to cost pounds 6,000 an hour of recorded sound) which EMI used for its recent Elgar re-issues. To compound the problem for Nimbus, their chronological progress through the century's greatest vocalists was increasingly taking them into the post-acoustic era, from 1925 onwards, when electric microphones were in action and recordings offered greatly improved reproduction of instrumental accompaniments (which hitherto had been very much subservient to the solo voice). As Adrian Farmer says: 'We still believed in the thorn needle and soundbox - we just had to qet more of the lower registers off the disc. Now, after two years of research, you can see the result - the Mark 3 horn, 6m in length and 2m across the mouth. It reproduces well into the second lowest octave on the piano.' For the technically minded, the horn (photographed above using a wide-angle lens and distorted perspective so as to conceal its true dimensions) is described as 'exponential' - with a frequency response reaching around 60 hertz; for the rest, suffice it to say that it's nicknamed 'Saddam'. The first CD recorded using the new horn, a disc of transfers from Jussi Bjorling's early recordings for the Swedish market (NI 7835), was released in July. The horn made its recording debut in a new 500-seater auditorium at the Wyastone Leys mansion in Gwent that has been the Nimbus base for nearly 20 years. The recording cubicle at one end of the hall is spartan, with none of the paraphernalia of most recording companies - no bank of faders and equalisers, just one control knob, and two Sony digital cassette recorders. Tucked away under a table is the Ambisonic encoder, and that's that. Norman White, on the stage at the far end, 'plays' his 78s and EMG gramophone just like a musical instrument. He stands motionless behind the turntable (no longer wind- up but Technics quartz-locked to the exact pitch of the original recording), holding his breath until the thorn (Burmese oak by choice) has worn beyond its best - some 30 seconds later - and needs replacing. For each 78 disc transferred, the recording engineer has to 'splice' together some half-dozen 'takes': making one CD takes a month of studio time. Companies with archives of original metal masters have an advantage over those, like Nimbus, which have to buy their 78s from collectors. Norman White has to travel the world looking for the best surviving pressings of the 78s needed for each entry in the Nimbus catalogue. British-made 78s are no use, he explains. 'They had slate powder mixed with the shellac to give them greater strength. That's what most of the noise comes from. But records made in France, America or even better in India, had a much quieter playing surface. They were obviously much more interested in the music than we were.'EMI has made much of the authentic background noises accompanying some of its 1920s and 1930s CD re-issues - coughing noises from the audience mostly. Nimbus has its anecdotes too. Before building the new auditorium, sound-proofed against everything but low-flying jets, Nimbus used the mansion's ballroom for its recordings. Adrian Farmer told me how they once searched for a dog that kept interrupting the transfer of a Verdi aria. It was only when they realised that the barking happened at the same point every time, that the penny dropped. If you can get a copy of Prima Voce's Martinelli CD (NI 7804), listen to track 11. At 12 seconds there is the first bark, it gets louder at 18 and 20 seconds and then fades away in the distance. 'Without this kind of equipment,' says Farmer, 'you would simply not distinguish it from the background noise.' Barking dogs were only one of the problems facing the early sound engineers. Famous opera stars were busy people and often had to be recorded in their hotel rooms between engagements. Thus many of the early recordings lack 'life', says Farmer. This is where Prima Voce really scores over rival 'electronic' systems. 'By doing the transfer on an acoustic gramophone in a large room with plenty of reverberation, you put back the presence that the opera star would have had in a live performance in a theatre. That's something you can't achieve on a computer.'
What I want to know about Nimbus is what does the dot (or dots) mean that goes behind number on CD matrix. Sometime there's one tiny dot, sometime there're two, three... even six or seven. Only guess I found in the web is that they mark glass master's number. But could it happen that production would demand seventh glass master? Sounds unreal....
Does anybody have an idea about the overall percentage of Nimbus discs that have turned out faulty? Is it just a few releases they did or are do all the discs they pressed have a chance of having problems. I have a fair number from years ago and haven't run into one that has "gone bad" yet.
Nimbus was the premium 80s CD manufacturer in the UK in stark contrast to the UK PDO company which got it so very wrong. Here is an example of their fine work.
With the exception of PDO UK and Discovery Systems, which even those are a small part of they made, most of the defective discs produced at various were for a short period of time. Thus the number of bad discs is very, very small and from a certain vintage. By now, it is pretty obvious which are the problem discs.
You seem to be getting PDO and Nimbus mixed up. PDO was established as a colaboration between N.V Philips (Holland) with American chemical concern DuPont. The UK PDOs had the bronzing problem. Nimbus was a totally seperate company based in Wyastone Business Park on the Welsh border.
I don't think that small dots are tied with the glass master. I would say that dots represents the manufacturing batch. One dot means first batch, two dots - second batch, three dots - third batch. The dots may also stands for a production year. In example - the discs manufactured by Nimbus in 1984 and in early 1985 have only one dot in the matrix. Discs from 1986 have three dots and those from 1987/88 five and more.
Sorry for the confusion (I had a typo), however I am not mixing them up. PDO UK and Discovery Systems had the most widespread problems. Nimbus and a few others with issues were for a much shorter time/# of discs. My only point was that the number of Nimbus discs with issues are very small relative to the amount produced. Most are good.
In fact, these dots can be put on a matrix only during glass master manufacturing process, when LBR carves glass plate. Later, I believe after 90/91, Nimbus matrix got two digits just engraved like 2:1, 5:2 etc. This is mother:stamper correspondingly. As for year of release it can be proved very easily because there're a lot of CDs with one dot issued any other date than 1984
Weyastone Leys is close to me and I visited the site to purchase some Schoeps microphones,its next to the Wye just outside Monmouth,in a lovely valley They were a very experimental company ,with r&d roots in Birmingham University Ambisonics by Micheal Gerzon was their prime interest, the optical disc plant and the studio logical outcomes. Maxwell scuppered the company But they still exist and will custom burn back catalogue cds on demand.
I would love to hear those acoustic transfers of old opera 78s. Has anybody here heard them? How do they sound? I love my Nimbus classical discs and all the CDs I have mastered by them are excellent.
Anton, I think I'm wrong. I'm sorry for confused you and everyone. The dots in the matrix area are obviously added during the manufacturing process. I read your question again and I think the idea with the glass master is probably correct, but how to deal with 6 dots? I am not sure if Nimbus done 6 glass masters to a one album. Maybe dots represents pressings? Then, somewhere in early 1990s mother and stamper numbers where added?
Squeeze Singles...45's and Under (The good UK version) I have is Mastered By Nimbus. Unfortunately it looks there is a defect in the manufacture of it. There is what looks like a semicircular cut into the aluminium on the bottom edge of the disc. It doesn't rip that small section because it can't. However, there is no sign of scratching on the disc, so I assume it's a manufacturing defect. No real biggy, I am not really into the track that won't rip.
A recent addition to my collection is a 12-CD set issued in the UK in 1990 callled CARPENTERS - THE COMPACT DISC COLLECTION. All of the discs were "MASTERED BY NIMBUS". The set is a collection of 12 studio albums in the states that they existed digitally in 1989-90. Here's a picture of Disc 4, A SONG FOR YOU. Most of the set contains the albums in the format that A&M released them earlier in the '80s, so some contain remixes, shortened single versions, etc. (It wouldn't be until the Remastered Classics in the late '90s that all albums would be as-released on vinyl.) The Disc above is one of the exceptions. Instead of the A&M CD, this set cloned the MFSL version of the album, which contained a lot of remixes. In fact, this is one of the very few places to hear "Intermission" in a remixed form. MFSL , this set, and a 40th anniversary box set from Japan. I should note that the CHRSTMAS PORTRAIT present here is the SPECIAL EDITION version, which was all that existed on CD back in 89-90. One other departure was a change on PASSAGE, where a new remix of "Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft" appeared instead of the original version. Further anomalies are the few spelling errors of titles (like above, you'll note track 12 is listed as "Road One" instead of "Road Ode"). According to others who have this set, the spelling errors are present in their sets too, so I'm not fearful of counterfeits. All of these discs are in fine, pristine shape and play great. Harry
I love my Nimbus classical discs as well. The only acoustic transfers of old opera 78s I have is the Rosa Ponselle 3 disc box and I love what Nimbus did with her work (ie: sound quality, pacing between tracks, booklets).
Anton, I have been looking for some information regarding a tiny dots in Nimbus CD releases. I came across an old thread (dated on 2003) on Depeche Mode collector's forum. Here is the link to that post. Someone posted a personal opinion about these little dots in the matrix area of the Nimbus CDs. What do you think guys, is that make sense to you?
I've seen these conclusions before but they seemed to me superficial. There're a lot of examples of Nimbus CDs that do not exist with one, two dots in their matrix. I have Deep Purple "Made in Japan" DCC GZS-1120 with "Not For Sale" inscription marking a promo sample (which regarded as very first batch of production run) with FOUR dots. To say more, I've never seen this CD with different quantity of dots. I explain it to myself that its pressing started from fourth glass master (with three previous being rejected). It can be seen here with other DP Nimbus items http://www.vintagecd.ru/deep_purple.html
I just just ran across this discussion, and since Stimpy hasn't come back yet, I can give you all some information about the dots in the letterband. A little information about me is in order first, I think: I too worked for Nimbus and with Stimpy...in fact Stimpy and one other named "DY" trained me early on. I came to the company a few years before it was eventually sold to Technicolor, and then stayed on with Technicolor until the Virginia plant was closed. I then relocated to the Technicolor California plant. The dots were simply a way to designate the "cut" number of the job (I'm sure you all know this, but note that "cut" is an old hangover to record cutting days...CDs and DVDs are actually exposed in photoresist). Each dot represents each time the job was mastered, that is, exposed on the Laser Beam Recorder. The dots can number from one to nine. After nine cuts, the job would have to be recycled with new tracking information and start over with cut one again. The reason dots were used instead of actual numbers related to peculiarities of the letterband generation equipment attached to the Laser Beam Recorder. The job could fail at numerous locations from the time the master tape/disc came into the plant until the finished discs were shipped. Sometimes a visible defect was evident in the glass master, before or after metallization, and a new cut would need to be generated. The job could fail in Electroforming during the father/mother/stamper generation, and it could fail in replication. It wasn't very common to see a job fail nine times, but it did happen. With his greater experience, I'm sure that Stimpy has seen this happen far more often than I. The reason that the actual cuts had to be tracked was to ensure no defective product ever left the plant...all failed cuts were segregated/destroyed. When Stimpy comes back to this thread, I'm sure he can fill in my dim memories.
