Nick Drake remasters

FWIW I did an A-B test of the Simply Vinyl copy of 5 Leaves with the most recent CD remaster. The vinyl won hands down. A beautiful sounding LP, although the stripped down nature of the work in question doesn't hurt things.
C

 

I have compared the "Island Masters" edition of "Five Leaves Left" to the remaster. I believe the "Island Masters" is the same as your Hannibal edition. I agree with what you are saying and also prefer the original.

 

and now I'm confused even more
Here is my Hannibal CD...Could anyone scan and post other editions?

 

I believe you are correct - the Hannibal CDs I have from the Fruit Tree box have the same Rykodisc text on them (same as pictured above).

I do understand your preferences. I think the remasters may have used a better source though (I don't know obviously, but that's what it sounds like), and that is why I prefer them.

 

i cant beleive i never heard of this guy/

i remember the vw commercial a few years ago but didint know the artist.

i heard a song today over sirius and recognized his name from seeing this topic floating around here.

so i thought i'd take a look in here to see what the talk was.

so the guy only recorded 3 albums and the last was barely 30 minutes.
he said he just didnt have anything left to sing?
wow.
anyway i seemed to have been hooked in from the song i heard on sirius and now knowing his pink moon was in the vw commercial.

so i should look for the remasters that are hdcd encoded, yes?

 

You're not the only one, and I fear that I may soon muddy the waters further. Anyway, let's see whether we can resolve a few things first:

HDCD vs. HNCD

Are people confusing the Hannibal cat. nos. with HDCD? I just checked all my Nick Drake discs (see below) and none of them are HDCD encoded. Is it possible that the "NOT HDCD" stickers came about because discs could be carrying HNCD matrix and/or cat. nos.?


SBM vs. SBM-D

The 24-bit mastered versions (mastered by Simon Heyworth) use Sony's Super Bit Mapping noise-shaping process to reduce the word-length from 24-bits to 16-bits for CD. This has nothing to do with DSD. However, Sony Japan, in its infinite "wisdom" used the name Super Bit Mapping-Direct (SBM-D) to describe its one-step process of decimating DSD to 16-bit/44.1 kHz PCM for CD. SBM-D was likely used to create the CD layer of the Treasury hybrid SACD. Unless any new CD version carries the DSD and/or SBM-D logos, you can assume that they are NOT created from DSD masters.


HNCD vs. IMCD

Has anyone determined whether the Hannibal HNCD discs and the Island IMCD discs are bit identical? From the descriptions of the licensing text, etc. that has appeared in this thread, one would assume that they should be.


Okay, here are the discs that I have:

Five Leaves Left - Hannibal Records - HNCD 4434 (Slipcase, 24-bit Heyworth)
Bryter Layter - Hannibal Records - HNCD 4435 (Slipcase, 24-bit Heyworth)
Pink Moon - Hannibal Records - HNCD 4436 (Slipcase, 24-bit Heyworth)
Time Of No Reply - Hannibal Records - HNCD 1318
An Introduction To Nick Drake - Island - IMCD 196/524 007-2
Made To Love Magic - Island - B0002812-02
A Treasury (Hybrid SACD) - Island - B0003518-36

NONE of them have HDCD encoding! My Time Of No Reply has the same silkscreen design as LazyOne's disc (but the color scheme is different). The first three albums all have Island labels: pink and purple "eye" design on Five Leaves, the island and palm tree design on the other two. I assume An Introduction is made from the same masters as the original Island IMCD discs? If that is the case, I don't see how there could be HDCD versions, as the original Hannibals are NOT HDCD, An Introduction (and by implication the first IMCD discs) is not HDCD, and one assumes that both Island and Ryko/Hannibal now use the Heyworth re-masters.

So, by my reckoning there are three CD masterings:

1. original
2. 24-bit Heyworth SBM
3. DSD - assuming all albums were done when Treasury was made, but there is no indication that these masters (if they exist) have been introduced into CD production

Unless, of course, someone can show that Island and Hannibal/Ryko have used different versions.

 

those last island remasters are rubbish

the first cd version were fine the later remastered version are just wrong.. totally ignoring the original feel of the records entirely...on the original it sounds like nick drake with musical backing on the remasters it sounds like nick drake oh and theres richard thompson over there and dave mattacks over there...oh yes in perfect clarirty but surely it is the music as a whole that counts not the indivual players.....but the real stupid thing they did was take that slight blurring off his voice,,,mistakenly thinking it was some sort of deficiancy in the original version...no people it was there for a reason..to bring warmth and intimacy and to disguise the fact that is all too obvious on these remasters that hey drakes voice laid bare isn't quite as heavenly as we always thought it was. Remaster by all means but dont go stripping off the production for goodness sake....these remasters make the albums now sound like they had a very compitent engineer in the studio but the producer stayed home in bed

 

I'm in doubt again ...Does HDCD remasters exist or not...I found some info here - http://en.allexperts.com/e/n/ni/nick_drake.htm

 

well since there is confusion as to what there is available for his 3 records i ran out to borders before they closed last night and used a coupn to pick up the sacd of the treasury.

i hope to have time to listen to the sacd layer this week.

 

Yes.

 

I agree. By normal standards the remasters are very good, but the original disks, though a bit fuzzier, are more natural to my ears, and the warmness suits Drake's melancholy music very well.

Still, if the remasters were the only version available, I wouldn't complain.

 

Well, let me clarify my previous post.

HDCD LABELS exist, BUT when played on an HDCD player they do not PLAY as HDCD discs (no HDCD indicator light comes on as it should). This is probably the reason why the "not HDCD" stickers were issued after I bought my early copy of the 24 bit remasters. Sorry for any confusion..

 

I have Five Leaves Left with "HDCD" on the label, as Randy's Bryter shows above. It DOES NOT play in HDCD. I have the other two remasters all bought around the same time when these were first released and they do not have the HCCD symbol at all.

 

I just did the same a/b test with my Simply Vinyl Five Leaves and Bryter copies... and Cassius is right, they are pretty beautiful sounding.

I havent pulled either in years as after coming in here and having bought several disappointing simply vinyl releases, I just assumed these would also disappoint with my "hoffmanization", but these sound really really nice and it just strengthens my realization, Nick belongs on high quality vinyl!

I may have to needledrop these at some point, since original Islands will probably never happen for me.

 

i think they made a mistake with the HDCD thing.....i am sure NO Nick Drake is on HDCD even if it says it on the CD or the slipcase (as it does on my copy of Pink Moon).
I too have Five Leaves Left on Simply Vinyl and it is a MILE better than the CD.
It has more warmth, the vocal is richer and the cello/violin stuff is much more realistic with more depth and timbre (i am still learning about this stuff- so i hope this is understandable).
I bought all three albums on Simply Vinyl, the are all good.
The sleeves are lovely, the vinyl heavy and clean and they all sound good.
I think with Simply Vinyl it depended if it was a UK artist or not, as they are pressed in the UK and if it was a UK artist they got the master tapes if they could.
I think sometimes the just used what they could get there hands on, but with Nick Drake's stuff they did a good job.

 

yes it does have more warmth, i'm listening to the vinyl again after the cd, which I'd always thought sounded great, but this piece of vinyl is more lifelike that the remastered cd sounds. Not sure if thats the best word to describe it and the gatefold jacket is pretty great too.

Wondering how the original cds sound now. wishing i had the real UK import original vinyl dealio really. I love this guy.

 

Here is a short wav file sample of my Simply Vinyl Bryter Layter

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=FC5A79F961ADCE05

i can post something from the Simply Vinyl Five Leaves if there is interest. Maybe Kent can post a sample of the original UK vinyl ? I for one would love to hear that.

 

I agree. I bought the three Nick Drake LPs on Simply Vinyl and love the sound. While SV generally takes a slagging around here, you really have to judge the albums on a case-by-case basis. These are very nice, indeed.

Cheers,
Chris

 

Sample of my Hannibal CD (original mastering)...same song

http://download.yousendit.com/393A0C6339621A76

I would like to hear 24-bit Heyworth SBM mastering...

 

I'll try to post something later on today if no one else can.

 

Sounds good, DJ. .........I've been wondering about the Jeff Buckley on Simply Vinyl. If it sounds like this I'll have to pick it up.

 

yeah, i havent heard that one, you might want to start a thread asking about it, as this thread has all but petered out. I did a vinyl sample post of a Drake Simply Vinyl but no one seems to have bothered to listen to it so I think this thread is done.

 

I listened to the clip, it sounded very good.

 

Woah there dude, I bothered to listen to it. You did a great job NDing it. The vinyl itself (even when played thru my crappy stock iBook soundcard) sounds smoother than the CD. That said, while good, it's not perfect. I really do hope Island reissues that Fruit Tree box set on vinyl with the original analog master tapes. If this never happens, I could see myself picking up these LPs on Simply Vinyl, as they are nicer than the CDs.

 

oh cool, glad some of you did listen!