I voted other because my CP35 3017 non-TO/non-CDP was not listed. I have the Black Face and the UD1 and my CP35 is my go disc.
No one said anything in this thread to justify that kind of nasty response, where in effect you call every BT owner a liar - NO ONE! BTW nearly the same thing could be said in reverse. I am not voting due to the poll being flawed; different masterings are grouped together and some identical masterings are split up. In addition I've heard less than half of the choices on the list and that's my minimum cutoff to vote. I also believe those who only have heard one of the choices should refrain from voting as well. My thought is the OP should request this thread be deleted, then start a new one with corrected choices......
Will skip voting, too many errors in way choices are presented. I just finished listening to the 2011. Meh, is my only comment.
I don't know which one I like anymore, I don't have the time to listen to the 4 or 5 versions I have on CD all at once. To the OP: maybe use this for your reference list, as he identifies similar/different masterings used on the various releases: http://www.pinkfloydarchives.com/DUSCDPF.htm
The Blackface is the same mastering as the Black Triangle, non-TO. I have no idea how someone can say the BT is better than the BF when the only difference is the paintjob. Probably need to justify spending 3-4 times as much for the same sound.
I have the 1988 Mobile Fidelity UDII CD, the 1994 EMI U.K. remaster CD that used the 1992 Doug Sax, Mastering Lab remaster and the 2003 SACD/CD hybrid. I haven't performed a listening shoot-out on them yet.
The 1990s Doug Sax, The Mastering Lab remaster of Dark Side Of The Moon was done in 1992 as documented in the U.K. 1994 reissue/remaster with the extended booklet and custom label artwork.
Is my purchase holier than thou? I recently bought an EMI blackface (Harvest CDP 7 46001 2; Made in Japan). The matrix is: CP35-3017 33D1 TO. The EAC track peak levels are: 39.9 / 43.3 / 70.1 / 55.2 / 72.3 / 44.5 / 53.9 / 54.6 / 61.2 Now, is this the same mastering as the "holy grail"?
They sure don't sound the same to me. The Shine On disc has a very different character than the 20th Anniversary, which came out only a year later, and stayed in print longer than any CD of Dark Side (at least here in the States). I know they're made from the same Doug Sax remastering effort, but something is very different. Maybe one is exactly out-of-phase from the other, or maybe there's some different EQ. I'm not certain. You can clearly see that the peak levels don't match. I wish foobar2000 had included the Shine On disc as part of his exhaustive comparison of nearly all the redbook versions of DSotM.
I've seen varying opinions on the quality of the stereo SACD layer. I guess a question could be, which cd's do the stereo SACD beat?
The voting option does not make much sense if all the voters didn't hear all the listed releases. Now, who did actually listen to all of these in a way that allows you to decide which one is best?
Try this link...it originates here on the SH Forums...this is an older analysis than the one RedRaider99 linked to in post #29 above. Same author, Vernon Fitch. http://pinkfloydarchives.com/Articles/DSOTMCDM.htm The guy lists 11 masterings up through the 2003 SACD hybrid. I have mastering 6 (late 80s Capitol, with an RE1 in matrix) http://www.pinkfloydarchives.com/DUSCDPF.htm#DSOTM16 , 7 (MFSL http://www.pinkfloydarchives.com/DUSCDPF.htm#DSOTMUD, 10 (2003 SACD hybrid) and the 2011 (Immersion boxset edition) *oh and...of what I have, I vote for the MFSL.
I have listened to around ten different versions of Dark Side. I own six versions and the others were friends Cds. The Black Triangle is my favorite. I picked the BT over the Harvest BF five out of five in blind tests. I feel the bass is tighter and the midrange is a little more mellow on the BT.
I find the detail and dynamics of the SACD to match more closely my German LP which I think has some of the best sound I have heard. P.S. I have all the CDs on this title. The silverface Harvest is really nice.