Pretenders S/T SACD coming from MoFi

[QUOTE="All of the songs are in their finished, final form on these individual reels.....except ONE: "The Phone Call". It appears that at some point, it was decided that telephone sound effects would be added to the track. This was not added to the "Phone Call" reel, however, but added to the "Album Production Master". Therefore, one must use this tape for this one song in order to have the correct, final version. Since no earlier mix of the song contains these sound effects, the song as it exists on this reel is the MASTER."[/QUOTE]

This is the first time I've understood why the sound effects for this song are not on the Audio Fidelity version. This issue was raised at the time but I never saw a response from Steve or AF as to why they were missing. Surprising since this is not a bad explanation at all if it turns out Steve and AF used the actual master reel for the song and not the Album Production Master tape for it.

 

Thanks for the nudge!

 

Add the Workingman's Dead as well and save shipping.

 

Ha that happened like 10 minutes ago!

 

I finally had a chance to listen to the SACD this morning (Hooray to vacation days!). "The Phone Call" has the sound effects. The busy signal is included in the first few seconds, for example.

This SACD sounds very good -- smooth, not bright. However, I have not compared it to the target CD yet.

 

It sounds like the people who have heard this are not immediately saying- wow this is vastly different. Is that a fair assessment? That would be a good sign. I've got it coming detroit leaning now.

 

Keep the sound quality reviews coming.

 

I have yet to find the time to listen all the way through. What are the chances that my copy of Pretenders & Pretenders II would have the same "special limited edition" number... #129? (What I have heard so far is great)

 

Every disc that I get from Audio Fidelity has the same exact number! That's even more amazing.

 

Membership pays if you pay to have a membership.

 

Perhaps not quite the sonic transformation that I feel the SACD of "American Beauty" was but man this is a good sounding SACD. Really comes to life when you crank it UP.

 

The odds at this moment?I would guess even money. 1:1

 

That's what I did and they both just arrived.

 

Personally, I prefer it to the previous digital versions (I've kept Rhino and the Audio Fidelity, I had an earlier cd that I let go some years back). Vinyl is a whole 'nother animal, I really don't compare any digital and vinyl, one doesn't trump another in my opinion.

I just feel that an SACD with great mastering trumps a CD with great remastering (which is the case here, I really like the mastering of the Audio Fidelity, but feel taht the high resolution makes this one a bit better.)

No guarantee anyone else would feel exactly the same way. I've learnt that many of us hear things similarly, many differently.

 

Any idea why the mastering credits of this Pretenders SACD say "THE GAIN HD SYSTEM," rather that "THE GAIN 2 SYSTEM" that (as far as I know) all other MFSL/MOFI SACDs list?

Does that mean Rob LoVerde used something different/new in their mastering hardware path, compared to all other MFSL SACDs that have been released so far?

I have to believe that the revision was intentional, as I assume they otherwise typically do a "copy-and-paste" from past titles whenever creating the artwork for new releases.

But I searched the Internet for "gain hd system" (with the quotation marks, to restrict results to exact matches only) and Google returns one irrelevant result, while Bing returns zero results.

Craig.

 

Could someone please chime in with a definitive "this is better sounding than the last 2 or 3 reissues". I love this album, but I don't need another copy.

 

I don't think this should be a question of "sounds better". Which release is the most exciting listen?

 

Special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.

 

Sounds worse, but a lot more exciting, is one of the choices?

 

Sure. This is rock 'n' roll.

I have the "Pretenders II" SACD. While it may "sound better", I am not convinced that I enjoy it more.

 

That's what I want when I plunk down my $40: Give me something that sounds worse than the CD.

 

My point is that it should not be about "sound quality". It's about what moves you. There can be a difference I think.

 

I have no idea what that means, but thanks anyway.

 

The new SACD sounds really good. Punchy and smooth sounding, with a really powerful bass response.
Quick comparison to the original target CD, no comparison, the SACD sounds so much better. The original target sounds anemic in comparison...thin and light. The original target might be have bit more sparkle on the high end, but the SACD just sounds more natural and "real".

Quick comparison as well to the Audio Fidelity, which I know has its issues, and wasn't entirely mastered by Steve alone..the MOFI sounds much more natural and smooth. The AF is mastered much louder than the new MOFI SACD, and the AF release isn't as easy to listen to or crank loudly. In fact the AF release is mastered much more loudly then the MOFI. If anything, the AF has a closer sound to the new SACD than to the original target CD. The AF does have bass that is more the equal of the MOFI, but to my ears the MOFI really hits a home run.

I was actually mesmerized by the sound of Stop Your Sobbing on the new SACD.

To my ears, and without making comparisons to other CD versions other than those mentioned above, or an original vinyl copy, I would say this SACD is an improvement over other versions.

The MOFI really got the bass, drums and vocals spot on!!!! At least in the excitement factor.

I don't usually care for Art's two word reviews, and the fact that he seems to feel every MOFI SACD he reviews is the best. But here I agree when he stated, " kills".