This is the one I got before I finally got the Japanese 18P2 disc. I love the full back cover art on the MCAD
so I have an old CD of Aja that I am trying to understand which pressing it is. The top/label the only identifier is MCAD-37214 The underside has faintly scratched MCAD-37214-T6E11 That's it. Discogs has this but it lists T6E1 (not T6E11) Can I presume this is effectively the same?
Manufactured for MCA Records in Japan? Regardless, it is JVC pressing. Circa 1984-1985, the earliest JVC pressings contain no hyphens in the matrices. Yours does, so it is likely from 1986-1987. AJ
Still totally confused after reading this entire thread, including the mastering lists compiled by the thread starter. I just cannot find the exact hub matrix under any of the master lists compiled. Is there any way to know whether I have the original "1985" based on Nichols 1981 digital masters, or one of the subsequent "inferior" transfers from EQ'd analog LP production masters? For "Katy Lied" Booklet front: MCAD-31194 Booklet back: MCAD-31194, and "Compact Price" J-Card: MCAD-31194 on light green fade "plaid back" Disc label: MCAD-31194 and "Manufactured in USA for MCA" Hub ring: "MCAD-31194 1T32 MFD BY JVC" on the reflective part, and NOTHING embossed (no DIDX, DIDY or whatever) So which mastering do I have (and is it Steve Hoffman master)? Do I need to keep looking for a better one? Now for "Can't Buy a Thrill" same info and same questions Booklet front: MCAD-31192 Booklet back: MCAD-31192, and "Compact Price" J-Card: MCAD-31192 on blue fade "plaid back" Disc label: MCAD-31192 and "Manufactured in USA for MCA" Hub ring: "MCAD-31192 JVC 1T32" on the reflective part, and NOTHING embossed (no DIDX, DIDY or whatever) Do I need to keep looking for a better one? For a couple of guys (Fagen, Becker) who so famously almost obsessed about sound, they sure had a funny way of showing it sometimes, considering how messy their catalog seems to be in that regard. Any help on this would sure be appreciated. Thx.
It appears that way to me too, at first blush. But then again the exact combination of earmarks does not appear on any of the mastering lists, so I'll take any confirmation I can get. Many thanks.
In the case of Steely Dan and MCA, the Matrix numbers are generally too complex and random to use as a reliable source for mastering. We use a program called EAC (or XLD for Mac) to obtain the peak values for each track. This is kind of like a "digital fingerprint" - and it's what you see at the start of this thread. It's not 100% perfect - but it's a fairly reliable way of identifying a disc's mastering even when the matrix numbers are different or unknown. Using these peak values can tell you which discs are from the initial mastering pass, the Citizen Dan mastering pass or the final 2000-era mastering pass. (Plus other Japanese mastering variants.) Let us know if you need help running these programs. Cheers, Paul
Thanks for the info. Reading up on a couple of other threads, I noted Barry Diament's remarks that since the EAC peak levels only report for each track the one absolute peak for that track, it was POSSIBLE for there to be a different mastering altogether as long as each track's single peak was not altered on that different master. However, given the original poster's mastering lists segregated by their respective EAC peak levels, we see up to seven different unique "sets" of peak levels. If those different sets of peak levels indicate different masterings (or the same masterings with adjusted levels, which to me would at least technically mean a different mastering also) wouldn't it be pretty safe to surmise that a given cd with the exact same set of peaks as those in one mastering group would have the exact same mastering as the other cd versions in that same group? If not, and one or more of the cd versions in that group actually could be a different mastering that just happened to have the same set of peaks, would that not mean that there are even MORE masterings out there than those already identified by the different mastering groups? Especially when there are supposedly only three different masterings for each title, despite the dizzying number of variations in matrix info from the center hub? At any rate, I am happy to find that on both "Can't Buy a Thrill" and "Katy Lied", the EAC peaks for all tracks (10 on each title), proved an exact match for version three on both titles. As long as neither one sounds bloody awful (and they don't), I think I am done, even though the only way to be really certain would be null testing, which would require actually having some or all of those other versions to test against. Considering my age and the fact that I still have several much bigger windmills to tilt at, I probably should move on to those. Many thanks, all.
And that's what we've found here. The masterings are very consistent with the EAC Peak values. EAC is sensitive enough where we even find "level shifted" copies of the same masterings. If your mastering matches 3 via EAC peak analysis, you have Mastering 3. Cheers, Paul
Hello @bmoregnr , I have recently acquired a copy of Gaucho on CD: made in USA (1984 on back sleeve) barcode: 0 7674-17220-2 0 MCAD-37220 DIDX 56 Matrix: MCAD37220RE4 1D23 MFD BY JVC (the "23" is scratched in the disc) Peak levels: 96.9/88.0/94.9/97.7/92.1/95.2/90.4 discogs entry: Steely Dan - Gaucho So accordingly to the original post, this is a mastering 7 (peak level is "97.7" instead of "92.7" for track 4). But matrix codes are very similar to the pressing that is listed as mastering 5. Are we sure that "92.7" in mastering 5 is not a transcription mistake?
Am I correct in assuming that the masters for aja and gaucho are gone? the universal fire destroyed them?
Obviously we have no way of knowing for sure, but the Gaucho masters seem to have vanished before the Universal fire (use of the 1982 digital copy for the 2003 SACD).
Could be a typo on the part of the person who entered the discogs data (the last digits are often hard to read). The crude JVC matrices were used on both Japan for US and the earliest US for US CDs.
I’d have to point you to the original thread, which I haven’t reviewed yet, but I’d be surprised if it was missed as a transcribing error. Steely Dan CDs Different Masterings: Gaucho
@Black Elk reported the peak level from the log file: Code: Track 4 Peak level 92.7 % Track quality 100.0 % Copy CRC 6498DE69 Copy OK Thus no transcription error from his side. And here's mine: Code: Track 4 Filename 04 Gaucho.wav Peak level 97.7 % Extraction speed 2.6 X Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC 1A2A8969 Copy CRC 1A2A8969 Accurately ripped (confidence 47) [0D77ED33] (AR v2) Copy OK I must add that, despite the similarity in the matrix codes, @Black Elk 's entry has no barcode so it's presumably an earlier pressing. So in the end it's confirmed we actually have two (slightly) different masterings here. Thank you
That is interesting, why only 1 track would be different. Wonder if there was an issue. Is there any kind of 'glitch' ?
