Steely Dan CDs Different Masterings: The Summary Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by bmoregnr, Jul 2, 2016.

  1. Paul P.

    Paul P. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA, USA
    Yeah - I had just gone back to the post with the original waveforms of 3, 6 and 7 and fixed my post just after you posted this. :)

    Cheers,
    Paul
     
    Blue Gecko and Veovis like this.
  2. WiWavelength

    WiWavelength Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    My interpretation is that Chameleon is asking a somewhat naive question purely about “Aja” catalog number: MCAD-37214.

    Steve Hoffman references that first US CD catalog number as his mastering. Additionally, MCAD-37214 is noted in this thread under multiple “Aja” mastering entries.

    Catalog number is sufficient to pin down mastering for the vast majority of CDs ever released. But as many of us know all too well, that is not the case for some titles, which were pressed at many different plants and/or underwent secret or overt remasters.

    Long story short, catalog number is not enough information. Pressing plant matrix is the most definitive identifier, since catalog number is only a starting point. A specific catalog number could include multiple masterings. Furthermore, when reissues and multiple geographic markets are taken into account, a specific mastering might end up on several different catalog numbers.

    AJ
     
    Blue Gecko and rockclassics like this.
  3. WiWavelength

    WiWavelength Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Those apocryphal 5000 discs most likely refer to the MCAD-37214 CSR Japan first pressing run in early 1984 with matrix DIDX-55 21A1. The CSR Japan +++++ matrix and JVC Japan subsequent pressing runs with the same mastering followed later in 1984 and 1985.

    Steely Dan - Aja

    AJ
     
  4. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    Man if shipping wasn't so expensive I'd gift you an excellent Japan For US JVC M=#3 :drool:
    There's one sitting at my local for a few bucks.
     
    princesskiki likes this.
  5. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    Best Katy Lied I have heard is my Kendun first pressing vinyl. The Citizen box for cd.
     
    c-eling likes this.
  6. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    I enjoy that KENDUN as well. Have an old Santa Maria manufacture.
    Compact disc I preferred Hoffman's #03 over the Citizen.
     
  7. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    after working on finding the "right " CD's and after reading an immense amount of posts, i have come to the following conclusion:

    if you can find any of the original 7 steely dan CD's WITHOUT a bar code on the back tray card you will be OK. seems to be a case of 'the older the better"

    also, you can, and i was getting there, go goofy trying to do this.......what a mess........
     
    ti-triodes, Dave S, Keith V and 2 others like this.
  8. Keith V

    Keith V Forum Resident

    Location:
    Secaucus, NJ
    I was “raised” to believe CITIZEN STEELY DAN was the way to go from various Metal Leg articles but after discovering the missing Rikki intro and the weird Time Out of Mind mastering, I’m open to anyone’s suggestions.
     
  9. StingRay5

    StingRay5 Important Impresario

    Location:
    California
    Go back to page 1 of this thread and buy all the masterings that it says are preferred. That's what I did. I'm happy with the results.
     
    djwkyoto, Keith V, rjp and 3 others like this.
  10. Edmoney

    Edmoney Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    I've wanted to get into buying Steely Dan CDs for a long time but was overwhelmed with the amount of info in this thread. Page 1 looks very helpful in typical bmoregnr fashion, but given that the posts were written in 2016 (and don't appear to be edited since), I wasn't sure if they still reflect the most current thinking with any new revelations or insights since. So six years and 30 pages later, is there still general consensus around the recommendations on page 1?
     
    Keith V and bmoregnr like this.
  11. Paul P.

    Paul P. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA, USA
    The last major mastering pass was done in 1999/2000. So - for the most part - the information is unchanged. Any of the recommended discs would be an excellent starting point.

    Some of us are wondering if the Steely Dan master tapes were subsequently destroyed in the Universal Fire and/or otherwise damaged. For example - on the US Gaucho SACD, the mutli-channel tracks are remixed from the original master tapes, but the 2 channel digital audio seems to be a level adjusted 2000 mastering and not from a new transfer.

    With the exception of some recent Japanese SACD SHM discs - which appear to be mastered from different tapes, possibly sent to Japan as safety backups - there don't appear to be any new Steely Dan masterings.

    Cheers,
    Paul
     
    Last edited: Jul 13, 2022
    Edmoney, bmoregnr and Natvecal. like this.
  12. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    i agree

    :tiphat:
     
    audiomixer likes this.
  13. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    most seem to agree with the suggestions on page one, but i must say that at re a few things missing......
     
    Edmoney likes this.
  14. Paul P.

    Paul P. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA, USA
    I will also add - for those on the fence about the original 80s masterings, there is a sampler available: the Steely Dan Greatest Hits CD from Canada.

    It doesn't appear to be from the original reels used to compile the double vinyl album, but assembled directly from the CD masters, with just a simple volume level adjust for normalization. So, it will give you a good overview of how the 80s masterings will sound on your system, plus it includes the non-album cut Here At The Western World.

    Here's a Discogs entry showing the disc I'm talking about: Steely Dan - Greatest Hits

    Cheers,
    Paul
     
  15. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    It is a nice comp, but I did find some of the tunes EQ'd a bit brighter.
    Rikki I prefer the old Mastering #4 (US JVC) Pretzel Logic. :)
     
    Edmoney likes this.
  16. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    Try doing it from the UK.

    I'm almost there, but it took several years of hunting.
     
    Natvecal. and c-eling like this.
  17. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    I don't want to hear it Dave, you know how tough it was tracking down Spandau Ballet mastering's only found in Europe + the 100's of cd/12 inch singles I've had to import over the years :wantsome::laugh:
     
  18. Edmoney

    Edmoney Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Thanks, that's great to know. I figured one day I would read through the entire thread to identify the mastering to get, but I kept putting it off because of the daunting length of the thread. Now armed with the info I need, I can proceed with tracking down the CDs to get!
     
  19. rockclassics

    rockclassics Senior Member

    Location:
    Mainline Florida
    You might watch the CD classifieds section on this site. They show up for sale here periodically.
     
    Edmoney and Paul P. like this.
  20. Paul P.

    Paul P. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA, USA
    It should be the same, just level adjusted. Like the stand-alone CDs, it has the identical "Rikki Glitches", the missing frame on Bad Sneakers, the click on the start of Any Major Dude, the repeated frames on Showbiz Kids, etc. and should time align to original disc digital data.

    Make sure it's the original Canadian CD compilation, and not any of the other greatest hits. The others, for the most part, are brighter.

    I'm away from my discs at the moment - they're halfway across the US - but I'll verify the EQ when I get home with some real data. That would be interesting if they were different.

    Cheers,
    Paul
     
    Last edited: Jul 13, 2022
    djwkyoto, fatwad666 and c-eling like this.
  21. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    Thanks, Appreciated Paul!
    Peaks for my Canadian CINRAM Greatest Hits.
    it does have the intro click on Any Major Dude
    DR13 -0.71 dB -16.13 dB 5:56 01-Do It Again
    DR12 -0.79 dB -15.41 dB 4:35 02-Reeling In The Years
    DR14 -0.89 dB -17.89 dB 5:49 03-My Old School
    DR13 -1.93 dB -16.98 dB 5:19 04-Bodhisattva
    DR13 -0.90 dB -16.38 dB 5:28 05-Show Biz Kids
    DR13 -5.08 dB -20.70 dB 2:50 06-East St. Louis Toodle-Oo
    DR12 -1.05 dB -17.27 dB 4:33 07-Rikki Don't Lose That Number
    DR12 -0.27 dB -15.25 dB 4:32 08-Pretzel Logic
    DR12 -1.96 dB -17.13 dB 3:09 09-Any Major Dude
    DR15 -1.36 dB -19.59 dB 4:02 10-Here At The Western World
    DR14 -0.80 dB -18.16 dB 3:43 11-Black Friday
    DR14 -0.80 dB -18.20 dB 3:21 12-Bad Sneakers
    DR13 -0.80 dB -16.93 dB 3:57 13-Doctor Wu
    DR14 -1.03 dB -17.32 dB 5:51 14-Haitian Divorce
    DR13 -0.52 dB -16.32 dB 4:40 15-Kid Charlemagne
    DR13 -0.72 dB -17.33 dB 4:01 16-The Fez
    DR12 -1.23 dB -16.04 dB 3:58 17-Peg
    DR14 -0.41 dB -16.99 dB 4:32 18-Josie
     
    rockclassics likes this.
  22. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    another question, that i'm sure was answered here but i just can't find it:

    for any and all steely dan CD's, record club masterings are identical to non-record club masterings.....correct?

    even the ones from BMG that have a BMG identifer on the back tray card in place of the bar code????????????

    thanks in advance for this one.

    :tiphat:
     
  23. rockclassics

    rockclassics Senior Member

    Location:
    Mainline Florida

    Those numbers look really good. May have to track this one down.

    with those numbers the CD may be as good as the RL mastered vinyl version.
     
  24. Starquest

    Starquest ‎ ‎ ‎

    Location:
    Twin Cities, MN
    For me that's one of their finest songs
     
    StingRay5 likes this.
  25. George P

    George P Notable Member

    Location:
    NYC
    It is lovely.
     

Share This Page

molar-endocrine