The Rush cd mastering thread (part 2)

Well, I listened to it a bit today on my main stereo, redbook layer only (I don't have an SACD player). One thing is that it's much quieter than the original CD and even the vinyl, and a lot more dynamic sounding, particularly in the drums. It now sounds closer to Rush's earlier albums for sure. I will post computer findings as soon as I can rip it. My laptop can't play back the Redbook layer, I guess because of a firmware limitation in the DVD drive. Fortunately, I have another laptop which can. :? I can see now why SACD has more or less failed in the market.

 

I know that Cold Fire and Alien Shore will sound so much better! They're my favorite 90's Rush songs so I might just get the new version now!

 

I love the bass on the atomic, but I grew up with the vinyl and the atomic so I prefer those. I don't mind the harshness either because I think the material is supposed to sound cold in this case. I'd love to find the original Japanese disc to hear what that sound sounds like.


As a matter of housekeeping, The Atlantic Remasters were released several years after the 1997 Mercury Remasters, not at the same time, though there was some continuity with the The Rush Remasters slogan along the left side of the liner. I want to say 2004 but it may have been a few years after that.

 

When I say harshness, I certainly don't mean coldness, ala Power Windows, which has a lot of high, bright, cold moments. On The Enemy Within on vinyl, there is a consistent vocal distortion that just makes it unlistenable in my opinion, like a bad FM reception. This is more akin to a defect. None of the CDs, even the weird (IMO) Mercury/Atomic, has this problem.

 

Hi all!

I know I'm very LATE at this discussion, but may anyone give me the numbers of the "Mercury Atomic" CDs? (from 2112 to Moving Pictures)

Thanks a lot

 

Thank you, I was about to post that. The error was being carried over several posts and it was bugging me.

Anyway... I'm puzzled by the repeated singling out of Hold Your Fire as being bright and having no bass. I own the West German atomic*; and, to me, it's warmer and bassier than either Power Windows or Presto, plus the dynamics are great. Sure, it's very "80s sounding" (not a bad thing in my book), but so are several other Rush CDs. Does anyone else share this view, or is it just me?

* (A brief disclaimer... I'm not endorsing this particular pressing over others as I haven't compared, nor am I implying it is a unique mastering; I'm simply sharing the details for the sake of the discussion.)

 

I read through most of these two threads but it gets kind of confusing with all the different conversations going on simultaneously. Basically, I decided to check which versions of the rush CDs I own and here they are.

I'm in canada so they're all anthems except PW for reasons I don't know.

hold your fire anc-1-1051
power windows 098-2 m-1 -> west germany poly gram
grace under pressure vank-1045
fly by night wank-1002
signals vank-1038

Could anyone tell me if any of these are considered the best or on par with another pressing as being one of the best ?

thanks!

 

Identical to the Mercury/Atomic/AMCY/25.8P. IMO/Kevin5Brown's/pmc's, the SHM version is better. The vinyl record is probably best.

The ANC-1 is *probably* a level-shifted version of the Mercury Atomic that you had. It's generally accepted here that the 25.8P/SHM is better.

The best overall GUP CD IMO, except for the first track which lacks bass (the Atomic is better for that track). GUP vinyl sounds better except for "The Enemy Within".

Best CD, but the vinyl is better.

This is a contentious one. The Anthem Signals has many good tracks and so does the Mercury and MFSL releases. My personal preference for CD (and Fizbin's as well) is the AMCY/SHM, but the Anthem is still a decent choice (though "The Analog Kid" has a stereo imbalance).

HTH

 

Relax, you're not (entirely) alone.

 

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it. So, FBN, GUP would be keepers. I'm planning on getting the MFSL for signals anyways. As for Power windows and HYF, in your opinion how big would you say the differences are ?

Also, for MP is there a good version that's actually pretty cheap (under 20$) instead of the rarer ones that are around 40$?

 

Went to the flea market yesterday and bought cassettes of MP, Signals, GUP, and PoW. (Is it okay to mention cassettes on this thread?). From what I've heard, MP uses the same mastering as the 01/02 Atomic CD, (missing/shortened intros to some songs and all that). The others sound about as good as a cassette can get. I also bought Hemispheres on vinyl and there's a lot of tape hiss. Other than that, it sounds great.

 

I grew up on those cassettes. My originals are now long gone, of course, but I was in a record shop last week and sitting there behind the counter on a shelf behind the register was what looked like the entire collection of Rush cassettes. Talk about time traveling in your own head. I may have to go back there and get them. Not sure what I would do with them, but they are still fun to stare at.

 

Here's something I forgot to ask:

If I go about making a mixed CD-R of the MFSL and AMCY, what would be the best way to ensure the tracks are level-matched? That it contains the same sequence of peaks as the originals? I'm not exactly a newbie when it comes to computer audio and such,(I use EAC for my ripping and burning) but this is new for me and I'd appreciate some advice from the experts here.

 

Or try a vinyl pressing. 1st US is recommended.

 

I think what we need now is a Rush vinyl vs. CD thread. Which are superior? I think it has been established beyond reasonable doubt that the Fly By Night vinyl is the best version of all. OTOH, I've heard the highly touted Robert Ludwig "Moving Pictures", and while it was damn good (comparable to the W. German Atomic in terms of organic bass), it doesn't have the same clarity in the highs that the Atomic does. Etc.

Would like to hear more opinions on this. I do know I now prefer the vinly of HYF over the SHM.

 

First time round I bought very few pre-recorded cassettes but now that I am buying cassettes and decks again, the Rush back catalog is on my list. Always good to hear the music from another source - even one that is long forgotten by many!

At the moment I think I have about 3-4 from Rush, including "Test For Echo" but I am guessing that there weren't too many choices for the source of this tape.

 

You probably should be careful about the Moving Pictures cassette, because some there's a version with the infamous "01/02 WG Atomic" mastering, as I've stated earlier on this page. It might just be the US cassette, but there could be others...

 

If you have WAVE editing software, the best way is by RMS values. Not the same value for every song, but look at the shift between the same songs, and then apply that for the songs from the other release. If that makes sense. But you have to use your ears too, to make sure what you're doing is working.

 

does anyone know if German and West German Mercury Signals are the same ?

 

^^^ What are the catalog numbers?

For example, a German remaster is most certainly not the same as a WG original CD.

 

the ones I'm looking at all have 810 002-2

 

I think I remember someone on the forum once saying "get the atomics and be done with it" that's what I did and I'm overall pretty happy & didn't break the bank.

 

I'll have to listen for that next time I put it on the turntable.

First exposure to Grace Under Pressure was a cassette dubbled from a friend's album which I listened to heavily for about three years until I picked up the atomic when I got my first CD player. If there was a distortion (or if I even had the capability to notice it back then) it's possible I may have forgotten about it.

​

​

I have the West German Hold Your Fire (bought on release day, but no atomic) and I still prefer that to the 1997 Remaster. It's a little hard to compare it with the Sector version because some of the songs aren't completely the same.​

​

There are just so many things to listen for on Hold Your Fire that the bass is hard to pick up on unless you listen to it quite a bit.​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

I own about a half-dozen 8 Tracks (no player). I was never big on pre-recorded cassettes.​

I never even owned an 8 Track player. I just think 8 Track's (Rush's anyway) are pretty cool.​

​

​

 

I would think they'd be the same then, but you'd need EAC values to be sure. Or ... just listen.

fwiw: I picked up a TSRTS CD that also came from Germany, not WG, and it was indeed Barry's original mastering. Manufactured in the mid 90's after reunification, but before the remaster came out, which was just recently for this one though.

 

thanks!