DCC Van Halen Edge 88, I bought it when it was first released and I think it is very good when compared to the commercial release. The low end is much improved and it is sooo much smoother to listen to than the "grating" regular commercial release. I recommend it! Bob
I've got the HDCD remaster, and it's kind of an odd duck. Very loud and "hard" sounding with surprisingly little bottom end. To an extent, that's appropriate for the material, but I'd like a fuller sound. "Eruption" has plenty of hiss, so I don't think it was overly NoNoised. I like it better than the dull original issue, but I'm sure it could sound better. The DCC is on my list... Ryan
I heard this one last night (DCC) and it does sound improved in the low end , and as I recall, smother highs.
I didn't buy the HDCD of the first Van Halen to compare to the DCC Gold CD, but I did buy Van Halen II, 1984, and Diver Down as HDCDs and words "very loud" and "hard" are perfect to describe them. About a year ago I turned all 3 of these discs into mp3 to listen to with headphones on my laptop and I noticed if I use the eq and add +3db just about anywhere in the spectrum they actually distort. I've never had this happen with any other CD I've ever owned. Thats not to say there aren't more discs like this out there.
You should not hear much bass on the first 6 VH albums/HDCD's because there was not much put on them because there was not much on the masters. Ask EVH. He has mentioned this in interviews.
I just got my hands on a DCC Van Halen CD, and it's definitely an improvement over the HDCD. While the bass still isn't at sterilize-frogs levels, it's at least *there*, and the "grainy" sound of the HDCD is gone. (As a reference, check the loud guitar breaks in Runnin' With The Devil. The DCC is smooth and dynamic, while the HDCD sounds loud and overdriven.) Much more engaging to listen to. As Steve has mentioned on here before, that's one noisy master! At the beginning and end of songs it almost sounds like LP rumble. Once the music starts, though, it's not an issue. I'm sure removing it does more harm than good on the whole. Ryan
When the HDCD version came out, I recall most people saying that there wasn't much of a difference between the two versions except that the DCC disc was clearer and had a bit more bass. In other words, it was a tossup situation if the WB CD was played undecoded. I have the DCC version and all the other HDCD Van Halen remasters except this one, so it doesn't matter anyway. DCC gets the nod, I guess. I had the original 80s CD and the original LP, and I can say that the DCC disc comes closest to the sound of my LP, or should I say the LP comes closest to the DCC. The 80s CD sucked.
Maybe it was meant to sound loud and overdriven. Ballsy rock and roll! Like the first MONTROSE album! (also done by Ted and Donn)
"Bit more bass and clearer" sounds accurate to me. The difference was noticeable even on my extremely modest (non-HDCD-decoding) system, though, so take that for whatever it's worth. Yeah, I considered that, but then I also figured that if they'd really wanted that harsh, crackly sound on the guitar then it would have been recorded that way on the master. The DCC disc tells us it doesn't sound that way on the master. It's entirely possible that Ted and Donn created their intended sound at the mastering stage, though. Whatever the case, the HDCD definitely doesn't sound "wrong" to me, but my personal preference is the DCC. Either easily beats the original CD, which was awful. Ryan
All, I have a 12" promo single of Ice Cream Man. It sounds more like the DCC version than the regular CD release. I have not, as yet, heard the HDCD version. Bob
1984 was one of the worst of the HDCD bunch in whole. Made me cry, but not because I was depressed. It was just as painful to listen to as if I had a sinus infection. The rest aren't as bad, but still fairly so-so. Just MHO guys.
Lets face it, 1984 was bass shy and had a weird EQ, like someone jacked up the mids. It's not the mastering.
