Thanks for that info...it sounds pretty good to me so far, but if I ever see a SH+KPG in the bins, I'll pick up that up, too.
I imagine the Rhino reissue is the best sound wise. Astral Weeks I did have from them and it was phenomenal.
Update: This sounds REALLY good. My beat up original is going to Goodwill. The RTI # makes this pressed sometime in 2017. It had no hype stickers other than the round "HQ-180" RTI sticker. I'm not sure if this is different than the 2008 reissue and those subsequent represses.
Just a question, but you're sure it's @CA and not @ATM? Discogs entries list all the other reissues using the plates with KG/SH @ ATM,
positive...it's CA. It has a different RTI #, too. I had to make this entry... Van Morrison - Moondance
I'm not certain...I bought one, sealed, at a record store a couple of years ago...and I just ordered a sealed (gotta have a back-up!) online through Discogs.com.
I bought the Astral Weeks one sealed in store for cheap. Then the next day the store owner put out a new sealed one again. I bought it because I thought it would be rare to find a sealed copy of that reissue, but they must have either made plenty of stock or can still press. Sort of like the King Crimson Inner Knot reissues, they are from the early 2010s and I can still order sealed stock from my store.
There are apparently now 2 versions of the Rhino...that’s the point of the discussion the last few days.
Im guessing Kevin cut some new laqcuer at CA for them to make repress rounds. Probably is very similar.
My CA Astral Weeks was great so I bet this one is too. I always hate when this happens though. In case it is worse all the sellers on discogs will just use the ATM page and sell their new CAs there. Can often happen when I buy. Usually doesnt matter too much for the sound though.
Again...it depends on the source. Kevin Gray does great work, but we don’t know what source he had to work with. Might be great, might not be.
To add one more data point, I just received a copy from Music Direct. It was also the newer KPG@CA version. Would be interesting to find out if this was a digital source or not as it does sound very good. Base to cymbals are great. One additional thought, doesn’t CA have the upgraded electronics (cables, etc.) over ATM? That should also make a difference if so.
The newer cut is from Kevin's digital archive of the master. The flat analog was unusable and the eq'd master wasn't right. I suspect it was remixed from the multis for the first reissue in 2008.
I checked my copy and played it today. I bought it a few years ago and it's the SH/KG @ATM version. One of the best sounding records I own...did not know there was a new KG@CA cut before reading this thread, just assumed Rhino was keeping the previous one in print.
Boy do I wish I'd read this thread sooner. Been holding out getting a copy of the ATM version for forever. Recently ordered from Amazon what I thought it was the 2008 version, only to see the @CA in the deadwax. It still sounds fantastic and is a huge improvement on my vintage copy so I'm not too beat up about it. But when you hear people throwing around phrases like 'best sounding record I own' for the ATM cut, you can't help but be curious what the difference between the CA and ATM versions is! Anyone know if the EU pressed 'Back to Vinyl' have also changed over? If I remember rightly they were also the SH/KG version, or at least I read that here: Van Morrison - Moondance - Warner/Rhino vinyl - now released *
I think the ATM and SH/KG are one and the same. And yeah Id love to hear it too, thought my old CA was great already.
Sorry my bad. By CA I meant Cohearent Audio, which is in the deadwax of the recent pressings (2018 onwards) of the Rhino version pressed at RTI, as opposed to the Acoustech Mastering (ATM) deadwax of the 2008 issue, which was also pressed at RTI, but also apparently somewhere in Europe with a 'Back to Vinyl' sticker on the front. On a slightly separate note, since my last post I've answered my own question on the European Back to Vinyl edition. Bought one from Amazon, and can confirm that yes, it's still the @ATM version. So, at least as far as Amazon Canada is concerned, and based on my own experiences, if you want to get hold of the @ATM version, this is the version you want (it's the European 'Back to Vinyl' Version - barcode 0081227950354 https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B014X537GG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Be warned that the jacket is frankly horrible compared to the RTI version, so if that's an issue for you, keep it in mind. If you're after the newer version with @CA in the deadwax, but pressed at RTI (with a much better version of the jacket), this is the one: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B001DPC4S2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 For anyone looking in the US I would assume just searching those ASIN numbers on Amazon.com will get you the version they want, but I can only speak for me experience ordering from Amazon.ca. To be clear, having spun each version only once, I'm not hearing a lot of difference that I can't be sure isn't in my head. My system isn't high end though. If I change my mind I'll report back. I had to get both out of curiousity, but I would be surprised if people were disappointed with the newer @CA version. Still sounds great. Hope this helps anyone who, like me, was confused about the whole situation, and assumed that both with still the @ATM version.
