Based on the SRC pressings, it seems the pink mastering came first, and was replaced by the light blue mastering. Exactly how/where the other unique masterings fit into the picture is unclear. Without going back through the thread, my recollection is some of the others are derived from the pink or light blue masterings, while others seem to be entirely unique.
All and all, it's a strange case of two different masterings at the same time in the same place basically. Weird.
I must have skimmed by your posts too quickly when reviewing this thread to find a pink mastering today to replace my 2007 remaster. I found a copy with A2 90581 on the spine and Columbia House on the back cover, so I thought my mission was accomplished. Then I got it home and was at first deflated when I found that it was the light blue remaster. Actually, though, it sounds good. I much prefer it to the 2007 remaster, and it certainly isn't the letdown that I remember from my first JT. I'll keep an eye out for the pink mastering at libraries and Goodwill just to satisfy my curiosity, but I'm happy with the light blue mastering. Here's the Discogs page for this release: U2 - The Joshua Tree Check out the last note in the "Notes" section about the RE-1.
I have a "Made In Japan Manufacturing by JVC Disc America Co." Island disc. The matrix is 9058 2 V1E5. Can I assume that this has the same mastering as the JVC US?
Here's Marcel's PDF ---> Picture It's been a few years since I visited this thread. It's the 'Pink' one right, that we want?
So has someone already figured out where the yellow mastering fits in the scheme of things? Another levelshift like the green and dark blue masterings? This one was in print in Europe from the PMDC days (1993) so maybe the most common mastering over here.
I have a rip of the France CD: "CID U2 6", Matrix reads : 842 298 2 00B Made in France by Cinram optical Discs 93.2 % / 95.8 % / 100.0 % / 78.2 % / 80.5 % / 78.4 % / 81.0 % / 75.1 % / 89.6 % / 79.5 % / 55.9 % and a disc of the original "dull" US CD: Island 7 90581-2 Matrix 90581-2-V4E12 Made in USA by JVC Disc America 91.3 / 94.5 / 98.1 / 79.6 / 80.5 / 77.7 / 80.9 / 75.4 / 89.7 / 79.8 / 55.6 plus the later US secret remaster. Weird how so many versions of this album exist. They don't digitally line up, either. Great work. This was very helpful.
I have that one as well George, I'll give it another listen. Think I burned myself out on this album because of this thread. Been a few years since I've listened to any of them Exit's levels from above could be so different due to the indexing differences 4:53 compared to 4:13
Not sure specifically what you're referring to, but the One Tree Hill coda (sometimes indexed as part of Exit) is much lower in level than the loudest parts of Exit, so it wouldn't matter if it was indexed as part of it or not. Also, some copies of the light blue mastering have correct indexing, while others don't. I don't recall if any pink copies have incorrect indexing or not.
I believe this. I (anal retentively) make minor SQ notes when I listen to music (especially for culling the herd of multiple copies of things). There are times when I've thought something sounded like crap, only to play it again months later and thought that it sounded great (and vice-versa)! So I do think there are "outside" factors (maybe other ones in addition to the "internal sinus pressure/cavity differences" that @ricks mentions) that affect our perceptions of the SQ of particular pressings of music. .
It looks like my US Island swallowed the light blue pill. It took me a bit to get through this thread....thanks to all who put in the time and their expertise. I haven't played my one and only cd for at least 5 years, until this morning... Sort of a celebration of finishing this fine thread. Why 5 years? This album was played incessantly and there was a time I didn't think I could ever listen to it again. But hey, I'm actually enjoying it this fine morning.
I just downloaded the MAAT DROffline MKII to run my U.K. and US copies, but neither are matching up with the color chart, so I think I am not finding which number to choose. What number is being chosen for the track number? Can I use this tool to compare?
The color chart uses EAC-style percentage peaks. The DR tool uses peaks in dB. With this calculator you can convert between the two: THD to dB - convert percent % to decibels dB percentage voltage % vs per cent converter THD+N total harmonic distortions calculation signal distortion factor attenuation in dB to distortion factor k in percent decibel damping - sengpielaudio Sengpiel Berlin
I've examined 2 tracks each from the pink, the light blue and the yellow mastering. The samples of track 7 stay perfectly in sync between pink and blue while yellow drifts slightly. All 3 are likely made from the same digital source and edited a little bit in a digital workstation. The EQ of pink and yellow is very similar, only above 12 kHz there's a small deviation. The EQ of blue differs a little bit more but is still very similar. Bottom line: buy the cheapest.
Huh. I originally thought the pink and light blue stayed in sync, but I thought later I found they didn’t. I guess I should check again.
Out of curiosity, I checked the 1st (1988) and 2nd (1990) Brazilian CD pressings of The Joshua Tree and they both have the same song lengths, peak levels are the ones on the light blue column: 97,0 94,9 99,9 80,3 80,3 86,0 89,6 76,5 99,8 86,2 56,6 The 1st one has this DR: DR Peak RMS Duration Track -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR11 -0.26 dB -15.34 dB 5:37 01-Where the Streets Have No Name DR12 -0.45 dB -14.94 dB 4:39 02-I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For DR12 -0.01 dB -16.43 dB 4:56 03-With or Without You DR12 -1.90 dB -14.89 dB 4:32 04-Bullet the Blue Sky DR13 -1.90 dB -21.54 dB 4:19 05-Running to Stand Still DR11 -1.31 dB -15.51 dB 4:54 06-Red Hill Mining Town DR12 -0.95 dB -15.15 dB 2:57 07-In God’s Country DR12 -2.32 dB -15.78 dB 3:32 08-Trip Through Your Wires DR14 -0.02 dB -17.90 dB 4:43 09-One Tree Hill DR12 -1.28 dB -18.99 dB 4:53 10-Exit DR12 -4.94 dB -19.89 dB 5:12 11-Mothers of the Disappeared -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While the 2nd one, from 1990 has this one: DR Peak RMS Duration Track -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR11 -0.26 dB -15.34 dB 5:37 01-Where the Streets Have No Name DR12 -0.45 dB -14.94 dB 4:39 02-I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For DR12 -0.01 dB -16.43 dB 4:56 03-With or Without You DR12 -1.90 dB -14.89 dB 4:32 04-Bullet the Blue Sky DR13 -1.90 dB -21.54 dB 4:19 05-Running to Stand Still DR11 -1.31 dB -15.51 dB 4:54 06-Red Hill Mining Town DR12 -0.95 dB -15.15 dB 2:57 07-In God’s Country DR12 -2.32 dB -15.78 dB 3:32 08-Trip Through Your Wires DR14 -0.02 dB -17.90 dB 4:43 09-One Tree Hill DR12 -1.28 dB -18.99 dB 4:53 10-Exit DR11 -4.94 dB -19.89 dB 5:12 11-Mothers of the Disappeared -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Not really sure why the change in the last song.
