I was in a rush... Anyway, to clarify, to my knowledge, the SRC number relates to the glass master for each mastering, while an RE number (if it exists) relates to the mastering (could be a change in the audio, could be a change in the index points, etc). So the run for a CD could look like: SRC-01 SRC-02 SRC-03 ... RE-1 SRC-01 RE-1 SRC-02 ... RE-2 SRC-01 Etc...
SRC matrix's are from Specialty Record Corp, SRC being the acronym. Yes they were in PA. Tray artwork on the one I wrote about a few posts above states "Distributed by ATCO, Division of Atlantic Records" Atlantic being the A in WEA. Barry is on record over and over stating he prefers CD pressed at Specialty in PA. However for the one I wrote about point moot as it's an early DADC and most importantly a different mastering.
Per above, it looks like the glass master was produced at SRC, but it was replicated at DADC. I'm guessing Barry was indicating a preference for their glass mastering, rather than replication. I've seen quite a few Capitol CDs with SRC glass masters replicated at Capitol's Jacksonville (JAX) plant, for example. IIRC, they initially didn't have glass mastering facilities. Also, any release from that period would be Atlantic/WEA regardless of where it was pressed. That was simply who distributed Island at the time.
Here are some peak levels gathered from previous post and united by same masterings: ****** 1) The original UK CD "CID U2 6" shares the same mastering as the P35D CD. 7 90581-2 (USA) Matrix: 90581-2 SRC-05 P35D-20034 (Japan) Matrix: P35D20034 A7225P 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 ***** 2) Island 7 90581-2 (D 153501 - RCA pressing; Atco distribution) 90581-2 28! MADE IN USA BY PDO Island 422-842 298-2 (PolyGram ownership) 4228 42 2982 04! MADE IN USA 90581-2 (USA) Matrix: 3 90581-2 RE-1 SRC-01 Catalog on Disc = 90581-2 DIDM 1706 7 90581-2 Matrix: 7567 90581-2 2897 160 01* Made in W. Germany by PDO Mfd. for RCA Direct Marketing 90581-2 15350 1D 97.0 / 94.9 / 99.9 / 80.3 / 80.3 / 86.0 / 89.6 / 76.5 / 99.8 / 86.2 / 56.6 % ***** 3) "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 now for another different and (so far) unique mastering; disc was bought new when released and the MPO center hub with the embossed inscription has been something that was removed soon. Island CDCID U2 6 Made in France by MPO CIDU 26 MPO 01 @ "mpo france compact disc 05" on clear hub 84,5 / 73,5 / 90,6 / 64,1 / 67,8 / 76,7 / 67,5 / 78,0 / 78,2 / 76,3 / 55,9 Notice how the tracks are a lot lower than the P35-group but track 8, which is louder.
Just posted this in a thread on the different mixes of 'The Joshua Tree' on cd and thought I should add it here as well... I purchased a cd copy of 'The Joshua Tree' the day it was released in Australia! I have just checked the EAC results...and they are different than any I have seen posted in the forums!! Anyone have one of these? I've not made any listening comparisons as yet!! U2 - The Joshua Tree Japan for Australia/Festival Records CD 53220 (on inserts and disc) Matrix: CD 53220 LA2 72 Total DR: 13 DR: (L)13.4 (R)13.0 Peak: (L)Over (R)-0.05 RMS: (L)-17.5 (R)-16.6 Track 1 Peak level 90.3 % Track 2 Peak level 99.4 % Track 3 Peak level 100% Track 4 Peak level 78.5 % Track 5 Peak level 81.4 % Track 6 Peak level 81.9 % Track 7 Peak level 79.4 % Track 8 Peak level 76.7 % Track 9 Peak level 94.1 % Track 10 Peak level 74.8% Track 11 Peak level 52.3%
I've just entered the peaks on a spreadsheet (*) and these are all different masterings, none of them is just a level-shift of another. Quite puzzling. Two are similar enough - the France Cinram and the UK original, all the rest are very different. Oddest-looking one is the MPO France. (*)if anyone can give me a hint on how to do graph charts online...
I never hear other than the MFSL but! I dont feel that have a great sound; I mean Im sure that sound can be better; like drums by example, Interesting about the japan 1st press, I go to search
I have a "CID U2 6 MADE IN THE UK BY PDO" version with different eac peak levels to any others in the thread. The CAT NO. is 842 298-2. Peaks are as follows :- 87.2/90.2/93.7/76.0/76.8/74.2/77.2/72.0/85.7/76.2/53.1 Anyone else have the same mastering?
I think that I first heard this CD in a BMG pressing from around 1992. The first few songs never really jumped out from the speakers. "Bullet the Blue Sky" seemed to be a better, more lively recording that did demonstrate a better overall sound of the band. Steve Lillywhite mixed tracks 1,3,4, and 6; so we can associate his sonic vision with these tracks. I wonder if the reason why the CD mastering of US and European editions continued to be drastically inferior to the Japanese 1st pressing (even after the band complained) has to do with the fact that Island kept issuing different masters and people kept buying them in droves regardless! Maybe the fact that, like this album being a burgeoning album of the CD format, our average Joes also largely purchased this on cassette and weren't concerned with it sounding great on their Walkmans (Walkmen?) or Thunderbird stock Ford cassette deck. As much as we look to the early to middle 1990s as a time when the loudness war began, people increasingly buying albums on cassette during the early to middle 1980s had to have some kind of effect on people tolerating poor mastering jobs. Listening on cassette does not usually afford one the opportunity to pick out mastering flaws or a dull sound.
Come again? It appears that the original US CD was identical to the Japanese issue (and possibly the original European issue as well). At some point a decision was made to tweak that, resulting in an RE-1 pressing, which became standard in the US for quite some time.
How could SHF members like Dave testify that the US and Japanese pressings (with the same peak levels) sound so dramatically different from each other?
Nothing can be worse than the SE edition lc00268.. I can only presume Edge is actually deaf... Stick to the vinyl..its one of those situations that seemed to exist in the 80s where the original cd was mastered to sound like it had false extra detail (Bright headache inducing) and any attempt to remaster/tweak seems to have made it worse.
I gather from what you said earlier in the thread that, played from a CD-R or hard drive, the two pressings should sound the same. I hope to God that you're right.
It's been a few years, so at the moment I don't want to state with *100%* certainty that the mastering is identical, but re-reading this thread, that's my recollection. And yes, if that's the case, once you perform a rip, any pressing dependent "issues" (if they exist at all) will be eliminated.
My advice: 1) get 2 digitally identical CD's of 4 or 5 album's of your choice 2) let your gear get to full operating temperature so that all things are equal - this is of crucial importance 3) have a 3rd party [so you do not know which is which] put on 1 of each of the identical discs and compare at least 2-3 tracks off of each album 4) save your hope for important things rather than a far too slickly produced mid 1980's U2 CD with homogenized [at least compared to their 1st 3 Albums] material Doing this for yourself is far more beneficial than reading over a ponderous and pointless debate on expensive premium price CD's vs their exact same low priced "stock disc" digitally identical counterpart. BTW I did well over 60 blind compares of digitally identical discs and it annoys to think about how much time I wasted on a fools errand. Wish I knew then there were agendas other than quest for best sound at work.
This made me laugh! I was actually looking at the hardback book that comes with the deluxe remaster 2cd/1dvd box just last night. The book (and the music/video) are excellent.
Sorry, marcel, I should have posted this... U2 The Joshua Tree MFSL UDCD 650 Track 1 Peak level 100.0 % Track 2 Peak level 100.0 % Track 3 Peak level 100.0 % Track 4 Peak level 100.0 % Track 5 Peak level 100.0 % Track 6 Peak level 92.3 % Track 7 Peak level 92.5 % Track 8 Peak level 92.6 % Track 9 Peak level 100.0 % Track 10 Peak level 100.0 % Track 11 Peak level 82.8 %
