I have one and was shocked to hear how dead silent it sounded with no pops or ticks. I'm accustomed to my two black label originals that have a small amount of noise in the quiet parts. The tape drag on "Fire in the Hole" never bothered me and overall the SC is an excellent master, yet I usually reach for the OG since in itself it's outstanding and is something I have a visceral connection to ever since I nicked it from my father's collection forty years ago.
Enjoy the old compact mastering as well. Probably why I skipped grabbing the LP, + a mono Gordon Lightfoot caught my eye
Just ran into a 1B/1A pressing of this album and boy-oh-boy does it sounds dull... Condition aside, it's sonically a bit muddy compared to my MCA pressing, (which is a bit too bright on Side B but sounds good regardless).
It's been remastered so many times and on All formats, I think your playback system of choice has significant impact across whatever your format of choice is. Not everyone does vinyl, CD or streaming they will do one of the three . I have the CD remaster from 98 MCAD -11886 and it sounds PFG to me
A year and a half on, and prices for black label ABCs don't look to be coming down. This is such a tricky record sonically, I think I'm fine with my MCA Coral. Super quiet, nice bass, and the highs really do shimmer. Honestly, aside from Katy Lied (with the known high-end issues), all my Steely Dan vinyl sounds pretty fantastic now.
Man, I hope you're right. I never had any luck with the MCA Coral copies of the Dan that bested an early pressing. FWIW, the early pressings of CBAT I've heard (in spite of their condition) were worth their weight in gold. Oddly enough, it was the Columbia Terre Haute "children's blocks" labels that set my heart afire.
There are a bunch of Countdowns on the original black labels that are also dull. That is why I've suggested yellow/orange target ABC labels are the safest bet and are often outstanding.
Yes, to me MCAD- 11886 is the best CD version I've heard. It's the one I've kept in my collection over the years. I'm lucky enough to own a couple of quiet Dunhill lps in nice condition. They sound great. Trick is to find them with low surface noise.
I will keep that in mind. I actually found both copies I own at two different thrift stores (in opposite parts of the country) so they were impulse buys more than anything else. That is the exact pressing I ran into...
Many years ago, on this forum, in an old "Definitive Steely Dan pressings" thread, someone RAVED about the MCA Coral of CBAT. And basically said, "Yeah, normally the Corals are clearly inferior, but on THIS title they got the mastering right." So I bought one, and it did indeed best my ABC CBAT, which I subsequently sold. (It wasn't even close.) But I don't remember if that particular CBAT was a black label or not.... More than likely it was a yellow/orange one. Nonetheless, my MCA Coral sounded fantastic, and was super quiet to boot. I never hunted for another. I played it recently after having upgraded my system, and with a new revealing TT, I feel like I'm detecting a slight bass boost? Which has me curious if a really good black label ABC is a more "organic" sound. But it's not enough to make me pay the current CBAT prices and find out. (Let's put it this way: It's a far subtler "bass boost" than what MoFi did on their recent reissue of Breakfast In America, and a bunch of forum folks seem to LOVE that pressing. I personally find that particular BIA to sound a little too clinical & artificial, whereas the MCA Coral CBAT sounds "detailed" in a really pleasing way.) If you're interested, NM copies pop up occasionally, and usually for not much money. [EDIT: Well, the one guy on Discogs wants double the previous "High" price for his copy. Maybe the word is out?) Might be worth pulling the trigger to find out. Based on the wide variety of experiences with this title, my guess is that it probably WILL sound better than your current CBAT unless you have one of the really GOOD ABCs. (Hot stamper?!?) Steely Dan – Can't Buy A Thrill (1980, Pinckneyville Pressing, Vinyl) Someone else mentioned that their go-to is a "blocks" label pressing..... Not to sidetrack the thread, but after running across nothing but dull ABCs, I finally found my keeper copy of CTE last year, and it was a minty ABC blocks: Steely Dan – Countdown To Ecstasy (1973, Blocks Label, Terre Haute Pressing, Vinyl) This was thanks to another Hoffman thread, where a few guys raved about the blocks label of CTE and argued that it might be the "true" first pressing. I don't know about that, but given that it's another famously hit-or-miss Steely Dan title, I'd 100% suggest trying out this particular pressing.
As a matter of fact, it is a "Hot Stamper." Don't hate me. Before I plunked down the money for it I acquired several copies (ABC black labels, yellow labels, MCA sky blue labels, both iterations of Japanese pressings, and the Speakers Corner). I never sought out an MCA Coral for CBAT after I had such a lousy experience with a Coral copy of Katy Lied (IIRC). The "Hot Stamper" I bought was a CTH children's blocks label (A1/B1). It was undeniable how much better it sounded than every other copy I already had. Not leaps and bounds, mind you, but enough to make me stop searching. This is not to say that you can't find a great sounding pressing out in the wild--whether it's a Coral or a black label OG--I just happened to buy the best sounding pressing that Tom Port had stumbled upon at that time. FWIW, I found the highest fidelity of "Do It Again" on the British 45 12".
Ah, I was using "hot stamper" in the more generic sense, rather than the "Give Tom Port 200 bucks" sense. But hey, you got the best pressing! And unlike other folks who buy from him, you were kind enough to actually share the info. Hot stampers are definitely a thing, especially if you're anal enough to seek out multiple copies of the same record. I actually went through the same experience of buying multiples of Zevon's Excitable Boy, all with identical matrices.... Hoping to find a quieter version of my best sounding copy. Couldn't do it. This one particular copy just had a little extra "fairy dust" in the grooves that the others didn't. I do think there's something to the block label ABCs tho. As mentioned above, my go-to CTE is a block press. It was the first copy I found where the SQ met (or exceeded) the same tracks on the RL Greatest Hits.
I've always wondered how my yellow Canadian pressing compares. I like it but.. it's my only copy. It's this: Steely Dan – Can't Buy A Thrill (1978, Yellow Transparent, Gatefold, Vinyl)
I now have an early ABC black label for comparisons' sake: Steely Dan – Can't Buy A Thrill (1972, Gatefold, Vinyl) This is probably my new fave. But the MCA Coral is REALLY close. I don't think you can go wrong either way. The ABC is a bit more organic and natural in the low end, but you can only tell by A/B'ing. I also have the British 45RPM EP with "Do It Again." Really really good, but I think the original ABC is its equal. (The EP is louder tho.) I think either an early ABC or a Coral will best anything else, based on the other pressings I've tried and discarded over the years.
I'm going to take a guess that the pressing you have is exactly like mine (Rainbow ring label) and the typeset is the same. This is not the very best sounding LP of all time, but IS the best of CBAT IMHO.
Besides good health and better life circumstances for everyone, my greatest wish of 2022 is that we have a new “best sounding version” of CBAT arriving for the 50th anniversary!
That Discogs entry has three variants and the second and third variant only indicate a Columbia Santa Maria pressing - sx in the runouts.
Mine is the rainbow colored ABC vinyl with the music note, sounds just fine to me. Nice, warm inviting sound with little harshness
I always thought my second 74 US press sounded a bit bloated or muffled. Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill Recently got myself another German? press which sounded more correct in the store and indeed sounds more natural at home as well: Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill While my US copy doesnt have the earliest ABCX 758 runouts but instead ABC and AB 758, Im wondering if that first press actually is just as dull as my second? The German press has runouts that resemble the US variants a lot, unlike the early German pressings which are completely different, maybe later US metalwork? Id be happy to post samples, especially if someone with a first press also can to compare.
A main reason for buying the Citizen box was for the Can't Buy a Thrill. I like the sound of that version. BTW, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter is touring this spring.
That US copy is a later ABC and is gonna sound a little dull. I sold that copy after hearing the MCA Coral, which is a step up from the later ABCs. You're gonna need a black label ABC, preferrably A1/B1, to really hear how good this album sounds. Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill