I recently did a shoutout between 3 different masterings: 1) ABC White Label Promo 2) 1974 ABC repress Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill 3) 70's Club Edition / CRC Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill ---- Of the White Label press: this is the only time I've heard a Dan album sound like it was poorly recorded and low budget. There is no sheen or slickness here, there is a thin-ness to the mastering that sounds like it was recorded off of an AM radio. Also, the mistakes that other masterings had corrected are sorely sticking out here. The distortion on the backup vocals for "Midnight Cruiser" is so bad it's unlistenable. Distortion abounds on the album, it's obvious the Dan were new to the studio and their engineers were too stoned or inexperienced to keep track of the levels peaking in the red. This probably explains their later focus on achieving exemplary sound on future releases. The 1974 re-press is a whole different experience, the mistakes of the original recording are corrected here. Lots of EQ cleanup -- treble is turned down significantly across the board. Bass is huge on this press -- it drives the songs, keeps up a groove throughout. Because of the heavy EQ -- there is a dreariness that hangs over the album, the brightness is missing -- which adds to the melancholy of the songs. The CRC was a huge surprise as club pressings can be very hit and miss, but this one is a stunner. The soundstage is huge and open, instruments are discrete and clear. If I were to imagine what MFSL would do with this album, this would be how I would imagine it to sound. There's even a slight surround aspect to the record as there's so much dimension to the mastering (think Dolby Atmos or 5.1). The distortion on the vocals is still here, but it's less distracting than before. Bass is great, but it could use just a pinch more, IMO. For the audiophiles, this is easily the best I've heard the album -- vinyl or digital.
On LP, I prefer the 1975 Rings Label pressings. On digital, I prefer the original MCA Roger Nichols mastering CD or a good PlaidBack CD.
I like my ABC black label. Yes, the club pressings can be hit or miss. I bought a CRC pressing of CBAT hoping to catch lightning in a bottle. Unfortunately it was a bit defective...sounded horrible in spots. Unrelated, but on the topic of club pressings. I bought a club copy of The Doors Soft Parade...killer sound...mastered by Robert Ludwig.
Recently picked up a 1980 Pinkneyville pressing with the rainbow labels locally. I think I paid $6 for it. It looks VG, but sounds quite a bit better, and I was actually pretty impressed with the mastering too for what otherwise seems like a cheap reissue. I had a copy of this a few years ago, it was a rings label copy, probably another Pinkneyville pressing since that’s about 35 minutes from where I bought both, but I remember that one sounding like crap. So it really might be luck of the draw.
Big issues with those MCA/Coral pressings. Pressing quality is a crapshoot. That pressing sounds great, but many pressed on regrind heavy vinyl, and iffy surfaces.
Does anyone have any experience regarding pressings with "RE-1" or "RE-1 H" matrix? I found a RCOA club pressing that i'm in the process of cleaning one so I can A/B my beat non-club 1972 copy and clean 1975 reissue.
There is a new pressing of CBAT released by UMG that has just hit the record stores. It's available on Amazon, etc. I'm not sure if this is the same Bernie Grundman cut that Analogue Productions is also putting out?
What is "regrind heavy" vinyl? Previous records that were heavy, or those later (recycled) ones heavy? Because I don't recall any of my MCA sky labels or MCA / Coral being heavy. They were average to thin, mostly very average for the period.
I can't say this objectively, but some of the corals are lighter than the others. Non of them are 'heavy' like LPs from the '60s.
High amounts of regrind (industry term) for recycled vinyl in vinyl formulas used for record pressing. Which is why I posted heavy (high) regrind content. MCA Records pressings tended to be dodgy on a good day. High percentages of regrind vinyl in vinyl pressing tend to lead to more noisy records.
Yeah, I know all that. It's the use of "heavy" here that confuses. The vinyl could likely be 100% regrind, and not just a very high concentration of non-virgin vinyl. Atlantic was also using a ton of regrind in the mid to late 70s. It can sometimes be seen under a bright light when different batches are mixed together for a new run of LPs.
Grabbed this the other day. Cut by Bernie. Wasn't aware of any digital step, but sounds fantastic regardless. Its soo difficult to find a great sounding first pressing. I've had a bunch. Unfortunately the black label ABC / Dunhill pressings were usually a bit noisy. Ill probably keep one of my ABC first pressings, but pretty sure the 50th anniversary one will be my go to on vinyl now. I pre ordered the UHQR cd of cbat and RS. Hopefully they ship it soon.
So - a quick update on the master tapes. The main batch were not in the fire (phew!!). The only masters they couldn't find were Aja and Gaucho, and it looks like they have pretty clean copies of those. Here's the photographic proof: There they are in all their glory - in pairs - side a & b - from the top Katy Lied (un-labeled, but shown elsewhere in the source I pulled from), Can't Buy A Thrill, Pretzel Logic and Countdown To Ecstasy. That's a screengrab by me from this video: Bernie, as part of the remastering of the first 7 albums, has completed the transfer of Can't Buy A Thrill. There are several editions based on this transfer: A 45 UHQR cut AAA by Bernie, a 33 1/3 vinyl cut by Alex Abrash from Bernie's digital files, an upcoming SACD, and a digital edition available from the usual streaming services. You can hear the new digital transfer here on Spotify: Can't Buy A Thrill If you're looking digitally - some streaming servcies have a mix of the 1998 mastering and the new 2022 mastering. Be sure to look for a 2022 copyright data and/or the words Universal and Geffen in the details if you want to hear the new one. There's more details about the new masterings in these threads: Steely Dan Analogue Productions 45 RPM & UME/Geffen 33 Vinyl Reissues Steely Dan on AP SACD Cheers, Paul
I took the new remaster for a spin last night (digital, streamed on Apple Music). It's nothing short of a disaster, IMO. Whoever was in charge of digital mastering attempted to add low end to this album when there's minimal low end to add. CBAT is a notoriously "tinny" and scrappy sounding recording, anyone with an ABC 1st pressing can attest to that. From what I hear, low end is added to just about everything to give fullness -- bestowing the audio more weight and bass -- but as a result, everything sinks to the bottom. The vocals on this album are noticeably trebly, especially the harmonies, but it's what adds the magic to songs like "Dirty Work" and "Midnite Cruiser". This new mastering places the vocals in the lower range of frequencies in an effort to reduce the treble (and distortion) and the result sounds like mushed cereal. The one positive I can give this edition is that the soundstage is nice and wide. Other than that, it's a miss for me. I hope it's not a harbinger of what's to come on other formats and forthcoming titles. It's the first time I've heard this album sound lethargic, certainly not a thrill.
