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Particularly appalling CD masters that don't come close to the vinyl

colasblue

colasblue

pfm Member
I guess this thread is for those who have significant quantities of vinyl and CD and at least a few duplicates, and run high end sources for both.

Over the last year or two I've generally been of the opinion that most of the time digital is at least as good as the original vinyl if not better, but there is the odd digital failure.

Two that really stick out for me as digital disasters are:

Ommadawn by Mike Oldfield. Digital just totally fails to capture the timbre of the vocals and you end up focusing on the bass line, whereas on the LP the vocals are centre stage and the bassline is exactly that. And this is a HDCD which is supposed to be better than a normal one ( and yes I have ripped it to 24 bith wit DB poweramp and the proper HDCD encoding enabled and even If I hadn't my DAC does HDCD decoding)

Santana's Abraxas, It just seems to me that there are nuances (and actually dare I say actual notes) missing from the guitar, particularly on Samba Pa Ti.

Any others got any thoughts/observations about this?
 
The CD print by Castle of Black Sabbath's Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is crushed to death and then shut inside a lead chest.
Truly tragic sound quality.
 
This is an absolute horror story, The The – 45 RPM (The Singles Of The The). Songs that are known for huge dynamics on vinyl completely crushed to death

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I'd be careful with this subject because some vinyl re-issues might be made from the same bad masters.
Even though the original vinyl issue is great, a re-issue might be as bad as the CD.
 
I certainly agree regarding increased compression on later remasters. In the early 00's I used to look out for remastered CD's as they often sounded better than the earlier releases due to improvements in the digital technology, but now I tend to avoid them in favour of earlier masterings.

The difference in volume is absolutely staggering in some cases and the earlier (quieter and with more headroom) master often sounds pretty much identical to or better than the LP. Queen released a complete set of remasters in 2010 packaged in SACD cases, though there is no SACD element. The few I have are not at all to my liking. All very compressed.
 
The difference crops up frequently for me.
I have an album on record, it sounds great. I get a c.d. copy of the same album and it sounds flat.

The old Landscape L.P. ‘From The Tea Rooms Of Mars…’ is a dynamic album, the same thing on c.d. (remastered - 2002) is a disappointment.

Not always the case though.
Comparing the Stevie Wonder album, Innervisions, with the c.d. being a remaster from 2000, both formats sound good.

I have rarely, or perhaps never had a c.d that sounds better than the vinyl record version.
 
I had The Doors' debut album on a nondescript mid-1970s UK LP pressing, and when CDs first came out, one of my workmates bought it on CD.

Clearly the LP had been cut from a fifth or sixth generation cutting master, for it was woolly, indistinct, and flat compared to the CD, which, in the early days, had probably been done straight from the master with no EQ or remastering.
 
Big Tabs said:
I have rarely, or perhaps never had a c.d that sounds better than the vinyl record version.
Click to expand...
I have several LPs where some genius decided that a very slow fade in was a good idea. The start of a LP always seems to have noise and clicks.
Dire Straits Love over Gold is a good example
 
Heaven 17's Luxury Gap... the first CD issue sounded absolutely terrible compared to the original vinyl, not sure if they've sorted since... too scared to find out. It was really really bad... no bass, terrible sibilance, no DR ... horrid!
 
davidsrsb said:
The start of a LP always seems to have noise and clicks.
Click to expand...

That isn’t my experience.

I have found some albums were pressing noise is on several copies, but certainly not every L.P. I have ever purchased. That applies to last century and this century.

Just checked. I haven’t got Love Over Gold, but do have 3 other Dire Straits albums.
 
A friend of mine took "Love Over Gold" back three times when it first came out in pursuit of a decent copy. He eventually gave up and bought it on CD. It was one of the first albums to be simultaneously released on both formats.

I got lucky and got a decent pressing first time, but accidentally left it on the TT overnight and after that it wasn't the same having collected a lot of dust. I even had it Keith Monks cleaned but that didn't get it back to where it had been.

I bought a remastered CD in the 00's and it sounds as good as the vinyl but without the clicks, pops and roar.

I also have Ultravox's "Rage in Eden" on CD and a curious observation is that they've introduced a low bass note on the Intro to "The Voice" to compensate for the lack of TT rumble. Noticeably absent when I play the vinyl!
 
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