Just thought I'd start a thread to post some excellent CD masters I've come across. I know the CD format has seen better days, but after recently visiting a local record store and seeing the pink and green haired Gen Z kids digging through the used CD racks instead of vinyl made me slightly nostalgic. Yes, it seems Gen Z is now interested in CD's!
My posts won't be very scientific (and mostly subjective) but sometimes dynamic range reports don't lie
The first one I pulled out was the 1994 SBK release of Slowdive's Souvlaki. This was the US release that included bonus tracks from various EP's and to my ears sounds cleaner than the UK Creation release. Dynamic range for the SBK release is listed slightly higher at a max of 14 compared to the 12 of the Creation. Either way, both of those masters sound better to me than the reissue which suffers slightly from Loudness Wars.
The second is one I totally forgot I had which is the 1997 MoFi release of The Velvet Underground & Nico. This has had hundreds of digital versions over the years, so it's fairly easy to compare. There's something about this master that makes me come back to it more than any of the High-Res versions I bought. Maybe it's the lack of excessive tweaking? To my ears it sounds very warm, not fatiguing if you will, pleasant to listen to and "analogue-like". This album didn't have the best recording quality in the studio anyways, so probably best to not tinker with it and leave it as is - which is what this master sounds like to me.
My posts won't be very scientific (and mostly subjective) but sometimes dynamic range reports don't lie
The first one I pulled out was the 1994 SBK release of Slowdive's Souvlaki. This was the US release that included bonus tracks from various EP's and to my ears sounds cleaner than the UK Creation release. Dynamic range for the SBK release is listed slightly higher at a max of 14 compared to the 12 of the Creation. Either way, both of those masters sound better to me than the reissue which suffers slightly from Loudness Wars.
The second is one I totally forgot I had which is the 1997 MoFi release of The Velvet Underground & Nico. This has had hundreds of digital versions over the years, so it's fairly easy to compare. There's something about this master that makes me come back to it more than any of the High-Res versions I bought. Maybe it's the lack of excessive tweaking? To my ears it sounds very warm, not fatiguing if you will, pleasant to listen to and "analogue-like". This album didn't have the best recording quality in the studio anyways, so probably best to not tinker with it and leave it as is - which is what this master sounds like to me.
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