Need advice on Sinatra's Jolly Christmas

[Chris Desjardin]

My wife loves this album. I want to find the best sounding version of it, but Frankie's stuff is pretty confusing. I bought a sealed mofi vinyl pressing that I can remaster to cd-r. But there is the original 1987 CD issue, the 24 bit remastered 1998 issue, etc. What about the 2000 concepts set that contains this CD? Should I seek any of these out? Can anyone help me find the best sounding version?

[Matt]

Going by memory here, I think the MFSL vinyl box used bad mono masters but the correct stereo masters. Is the Christmas album in stereo? If it is, you're probably better off sticking with it.

Otherwise, track down an early pressing of the album. The first pressings of many of his Capitol albums were VERY popular, so a clean copy shouldn't be hard to find for $15 or so.

If in the end you want it on CD, I wouldn't waste my money on buying the new Concepts box just for that disc. You're best bet may be purchasing the older Capitol CD (Larry Walsh was probably the mastering engineer). Those are usually easy to find for cheap at used CD stores, half.com, ebay, etc.

[ December 12, 2001: Message edited by: Camarillo ]

[feinstein]

The Concepts box set contains the same mastering as the 24 bit mastering from 1999 (I did a track by track comparison). This is a very well-done mastering job. If you have LP playback capabilities, you may want to search out the MSFL LP mastering of this (available separately from the box set) since it has superior sound.

[feinstein]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Camarillo:
[QB]Going by memory here, I think the MFSL vinyl box used bad mono masters but the correct stereo masters.

I reply:

"A Jolly Christmas" was a mono recording (from 1956). However, I have never heard this "bad mono master" theory about the MSFL pressing. What is your source on this theory?

I have heard some bad things in the stereo MSFL discs (e.g. "Nice 'n Easy", but the mono discs seem quite superior in sound.

I still hold very strongly by the new "Concepts" box set, which, except for "Songs For Swingin' Lovers", sounds better than almost anything I've heard.

I own many original grey label Capitols, the MSFL box, the old "Concepts" and the new "Concepts" and have listened extensively to them. Have you conducted empirical tests like I have in making your statements?

Fred

[Matt]

Originally posted by Fredric J. Einstein:

"A Jolly Christmas" was a mono recording (from 1956). However, I have never heard this "bad mono master" theory about the MSFL pressing. What is your source on this theory?[/QB]

This isn't a first hand account. This is from an old post made by Steve, made about a year ago. I'll copy what he wrote tomorrow.

I have heard some bad things in the stereo MSFL discs (e.g. "Nice 'n Easy", but the mono discs seem quite superior in sound.[/QB]

That's something that's always troubled me about the Sinatra discs. On the one hand, there's the whole issue of the incorrect masters they have that are marked "master," dubs with bad EQ and varying degrees of echo added. However, even the true "fairy dust" stereo masters for some albums don't necessarily sound so good, either, because they were poorly mixed. Remember Steve's post awhile back, the one for "Only The Lonely"? It was recorded simultaneously in mono and three-track. The mono was mixed live, while the three-track was shelved, then revisited by some later engineer who made a poor mix drenched in reverb. It's tough to compare the CD's because the early one is the stereo mix, and the 1998 remaster uses the mono mix (supposedly the wrong tape, but also badly processed judging from the distortion on some parts).

I still hold very strongly by the new "Concepts" box set, which, except for "Songs For Swingin' Lovers", sounds better than almost anything I've heard.
[/QB]

Sorry, Fred. I only have most of those CD's and a few original vinyl editions, which sound the best to me. I've listened to all the CD editions EXCEPT the Concepts box you've mentioned as your preference. I think I e-mailed you awhile back about getting a copy of "Only The Lonely," but I never got a response. (spurred on by some older posts on this forum)

[ December 12, 2001: Message edited by: Camarillo ]

[Unknown]

MoFi definitely used the wrong master for "Songs for Swingin' Lovers."