Bowie: Is RCA vinyl the Best Sound we are going to get?

I can't believe that I am asking this but given the scarcity of RCA CDs is this as good as it is going to get for us Bowie fans?

I know there are a million Bowie threads debating the various dubious CD masterings but most of my original vinyl sounds really good so should I just cut my losses and stick with my vinyl instead of chasing all these different digital versions. Even the RCA CDs that I own sound as good as the vinyl. Not better though. I am weary of attempting to find good digtal versions. Opinions?

 

I like to know too. I have recently been acquiring first press UK NM vinyl copies. Some digitally sourced Bowie vinyl sounds pretty good too.

 

I've never seen anyone post that they prefer the RCA CD's to the British RCA vinyl (U.S. for Scary Monsters).

 

The US RCA vinyl is not too shabby either.

 

I haven't either so is vinyl the only way to go with Bowie?

 

The best way to go IMO!

 

I have stunning French vinyl of the 3 Berlin-era albums, and a Japanese lp of 'Hunky Dory'.

I have 'Pin-Ups', 'Ziggy' and 'Diamond Dogs' on UK picture-lps. Treble is natural
& uncompromised. These rumble a bit but are fine sounding copies otherwise.

The only one of those I prefer the RCA cd to the import vinyl is 'Hunky Dory'.

- - -

The US pressed vinyl of the EMI America era stuff sounds great.
I used to really blast the 'Let's Dance' lp 'til all hours of the night.

The first cd of that title is nice, but the first remastered one with the
single bonus track (Under Pressure, I think) was louder and harder sounding.
Then Virgin got a hold of them and REALLY screwed them up.

 

I kind of hate to say it, but the answer is probably yes. To me, only a few of the RCA CDs sounds really great (Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane, Lodger). From there, digital gets progressively worse. It would be amazing (if nearly impossible) to get one final reissues campaign (digital or analog) that truly does this man's work justice.

 

I've said it before. My cheap orange-label RCA Dynaflex LP made in USA of "Low" sounds absolutely stunning.

 

I have the RCA CD's and UK vinyl of his 1975 and earlier albums. Each is the best in its own category, short of good needle drops made from the UK vinyl. But head to head, the UK vinyl is waayy superior sounding I think. No contest really. BTW UK pressings depending on the matrix do sound a bit different.

 

I've never seen a US orange label copy of 'Low' it was issued in 1977 and RCA was using the black 'Nipper' label then. The tan label was used before that one.

 

I did a bunch of needledrop samples from UK vinyl if anyone is interested:

http://cid-d57e836204feb061.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/needledrops/rca-bowie

Tim

 

Did an a/b of "1984" with my RCA cd, can't tell them apart, frankly.

 

IIRC it shares the same stampers as the UK copies.

I agree 100%. I prefer the UK pressings the vast majority of the time but even among them the matrix info is hugely important. My 6E/4E UK Ziggy absolutely killed a 1E/1E pressing I had.

 

Makes me sad. Anyone have any opinions on the SACD of scary monsters or ziggy stardust? I think they sound phenomenal. I would almost put it as high up as my RCA LP of ziggy stardust.

 

I just checked and you're right. It's a black label. Cut by Sterling.

 

Those SACDs have the most extreme smileyface eq imaginable.
I cannot turn the treble DOWN enough to make Ziggy sound decent.

I wanted my money back 20 seconds after I started playing that disc.

What the heck are you listening to that (horrible) SACD on
that it does not hurt your head????

 

Maybe it's about time we started to try and decifer the UK RCA matrix information. There's plenty info about EMI/Parlophone and of course US labels like Columbia and Capitol. When I come to look at the UK RCA deadwax there seem to be inconsistent patterns and I would like to be able to understand them better.

I have had many copies of Bowie's 1970s albums on UK RCA, as well as Elvis, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop. I have noticed differences in sound between matrix numbers, the most variable being Bowie's 'Hunky Dory'.

I was also interested in Blackie's comment in post #14. His Ziggy 6E/4E beat the earlier matrix and I had exactly the same experience. I listened to a number of copies before settling on the one I listen to now - a 6E/4E. The other copies were good enough, but this one was better.

 

I'm perfectly happy with my Rykos... they sound better than the Virgin CDs and they've got the bonus tracks. Bowie vinyl in good condition is hard to find around here.

 

Yeah, agreed on both counts...and people can keep that fold-in-half Dynaflex vinyl (which falls short not only because of the thickness, but rather it's proclivity for scratching)

 

Does anybody know whether Audio Fidelity (or DCC before them) has tried to license titles from Bowie's RCA era catalog?

 

Funny you should mention that - I just checked what I've got, and although I'm not a great fan of this album, I currently have a tatty 1E/1E and a much better 6E/4E and (maybe it's down to condition?) the 6/4 does sound significantly better to my ears.

 

M&K MPS-2510PK Monitors set up in 5.1 surround with a Martin Sound MulitMAX EX to switch between surround and stereo through your standard grade Phillips DVD/SACD player. I thought the 5.1 mix sounded great and so did everything else. but thats just my opinion.

 

My favorite is the Japan for USA RCA Cd for Ziggy, but I didn't think the SACD Stereo disc sounded bad at all. Easily second place on cd. My Creek amp and Epos speakers don't make it sound bright at all.

 

I have seen some Simply Vinyl pressings of some Bowie titles (The Man Who Sold the World was one of them)...any thoughts on these pressings?