MFSL "Days of Future Passed"
 

Just got the UDI of this today, and I have to say, I'm pretty disappointed overall...the current reissue sounds much better to my ears.


Any thoughts? Any reason to keep it?

-D

Re: MFSL "Days of Future Passed"
 

I won't comment on which one is better, but I will say that the first two CD's on Mo-Fi ("Days" and "Chord"), IMHO, sound the most different from the remasters compared to the others. They were done much earlier in the MoFi scheme of things. I also noticed on "Chord" that the remaster corrected an audible tape glitch on one of the tracks (I think it's on "Legend of a Mind" but I'll have to check).

To my ears, the differences between the remasters and the Mo-Fi's are negligible from "Threshold" onward, with the remasters being possibly a bit treble brighter (extended?), bass lighter - but not necessarily in an annoying way. The first two Mo-Fi's, on the other hand, do sound quite different than the remasters...frequency-balance wise.

One thing to consider, is that Mo-Fi did release a great version of "Long Distance Voyager" if you're into that period, while the remasters stuck with just the "Core 7" (as they're affectionately known).

IMHO, of course.

Reissues sound warmer to me
 

The reissues of the Moody Blues sound some what warmer to me with a fuller bass. This may be better comparred to the early MoFi versions, but I still prefer the MoFi for the most part. Just my opinion.

Well now you guys have really got my interest up. Guess I'll go get the remaster of Days Of Future Past on the weekend. I gotta hear it to believe it.:D

Actually Dave, I think that you should sell that very disappointing UD1 to me, at a reasonable price of course.;)

Days of Future Passed
 

I wish I had a mofi of this to compare...

The versions I do have are:

Early CD, Deram 820 006-2
Remastered CD, Deram 42248 4767-2
Old but not first issue LP, Deram DES 18012
Reissued LP, Deram SML 707 (Speakers Corner)

As far as I can tell, in critical listening
with headphones, the only one of these that
*might* be a different master is the old LP.

The CDs sound the same, with the exception of
a small amount of 8-10k boost on the "remastered"
one. The new LP (the Speakers Corner issue) I
believe is from the same source as these CDs,
but it is hard to compare the sound of vinyl to
that of a CD--and I'm not even going there,
except to say that the new LP is *very* good,
great dynamics, quiet, etc.

The old LP is harder to quantify, sound wise.
It might be it's just rolled off; it's not dull.
The vocals sound more natural, without so much of
the metallic edge they have on the CDs (or the new
LP, for that matter). The track that really sounds
different is Lunch Break: Peak Hour. Here it seems
less compressed, with the lead guitar near the end
really soaring way into distortion, lots of "crunch".
I can hear why a remastering engineer might want
to tame this a bit; this track is way too dynamic
to be the last cut on a side, running in as tight
at it does. Can you say, wide grooves? In the dead
wax of my 32 year old copy you can just make out
the mastering lab stamp: "Bell Sound"...

It was stated in another thread that sometime in the
70s Derek Varnals had remastered DOFP because the
original master had deteriorated. Can anyone determine
what master mofi was given to do their CD?

The original mix has never been released on CD. All versions use the 1970's remix. The original MoFi CD was mastered "flat" from the tape.

Thanks, Steve. I'm still rather fond of that
old LP...

This ties in with another thread.About ten years ago I found a copy of Days Of Futures Passed Mo Fi vinyl in a thrift store for the tidy sum of one dollar. Ya can't beat that.

I recently picked up a UDI as well. I think it's wonderful and has quickly become one of my favorite mofi's. Granted, my only exposure for comparison of the sound had been the radio hits. However, the immediate reaction that the disc elicited was that this had to be a pretty acurate and flat transfer from the master. Just feels really natural and unforced.