And the rare and elusive... West German Polydor: Track 1 Filename C:\Documents and Settings\1\My Documents\My Music\Track01.wav Peak level 94.7 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC 4DD125EC Copy OK Track 2 Filename C:\Documents and Settings\1\My Documents\My Music\Track02.wav Peak level 53.5 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC 331B98C9 Copy OK Track 3 Filename C:\Documents and Settings\1\My Documents\My Music\Track03.wav Peak level 70.1 % Track quality 99.9 % Test CRC 45F97BE8 Copy OK Track 4 Filename C:\Documents and Settings\1\My Documents\My Music\Track04.wav Peak level 38.4 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC 0860040E Copy OK Track 5 Filename C:\Documents and Settings\1\My Documents\My Music\Track05.wav Peak level 84.2 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC FE92272B Copy OK No errors occured
My point exactly!The original cd tapes used for the EG I The Court don't have the sweetness of a mastertape or even close!Once again,it comes down to taste but when someone prefers a 3rd generation tape that was mastered flat then so be it.
Fripp could have talked to his contacts at EG and found out exactly what happened.It's as simple as that.In this business,there is never 100% reliable information.Sometimes it is shocking to find out that something that sounds good to us(totally subjective due to equipment and personal prejuidices) comes from a dubious source.
I find the EG to sound more natural and prefer it to the 30th but in this case I think it is a very close race. They both sounds very good. The EG has this laid back very natural flow while the 30th sounds a little tweaked. When it comes to the 30th editions the ones done in 1999 sounds the best. This includes Island. The ones done in 2000 and later are more and more tweaked/compressed by Simon Heyworth.
It gets more confusing now. Wasn't it established that despite ITCOTCK, the 200x releases use the the same mastering as the 30th anniversary editions? Jeff did not distinguish between those in his initial post.
Jeff, Here's the EAC logs for WHD ITCOTCK 200x IECP-10003 (MiniLP w/Blue Obi) Track 1 Filename C:\DCC\21st Century Schizoid Man (including 'Mirrors').wav Peak level 100.0 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC 98F32FA0 Copy OK Track 2 Filename C:\DCC\I Talk To The Wind.wav Peak level 74.3 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC AD46E935 Copy OK Track 3 Filename C:\DCC\Epitaph (including 'March For No Reason' and 'Tomorrow and Tomorrow').wav Peak level 100.0 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC CB99C685 Copy OK Track 4 Filename C:\DCC\Moonchild (including 'The Dream' and 'The Illusion').wav Peak level 59.6 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC E362DC7E Copy OK Track 5 Filename C:\DCC\The Court of the Crimson King (including 'The Return of The Fire Witch' and 'The Dance Of The Puppets').wav Peak level 100.0 % Track quality 100.0 % Test CRC 4E50B8A4 Copy OK No errors occured
Fripp talked about the original CDs, and the DE's, here: http://www.elephant-talk.com/wiki/Interview_with_Robert_Fripp_in_Stereo_Review
I'm talking about the mastering sessions. These are the dates (30th editions). In The Court Of The Crimson King, august 3rd 1999 Island, september 6-10th 1999 In the Wake of Poseidon, September 6-10th 1999 Lizard,September 6-10th 1999 Red, July 25-28th 2000 Larks' Tongues in Aspic, July 25-28th 2000 Beat, January 9-12 2001 Discipline, January 9-12 2001 The titles mastered in 1999 are close to flat transfers (slightly tweaked). The titles done after this gradually get more and more compressed/tweaked. Discipline IMO is close to unlistenable.
I agree 100%. I've heard the Definitive Edition (1989) Discipline and found it warm and pleasant. Never heard the original EG, though.
For what it's worth, the 1999 ones are the only ones where the HDCD peak extension flag was left 'on', though there appears to be little if any actual PE used.
All you need to know is that there were 3 major releases of the entire catalog on CD: 1) the original EGs (early 1980's) -> warm, analog sound similar to the LPs for some, muddy for others 2) the Definitive Editions (1989) -> supervised by Fripp, not very liked 3) the 30th Anniversary Editions (from 1999) -> supervised by Fripp again, very detailed, clean sound but too bright for some Another important thing to know is that only "In the Court..." was reissued in 2004 because they found for the 1st time the original masters for side 1. Hence the name "Original Master Edition". Once you know that, you only have to make comparisons and trust your ears!
I omitted these ones because, everybody concurred, they are not very good and weren't worlwide releases, am I correct?
Didn't "In The Wake.." get released after the 30th anniversary edition with two bonus tracks? I know I picked up the 30th edition in 2001 and it did not have Groon or the single version of Cat Food on it, but now the copies I see have these extra two tracks. Was this just the same mastering as 1999 with the bonus tracks added?
I have the Discipline Polydor 800 099-2 and it's very good. Sounds very close to my vinyl. The vinyl is maybe a tad better. I need to check again to be sure. Compared to the 30th edition it's audio nirvana. I also prefer it to the DE edition.
Oh boy! I sold my DE Discipline to acquire the 30th edition (based on my love for the other 30th's) and now I deeply regret it.
I am no expert. Does this frequency range analysis of your clips show us compression? I would think so, but i'm not used to look at that. But i don't see any bump around 5K for the 30th... Red, 30th Anniversary Red, EG
