AF to do Simon & Garfunkel's Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme

This thread is driving me crazy.

Received my subscription copy about a week ago just as my cold was really kicking in.
Thanks to my sinuses etc. my hearing is still out of whack so I can't even listen to it (properly) yet.
Everything sounds like crap right now.

Torture

 

Totally agree, excellent CD.

 

There is hardly any difference between the AF and the original CBS CD. The CBS CD has a touch more midrange which, depending to your preferences or system, can be an advantage or disadvantage, but I hear no evidence of better tape quality or any other noticeable improvement.

Is the AF release good? Definitely.
Does the AF offer anything that the original CBS CD does not? Nicer packaging and booklet.

 

Does this new AF "Parseley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme" audiophile CD has what Steve calls "the breath of life?"

 

Weren't Vic Anesini remasters almost perfect to begin with?

 

This, my friend, is the $64,000 question.

 

Not from what I have read here. Many people here seem to think the Audio Fidelity gold disc sounds similar to CBS/Sony's original mastering, which I would not say has the "breath of life".

 

The first three albums, including this one, were remixed by Anesini. In spite of the occasional gain in clarity, I almost always prefer the original mixes.

 

Is there a difference in tape hiss between the AF and CBS cd's?

 

I prefer the original mono mixes over the remixes, but not the stereo...

 

Forgive me for turning this into a "shipping" thread, but has anyone received this yet from any of the online retailers or seen it in any of the brick and mortars? I had a Borders gift certificate and decided to order a copy online there. It showed "in stock" when I ordered it, and then it immediately switched to "backordered" when I received my order confirmation. That was about 13 days ago, and that's still the status.

Or...is this still exclusive to only the AF club members at this point?

 

I received my order through Amazon 10 days ago.

 

Thanks, Kevin. I wonder what's up with Borders? I thought they fill from the same folks as Amazon.

Or, am I just unlucky...lol?

 

Like kevinfree, I received my copy from Amazon about 10 days ago.

 

Good luck with borders stuff on backorder. I would suggest calling and verifying when it will ship. I've had nothing but bad luck with borders items on backorder.

 

Thanks, John. I'll try that. Like I said earlier, it was only a gift certificate [combined with the requisite coupon] that drove me to their site in the first place. I normally use other online retailers.

 

I received it last week directly from Audio Fidelity. I am not an AF club member.

 

The negative feedback here has kept me from ordering a copy.

 

I got mine from CD Universe, 2 weeks ago, at $20.

 

Whoops!

Here we go again...

So, because the AF CD and the old Columbia CD sounded so similar to me I was making comparison clips so you guys can hear bits of them before you spent the money. In doing so I discovered they're from the same digital source(!). They stay in perfect sync.

The AF gold CD is sourced from the mid 80s digital transfer they did for the original Columbia CD. Whoops!

No wonder I thought they sounded similar. Now I get why AF took off the From The Original Master Tapes on all their CDs.

 

Really? This is not a new transfer from the analog tapes?

 

No.

 

that's bad!

 

I asked AF to comment on this.

 

I also sent an email to Steve for more information.