Finding The Best Sounding Genesis (Part II), Album By Album...

We're over 1,000 posts!

Coming soon . (NOW! - stereoptic).. Part II.

 

Don't forget the German V/C.

 

Trying to tie up a loose end. The general consensus seems to be the V/C and U.S. Zal for Live. And I remember that Dr M preferred the Nimbus V/C.

But I think it was LesPaul66 who had a Sanyo Japan V/C. That's also what showed up at my door when I got one. So, just curious what people think.

EAC numbers too:

U.S. Zal: 82.8 % 88.9 % 100.0 % 94.2 % 94.4 %

http://download.yousendit.com/3CA0A086397AD111

V/C Sanyo Japan: 100.0 % 100.0 % 91.3 % 86.5 % 99.7 %

http://download.yousendit.com/2A60036E49F3BCAF

 

Wow, the entire tracks?

Well, I listened to them but nothing has changed for me. As I have said, Zal's is excellent, but the Virgin/Charisma is king to my ears. Zal's might match the vinyl, knowing a bit about how he tended to do things. Perhaps he used a US LP for comparison and added subtle EQ?

 

"Wow, the entire tracks?"

I had the time. I *did* pick the shortest one!

I have to admit, and I can't even explain why, but I swing towards the V/C too. I'd be curious if someone could compare this V/C to the Nimbus.

 

My question may have already been covered somewhere amongst these thousand-plus posts, but has it ever been determined who mastered the original Atco fatboy Lamb??

I picked up the DE remaster during the Tower out of business sale at a discounted rate. I'm going to listen to them both right now but interestingly enough the original Atco gets the nod for better packaging. All those weird and cool black and white graphics on the lyric sheets have been omitted on the remaster

 

Just received my 1991 Japanese V/C edition of Foxtrot. Looking forward to some quiet time this weekend to give it a spin and compare it to my Canadian "off the shelf" copy. It's in mint condition and 100 percent genuine (something that's not always guaranteed these days unfortunately).

 

Check the credits, Zal's name should be in there, iirc.

 

Raf to the rescue once again: http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=2718462&postcount=430

 

Well my searching around has been fun. Still have a couple more I'd like to get, but here it is so far. I won't be home for another 3 weeks, but if anyone wants some clips posted around then, let me know.

I know Raf has found some interesting things out from comparing some of the 32VD's to the VC/Nimbus discs already.

Trespass : VC CASCD 1020 and MCA MCAD 1653
*** looking for 32VD-1025 (hard to find)
Nursery Cryme : 32VD-1026 and VC CASCD 1052
Foxtrot : 32VD-1027
Selling England : 32VD-1029
Lamb : VC CGSCD-1 and DE
Trick Of The Tail : ATCO 38101-2 and VC CDSCD 4001
*** looking for 32VD-1032 (hard to find)
Wind And Wuthering : VC CDSCD 4005
*** looking for 32VD-1033 (hard to find)
And Then There Were Three : 32VD-1015
Duke : 32VD-1036
Genesis : Atlantic 80116-2 Japan for US
Invisible Touch : 32VD-1023

The doubles above are waiting for me to shoot out as a couple I have not heard yet. This thread has been a fantastic source of info on these genesis discs and I have been very happy with the choices thus far.

Still interested in hearing more about that 1991 Japan VC Foxtrot you got John (vinyl diehard).

Over 1000 posts, this should be moving to Part 2 soon

 

Going back to the old Atlantic CD of Abacab:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=3014469&postcount=59

So, anyone want to re-evaluate how this compares to the V/C now?

 

If we can ever find one of Barry's masterings that was issued by Atlantic, this would be possible, but so far no evidence exists that his work was utilized.

 

Jeff: yes all the ones he mastered in which ultimately Nick Davis's Deluxe Editions were used for in 1994, those masterings did not come out. However, the original Atlantics of A Trick of the Tail, Duke, and now Three Sides Live and Abacab seem to be his mastering.

Also from my above quote, you can see it seems he mastered Abacab twice: once at Atlantic and once when his versions should have been used as the Deluxe Editions. And Duke and 3SL were from his Atlantic days too.

 

Personally, I am unconvinced that he did Trick, but it appears it is possible.

We know he did probably 3SL because it's in the credits.

I am unaware of any conclusive evidence that points to any mastering released on Atlantic that can be verified to be his work, but this thread is long, so...

As far as Duke, I wouldn't doubt it, because that mastering changed somewhare along the way from the early Atlantic discs that were pressed in Japan to the WEA pressed US release.

 

Btw, folks, here is the rare blueface WG Charisma pressing of Trick. Not sure if we have the EAC log for this already, but here it is, plus a sample:


Track 1
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\1\My Documents\My Music\Track01.wav

Peak level 97.9 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC C5EA4151
Copy OK

Track 2
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\1\My Documents\My Music\Track02.wav

Peak level 78.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 6FC0E178
Copy OK

Track 3
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\1\My Documents\My Music\Track03.wav

Peak level 89.8 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC A4B1331D
Copy OK

Track 4
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\1\My Documents\My Music\Track04.wav

Peak level 95.8 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC B45D9046
Copy OK

Track 5
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\1\My Documents\My Music\Track05.wav

Peak level 90.3 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 03E50C06
Copy OK

Track 6
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\1\My Documents\My Music\Track06.wav

Peak level 86.2 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 284DF689
Copy OK

Track 7
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\1\My Documents\My Music\Track07.wav

Peak level 90.5 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 6D879C39
Copy OK



Track 8
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\1\My Documents\My Music\Track08.wav

Peak level 96.6 %
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 3C28C03A
Copy OK


http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=B9606A5F08B2A60E

 

I have both the U.S. WEA Abacab and the V/C (not Swindon though, I think it's a PDO). I think I remember that Barry's CDs have a specific peak value, although that's no guarentee he actually did the mastering. I'll try to get clips up later.

Maybe this thread will keep going. I remember something about Steve asking whether he should open up old archived threads again, which might mean that new/current threads even when they reach the 1000-ish posts will stay alive.

 

Is this the WG blueface with silver hub and "814 499-2 01" in the matrix? If so, I've found it, like my other WG blueface, (Duke) to be inferior to other versions.

I'm wondering if there's more than one WG blueface (would anyone be surprised?)

 

Yes, that is the one. In a quick A/B with the UK Nimbus V/C, I was hard pressed to be sure there was a difference, but I'd need to really listen to both of them for a bit longer to know for sure.

 

I can't remember if these have been posted before, but here goes. Abacab:

US WEA: 95.5 % 95.5 % 90.9 % 92.0 % 95.5 % 93.4 % 66.7 % 95.5 % 95.5 %

http://download.yousendit.com/F7D525031D0B9A2A

UK VC PDO: 96.7 % 86.8 % 84.2 % 83.7 % 89.6 % 98.6 % 82.4 % 93.8 % 91.6 %

http://download.yousendit.com/5E4D12AD666D6A57

 

I can't listen to the samples right now but my EMI Swindon V/C beats the Atlantic and WG Target. Iirc, the Atlantic/Target are the same mastering.

Anyway, the V/C I have has less top end. It sounds magical.

 

I listened to these samples, but I don't have a good sounding setup right now (or for the near future) but it seemed like both were no slouch, maybe the V/C had an edge on the clarity on the keyboards and better bass definition.

Jeff: good point about the Atlantics and Barry's work

 

Thanks for posting those. They're really very similar but the V/C has a bit more clarity, which I like.

One thing, the polarity on the V/C is flipped. The attacks of the drums are negative waveforms.

 

No, the V/C's phase is correct, Jamie, everyone knows Phil Collins sucks!!





(Only joking, folks, before anyone gets their knickers in a knot!)

Just to shake things up, here's the EAC levels to a US JVC Abacab:

100.0 % - 100.0 % - 95.1 % - 96.3 % - 100.0 % - 97.8 % - 69.8 % - 100.0 % - 100.0 %

Can't recall whether we determined that this is a normalized version of the WEA, or not.

 

OK, I'm going to ask a question that I think I know the answer is here somewhere.

When you look at the EAC numbers, it does seem as if some of the tracks have been normalized for the US WEA. All the pegged 95.5% values, whereas the values for the V/C are ... free to float to their natural value.

I remember that there is one other CD like this. Duke maybe? But the Duke US WEA still gets the nod over the V/C?

 

Which album are you asking about? Abacab?

The French Duke V/C is the same as the US CD with a few level changes and L/R correction. The problem with the V/C was one song was brought up about 3dB louder than the others even though it was supposed to be softer. It changed the dynamics of the album since the quiet song was now loud.