Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind - Which CD masterings exist?

I recently acquired a Pastmasters II CD pressing of this album.

For peace of mind (pun intended), I would like to know whether this has the same mastering as the Japanese 1st pressing (black triangle) and also, if it is any different from the European EMI releases (including the goldface).

So, if anybody has any other EMI CD version, I would appreciate if you could fill in the missing gaps.

Thanks.

 

I checked the main CD of my Castle 105-2 set w. bonus disc:

Running time: 46:01.62

97.2 %
98.2 %
100.0 %
100.0 %
99.7 %
100.0 %
100.0 %
90.1 %
94.6 %

Maybe it's a good idea that you start a Roland's Favourite Iron Maiden CD Masterings thread

 

would LOVE to see a thread like this with the 2 Di'Anno albums.

 

Well, it looks like the Castle CD is just normalized and uses the same original transfer (levels equally raised by factor 1,0235).

 

Sorry, I don't think I have enough Iron Maiden CD's to do such a thread, but I would think that the original masterings are the way to go (which could all be digitally identical and just maybe show some small pressing differences, depending on your system).

 

With thanks to Zombiemonkey here is a copy of his thread from the Iron Maiden website regarding JPN pressings:

I think the "Remastered" thread has caused some confusion among board members here that has led to some people at the least making some bad purchases, and at the worst getting ripped off.

My basis for this is there is has been a massive influx in Ebay bidding on Japanese pressings. Now before anyone thinks I'm trying to divert people from auctions I want, allow me to explain. I have the Japanese 1st pressings,I check Ebay constantly because in some cases I'm looking for a version with the OBI strip in better condition, or a SSOASS with all the original stickers, or something else trivial, but as far as Mint condition discs and booklets, I'm all set and am not looking to overspend for an item I already have. Because I check everyday I have noticed that over the last 10-14 days every Japanese Maiden CD has multiple bids, where as over the prior 2 months no one was ever bidding on these.

The problem is I am seeing people massively over pay for the wrong thing and I think the sellers are catching on to this as well. Two auctions recently ended for Powerslave CP28-1042, that were listed as a "rare early Japanese pressing". Both of these sold for over $60.00 U.S. Problem is that, A)this is not rare, B)they are trying to confuse people by calling these "early pressings"
and C)this is the "greenline series", sort of the equivalent to Walmart "Value Saver" CD's, and is generally thought of as bad sounding series of CD's regardless of what band it is.

I posted this in the Re-mastered thread and I thought I would add it again here to try and help at least someone spend their money in the right place.
If you are looking to purchase the Japanese pressings this is what you are looking for.

IM CP32-5106
Killers CP32-5107
NOTB CP32-5108
POM CP32-5109
Powerslave CP32-5043
LAD CP32-5110
SIT CP32-5158
SSOASS CP32-5610

IM through LAD are black triangles and SIT is green as is the European 1st press. SSOASS looks the same as the European 1st press though they differ from the US 1st press which has royal blue text instead of black. The catalog number is always above or below the Iron Maiden text. Not the best pictures I've ever taken but here's what they look like.

After that the best choice of Japanese pressings is the PASTMASTERSII series from 1990. This along with the PASTMASTERSI series is a highly regarded series of pressings of many great artists. These are black discs and look very similar to the greenline series but these come in white cases and the back of the CD case has has a smaller picture of what the back normally is, surrounded by white. If you are not buying either the CP32 series or the PASTMASTERII's then stick to original pressings from the UK, US, West Germany, or Holland.

We are not just talking about mastering in these cases but also the quality of the actual pressings. If you're interested in what goes into pressing CD's and why one plant can sound different than another here is a good read, http://www.cinram.com/cd/tech/cdmake.pdf

I hope I haven't bored anyone to tears, it just appears there is a frenzy of fans throwing what is probably their hard earned cash at the wrong items.

 

By the way the first press JPN Piece of Mind also has the intro of Still Life as a track and listed as such on the cover!

 

Thanks for that info, very interesting.

 

Roland, the POM black triangle clocks in at 46:01.60 (m:s.f) using EAC.

 

Great post, thanks. Now if you would only post the volume levels of the CP32 Piece of Mind (or all your CP32s )

A note to Roland:

The Castle 2CDs are US pressings, not UK, please correct it in the table. There're also 2CD UK pressings on EMI, they might be slighly different, I don't know.

 

Your black triangle appears to be just like my US Castle disc, at least judging by volume levels..

And that's strange - I also have the CP32 and the Castle 2CD of Live After Death and they are quite different - the CP32 is a bit louder (which is good in this case, the Castle is too quiet) and has more depth to the sound, and I prefer it over the Castle

I've also listened to the TNOTB and SIT black triangles and they are very close (if not the same) to my Castle 2CDs.

It's a mess..

 

Thanks for that very useful info Maidenpriest. I'm collecting the CP32s of IM at the moment - is there anywhere else to look other than ebay?

 

Done, here's the update.

I have to say I am very surprised to see the BT to have the same level as the Castle, and the Pastmasters II to have a slightly lower level.

 

I will be carefull with ebay, their are fakes out their, your best bet is the Trading section here?

 

That's what I thought, they sound identical to me.
So, how are the UK pressings different?

I hate to read these threads, as Maiden is one of favorite bands, and to read that there might be better sounding versions of these beloved albums...

 

MP, I have actually had decent success with these on Ebay, and as you know only had to go outside of Ebay for one of the discs. I don't think anyone has made counterfeit Maiden CP32's, I don't think there is enough demand to warrant making them.

I personally think all the BT's sound better than the other pressings, but I could just be fooling myself I suppose.

 

Good point - need to get my post count up a bit............

 

I've read here that the Castles might be sourced from the original US Capitol releases, while the EMIs, well - from the original EMI releases for the UK

The UK ones lack the insert card with the bonus tracks. The bonus track info is printed on the inside of the tray insert and that's somewhat more convenient. Also, the picture artwork on the CDs is swapped (I'd rather say it's swapped on the Castles) and the track sequence on some of the bonus discs is different.

More info here

 

Fakes of the original CP32 Japan black triangle versions? Really? That sucks but it now makes me wonder about the Queen "ANATO" CP32 that I bought recently since there seem to be so many of that title available lately (at least on ebay) for a decent price

-s1m0n-

 

Here's the EAC from my original Made In UK disc:

EAC extraction logfile from 3. April 2008, 12:07 for CD
Iron Maiden / Piece Of Mind

Track 1
Filename Where Eagles Dare.wav

Peak level 97.2 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC E71D51BC
Copy OK

Track 2
Filename Revelations.wav

Peak level 98.2 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC B68E953F
Copy OK

Track 3
Filename Flight Of Icarus.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC C63B3FCE
Copy OK

Track 4
Filename Die With Your Boots On.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 184B21B9
Copy OK

Track 5
Filename The Trooper.wav

Peak level 99.7 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 36395FC4
Copy OK

Track 6
Filename Still Life.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 6FBAA10D
Copy OK

Track 7
Filename Quest For Fire.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 7678E882
Copy OK

Track 8
Filename Sun And Steel.wav

Peak level 90.1 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 965BD719
Copy OK

Track 9
Filename To Tame A Land.wav

Peak level 94.6 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC AAFD7A12
Copy OK

No errors occured


End of status report

 

WOW, similar to the black triangle and US Castle CDs.

 

Interesting, so all early CD's seem to share the same mastering, but the Pastmasters II series is at a slightly lower volume.

Has anyone ever compared the Pastmasters II to the other versions?

 

Well, now we need the numbers from an original U.S. Capitol to see if it's unanimous. Interesting results. . .

 

I've stated this before, but I'll say it again (as I have both versions).

For collectibility purposes I will never sell my Black Triangles. When I want to listen I grab my original EMI UK pressings. They sound most like the vinyl that I grew up loving!

 

Roland, do you know for sure that the UK and W.German pressings use the same mastering?