The BEST cd versions of Steely Dan's Albums

Has everyone finally agreed on which discs have the best sound? At the moment, I have the current discs that are on retail store shelves.

 

Ooops! Sorry, I missed the "CD" in your title...

Carry on...

 

I think most here would agree that the original MCA plaid back designs are the best. I don't know if there's a difference in mastering between the Japan & U.S. versions, though. All of mine are U.S., except for "The Royal Scam" & "Aja" which are Japan pressings. They all sound great to me.

 

how long before the links appear???

 

I sold mine years back thinking that newer was better. Now that I'm older and wiser, I seem to be re-buying everything that I once had.

 

Yes, I would love to see some pics. Are they the MCA discs with the colored backs (some blue, some pink)?

 

The most common design for the old MCAs is generally referred to as plaidback because of the crossing design on the back insert. Some other early MCAs had a plain back insert where the color faded from darker to lighter. Not sure if we've got a snappy name for that design , and I'm not sure if any Steely Dan discs were issued with that design. These two designs were for MCA's "Compact Disc Compact Price" budget reissue series.

Still more rare are early MCA discs that actually had the full rear artwork. These pre-date the "Compact Disc compact Price" discs. Good luck finding them

 

C'mon, Craig... this is your chance to innovate... whaddya got?

 

I only did this once but if you want to get these, go to Amazon, look up their listing for the oldest CD pressing, bring up the used/marketplace listings, e-mail every single merchant in your price range, ask them if the catalog number on the CD is the one you're looking for. Chances are you'll get a dozen misses and one or two bull's eyes. Annoying for the merchant but if you really want one, this is an effective way of getting one.

 

I like all the original Japanese pressed discs made for the US market - but, to my ears, the best sounding Aja and Gaucho CDs pre-date those. The 1984 Japanese pressed VDP-26 (Gaucho) and VDP-27 (Aja) sound amazingly musical

It seems that these two Victor CD pressings were made specifically for the Japanese market in 1984 before Steve Hoffman and Roger Nichols mastered any of the albums for worldwide distribution - their 1630 tapes were the ones used for all the Japanese pressed discs made for the US market, as well as discs pressed in other territories, shortly after the release of the "VDP" titles.

Despite the likelihood that these "VDP" discs were mastered from analogue dubs of the album masters that would have been in Japan since the original LP mastering of each title there is just something about the sound of these discs that sets them apart from all the other masterings of those two albums that I've heard.

I imagine Steve and Roger had access to the original masters for each album when they mastered them for CD so to explain the superior sound of the "VDP" discs I can only assume that the digital mastering chain being used by Victor Musical Industries in Tokyo in 1984 gave better results than the digital mastering chain being used in the US at the time.....

 

You are a funny man, Ivan. The obvious answer is "fadeback". Goes nicely with "plaidback" I think, but I'll try to think of something a bit more clever than that (Surely, someone has already come up with something. . .)

 

I quite like the sound of the Gaucho Hybrid SACD from 2003.

 

I vote for original MCA pressings.

 

What about the original U.K. or West German MCA cd pressings ?
Are they identical to their U.S.-counterparts ?

 

My West German Can't Buy A Thrill seems to be identical.

 

Check out the CD's matrix. There's lots of discs with a 37XXX matrix which ended up in UK or West German or later USA CDs. I could list the 37XXX EAC peak levels for Countdown to ecstasy, Aja and The Royal scam if you like.

 

I know its a lot of work but it really is worth doing a search for each album. Setting aside Aja and Gaucho, which have gotten a lot more discussion than the others, the ones to look for are the ones with the 37XXX matrix numbers. A plaid back design does not guarantee a 37XXX mastering. Many times you'll find a 31XXX matrix number in a plaid back case. The 31XXX CDs are remasters done by the band and many folks find those inferior. Unless you're utterly fanatical and/or have amazing equipment don't worry about Japan for US CDs. Just get that 37XXXX mastering and you'll find they sound great!!

 

To make matters more confusing, I have a few discs with the 37XXXX matrixs on them and some of them still sound bad. My Katy Lied and Royal Scam discs don't sound as good as my pretzel logic disc. I still wondering if the placement of the matrix near the hub of the disc is a misprint.

My 37XXXX katy lied should have the good mastering running time of 35:38, but it actually has a running time of 35:40 and sounds poor to my ears.

Is there someone who has actually compared genuine 31XX matrix discs to 37XX matrix discs.

I remember reading an article that stated that there was no way to figure out what mastering you have apart from listening to the discs
http://www.granatino.com/sdresource/18crime.htm

Which discs have been proven to carry the wrong analog masterings and which discs have been proven to be remastered in 1991 by Roger Nicholis.

 

I have
"Katy lied", West-German pressing with Sonopress I-5630/MCD01800 B in the matrix, cat.no. MCD 0 1800 (DMCL 1800)
"Can't buy a thrill", U.K. pressing with MCAD - 31192 JVC 1 T 32 in the matrix, cat.no. DMCL 1769
"Pretzel logic", West-German pressing with MCD 01781 50336 173 01 in the matrix, cat.no. MCD 01781 (DMCL 1781)

???

Achim

 

There we go. Let's get to the bottom of this mystery once and for all.

 

Yes. I'm going to collect EAC peak levels for each album of the classic 1972-1980 period by giving each album here its own thread.

 

I do too.

There will NEVER be a consensus on this, much as we continue to ask the same question and offer the same subjective opinions over and over.

 

Only a new remastering of all the discs will solve this problem (from the analog master tapes to boot). Even the old discs from the 80s were derived from digital masters.

 

I have original MCA's for the 1972-77 period, and they all sound great. Compared to the remasters of "Pretzel Logic" and "Can't Buy a Thrill", the originals win.

 

I've heard quite a few of these from the USA, Canada and Japan with a UK or two thrown in of the entire Steely Dan catalog. The best sound quality I have heard is on the original Japan pressings.

Can't Buy A Thrill 20P2-2099
Countdown To Ecstasy 18P2-2693
Pretzel Logic 20P2-2109
Katy Lied 18P2-2694
The Royal Scam 20P2-2115
Aja' 32XD-112
Gaucho 32XD-394
A Decade Of Steely Dan 32XD-149