Universal Japan - Seems Not Much Has Changed

As discussed here ad nauseum, most of Universal Japan's 'SHM' releases have not been remastered, hence there are some titles that have had their fans here. Of course, this would be due to the mastering that was used being one that was appealing to the individual. After we consider the mastering in question, perhaps "Super High Material" also acts as a kind of "softener," perhaps it add more "detail," perhaps it does nothing. This part is still up for debate, but I think most here agree that the mastering being used is of far greater significance than whatever material is used to press the CD.

Of interest along these lines is that I just received a new SHM CD today that was remastered in 24-bit by Hitoshi Takiguchi in 2008. Seems Takiguchi is still treating music the same way he has for four or five years now, so buyers should be aware that when Universal Japan remaster things themselves, nothing appears to have changed:

Walrus - 1970 UK Deram album - Universal Japan mini lp SHM CD (UICY-93830)

 

Looks like the typical, modern mastering style. A damn shame. I find it particularly incredible that they would bother with 24 bits mastering for something that looks like that. Do they want to make sure that people hear the distortion more clearly?

 

They've been treating rock music this way since about 2002/2003. I guess somebody likes it, but I haven't bought any of their remastered titles in a few years, and I got curious if they had lightened up. No such luck. Hence, you really have to make sure that what you are buying was not remastered by them. If it is, well, you can see the results.

 

The Who's I'm A Boy CD was mastered in Japan and doesn't exhibit any massive compression. So YMMV.

 

Maybe it's more that UMMV.

Universal's mileage may vary.

But I'm inclined to think that I'm A Boy would be an exception, as The Who catalog was mostly the Ludwig masterings left untouched, correct? I can only guess, but maybe given the circumstances, they didn't bother futzing with the Who extras they issued, given that the rest of the catalog was just the Ludwig masterings.

Here's another example. Now this is interesting because this album was released in 2000 by Universal Japan in a mini lp sleeve and sounded good. Iirc, that release simply replicated the UK mastering done in the early 90s, but now it seems they are not just content to leave stuff alone that they have previously issued.

Khan - Space Shanty (Deram 1972) SHM CD - 2008 24-bit remaster by Hitoshi Takiguchi

 

How does the "Walrus" Japan version compare to the Esoteric?

 

Khan - Space Shanty. Such a great album. What a drag.

 

Don't know, but it can't be this bad. Paschal Byrne likes a compressor, but he typically doesn't sit at its feet in quite this kind of utter worship.

Interesting to note that the Khan CD Universal Japan just released mysteriously adds the exact same two bonus tracks that were exclusive to the Esoteric release from a few years ago. Given prior discoveries here, it's I strongly suspect that both the Walrus and Khan albums were probably just mastered directly from the Esoteric CDs.

 

Well, yeah, but at least great versions already exist. The old Deram CD mastered by Anthony Hawkins is great. The earlier Japanese mini lp used that mastering, too, iirc. The Esoteric release wasn't as good, IMO, but wasn't bad.

This new one, obviously, wins the race for last place. The irony being that it is sort of being pitched as a kind of "audiophile" release. That is if we can presume SHM is designed to appeal to those concerned with sound.

 

I don't mind the Esoteric, but have nothing to compare it too!

 

The Deram beats it pretty handily, IMO. Better midrange, warmer, probably a bit more dynamic but it's been a while since I compared them. The Deram CD was a really nice sounding disc and would be hard to top, IMO. The bonus tracks on the Esoteric were kind of interesting, however.

 

No, this was from the round of unique issues like Direct Hits and the mono Sell Out. In the case of I'm A Boy (besides the fact that the notes indicate it was mastered in Japan), most of the mixes had not been issued in the '90s reissue campaign, and in fact some had never been issued on CD, period.

FYI, it was mastered by Kikuo Niikura.

 

Well, this is helpful. I suppose a person could simply email HMV, for example, and ask if a release of interest was mastered by Kikuo Niikuraor or Hitoshi Takiguchi.

Unfortunately, over the past five years or so, most every rock release I have heard from Universal Japan (that was designated on the lower part of the OBI as a "24-bit remaster") was done by Takiguchi.

 

Below is a screen shot of a track from one of the new 10cc SHM-CD remasters. The good news: the compression is not that bad. The bad news: they sound lousy! How Dare You still has that weird low mid muddiness, but now with a strange "tweaked" high end. Bloody Tourists has the tape speed problems corrected but the treble boost is absolutely painful! IMO the best sounding CD versions of these albums are still the early West German and Japanese editions, which unfortunately are most definitely not sourced from first generation tapes, so we may never get definitive digital versions of these albums...

 

Were these remastered by Universal Japan or just their more typical reissue of the in print mastering on SHM discs?

 

Yes - Hitoshi Takiguchi.