I tried a few searches, but came up with nothing. At least as far as their discography as a whole. I know that the Sax remasters are highly regarded around here, as is the Black Triangle Dark Side of the Moon and the 2 track Wish You Were Here. But what have been your findings? I'll list the albums to make this a bit easier - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967) A Saucerful of Secrets (1968) Soundtrack from the Film More (1969) Ummagumma (1969) Atom Heart Mother (1970) Meddle (1971) Obscured by Clouds (1972) The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) Wish You Were Here (1975) Animals (1977) The Wall (1979) The Final Cut (1983) A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) The Division Bell (1994)
Based on my criteria: 1) Easy to find 2) Mostly very, very good 3) Can recommend to my students who want to go out to their local Best Buy and pick any of them up. I'd have to pick the Sax remasters of 1992-1995.
I'm way more knowledgeable about vinyl than digital, but my understanding of the SHF consensus is: Meddle (1971) MFSL UD... and a couple of weeks ago I found one! The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) I think there is a Japanese version that most think is tops, though I think the MFSL UD is supposed to rival it, or be a very close second. Wish You Were Here (1975) The two-track Japanese is the Holy Grail -- but market value is $200+ or more. The CBS Mastersound is supposedly one of the top contenders and can be had for considerably less. .
of course these are my just my opinion but i have had most all the versions available. piper,secrets,more,umma gumma,obscured by clouds- sound best on the sax remasters. ahm,meddle and dark side(maybe a tie i guess with 1st japan press) -mfsl wish u were here,animals-1st japan press the wall i actually like on mfsl except for the low end which is too loud,but the sax remaster is my favorite over all. after the wall i just use the sax remasters since i dont here much diference.
There is no bad mastering on the Pink Floyd catalogue, Exception: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967) , the mono mix from the 90's sucks and Animals Those are my favourites mastering (The Doug Sax remasters sound fines too) AHM: stay away from the MFSL Meddle: best version is the MFSL UD1, followed by the Black triangle and the black UK Harvest (same mastering as the BT) DSOTM: the holy grail is the BT non TO, WYWH: CBS 2 trakcks, Japan Black face Harvest for Europe, Animals: 1st CBS Japan pressing and then the non remaster UK pressing The Wall: CBS Canadian black face, Japan Harvest for Europe, I never heard the WG sonopress version.
For The Wall, the old US CD sounds great. I think many of the preferred versions share the same or very similar mastering.
I've heard almost every CD version of Dark Side of the Moon, and I think they all suck. The MFSL CD sounds like its got their typical smiley face EQ on it and the Toshiba Black triangle version that everyone loves has WAY too much top end EQd into it. Not a fan of the remasters either. Overall, I'd say the MFSL is the best sounding CD version of DSOTM you're going to find. The CBS 5-track WYWH CD is my favorite that i've ever heard. I think it sounds better than the Sony Gold and definitely better than the remaster. Never heard the 2-track CD version. Stay away from the Piper remasters. They sound so compressed and the bass frequencies got abolished. I've heard the remaster of the Wall and the MFSL of the Wall. I think the MFSL is better than the remaster, but its still got that obnoxious smiley EQ. Your best bet is probably the original US cd for this one.
These are the catalog numbers of the best sound I was able to find. They are all Japanese pressings. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967) CP32-5269 A Saucerful of Secrets (1968) CP32-5272 Soundtrack from the Film More (1969) CP32-5273 Ummagumma (1969) CP28-5270·71 Atom Heart Mother (1970) CP32-5274 Meddle (1971) CP32-5032 (no TO and no CDP 7 in the matrix) Obscured by Clouds (1972) CP32-5275 The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) CP35-3017 (no TO and no CDP 7 in the matrix) Wish You Were Here (1975) 35DP 4 Animals (1977) 32DP 360 The Wall (1979) 50DP 361-2 The Final Cut (1983) 35DP 53 A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) 32DP 820
Do you still have the Toshiba black triangle? I remember one of the three had this sound you speak of. I just can't recall if it was the TO matrix or the TO with the CDP 7 catalog number in the matrix. Do you recall yours?
I like the sonic punch to the non-TO/with CDP these days more than your favorite. I guess I don't like the atmospheric presentation for the one time a year I listen to side two. The TO is the bright one. Has anyone compared the newer 2 CD mono/stereo version of "A Saucerful Of Secrets" with the eighties mastering?
I don't know my Floyd. I meant this one. Piper at the Gates of Dawn mono/stereo 2 CD EMI Music Japan Inc. 40th anniversary edition, TOCP 70300/01 [2007] Member PFA likes it. Has anyone else compared?
By far the best place to get the mono mix. The mono tape was played back on a stereo head but still several orders of magnitude better than the 1997 30th anniversary disc. I haven't compred the stereo with the (awesome) Sax disc. Said to be very good, a bit louder with somewhat diff EQ. None of that matters though because you need the 3CD set for the outtakes and stereo Apples which aren't available anywhere else. If you like music and you like early Floyd buy with confidence.
Some of these I remember off the top of my head, others I will have to add later. My faves anyway: The Wall- original US release. Animals- original UK EMI (Harvest?) mastering. The Japanese one that a lot of people like has a 10k Hz boost that shouldn't be there. DSOTM- That early Japanese mastering. There are also Japan for US discs that have it too. Cheaper. WYWH: 2 track. I got mine for $5 shipped, near mint copy, from Amazon Marketplace. (Japan for US.) IMO: The MFSL for the Wall is no good. The Mastersound for WYWH is no good. IMO, some of the remasters are OK for alternative listens, but I don't think *any* of them beat the early masterings. There's an EMI mastering for the Wall, that's pretty good though, but I need to look through my notes to see if it's a remaster, or just the early UK EMI (Harvest?) mastering that still relatively current. If you do a search, this is the one that Roland found. From the By the Way box if I'm not mistaken. The Final Cut- The 1st Japanese mastering. Dang hard to find though. Japan for US discs of it exist too, *still* hard to find ...
And right - that several of these pressings are identical to early copies (US) not pressed in Japan. When shopping be aware of over spending with sellers of early Japan pressed Floyd CDs.
http://www.realgroovy.co.nz/Product/4519770/WISH-YOU-WERE-HERE---MASTERSOUND-HALF-SPEED-MASTERED I saw this the other week seemed in good condition. $100 NZ is probably $70 US. Might be a good deal for someone
The Doug Sax remasters are all very respectable sounding to my ears. The Mastersound of Wish You Were Here (also credited to Doug Sax) is a very fine sounding disc in my opinion - it has a real "sparkle".
Boy, I have a hard time believing there's nothing on the forum about this (Try Vernon's classified sale if you need them all in one place. http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=197499&highlight=pink+floyd+ultimate )
So the Cd's in "Oh By The Way" box are all mastered by Doug Sax, right? With the exception of one or two?
Don't forget the early European CD of Saucerful that is plastered with NR. It stayed in print in Europe too even after the much better Sax remaster was released.
Here's the OBtW rundown: Original 1980's EMI mastering: A Saucerful of Secrets Meddle Wish You Were Here Animals James Guthrie mastering: Piper at the Gates of Dawn The Dark Side of the Moon The Final Cut Doug Sax mastering: All other titles This mirrors what is currently in print in Europe for the individual titles. For the US and Japan its all Sax in print, plus the three Guthries.
I don't know. Vernon posted these numbers in his thread. I hope they help . Track Peak Levels: Disc 1: 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 89.8 / 100 / 100 Disc 2: 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 99.6 / 100
I've heard most of these and they all (so far) get a . However, Dave gets a :thumbsdn: for leaving out The Division Bell. BOO!
