target cd's

What is supposedly the difference between the japanese/w.german and the original u.s.?

 

See also: Ooh! The colors! WEA target CDs.

 

See the site from KeithH (forummember) http://www.keithhirsch.freeservers.com/custom4.html

 

Are you looking for pictures of target CDs or are you looking for differences in sound quality? If it's the latter, go ahead and list specific titles of interest.

The link below is maintained by Forum member Ralph, and it's a great reference on target CDs. My site gives some background information and just lists targets in my collection. I have not gotten around to posting many pictures of target CDs on my web site yet, but Ralph has loads of pictures on his site.

http://www.ralphscomiccorner.com/cdjwg2.htm

 

Sound. In general. Are they the same?

 

Some are, depends on the title.

 

I am as well.
OK, Bowies! Are the Japan & W.G.'s the same SQ?
Led's Houses as well, same?

 

I have the WG Young Americans. I recall reading here that the J Young Americans has the intro of the title song clipped off. My WG has the intro intact.

I'm pretty sure the Houses Of The Holy WG target and subsequent US non-target sound the same.

 

Thanks Kym. Now I just have too fully grasp your definition of "pretty" ;-) .
Even the U.S. (non-remastered, of coarse)!
WoW, it now sounds (P.I.) easier than ever to get that "Target" LZ:HotH too die for, best version of CD ever , sound!

Important too know. However, would anyone like too address the SQ difference?

 

Kym,
Just joking around cause everyone else around here (pointing at myself, as well) is just so darn sure about their opinions. It was refreshing for me too see you back off a bit and use the term "pretty sure". Had too comment on the fact your NOT pushing your feelings on the subject, as hard as most of us do.
Intended no confusion or condemnation.

Have a good night!

Aloha!

 

I would appreciate hearing your opinion of Seger's "Live Bullet." If it is significantly better than the remaster then I'll seek it out. Thanks.

 

Are we talking about target pressings or Japanese and W. German non-target pressings? As far as I know there are no Bowie target pressings.

 

Big Ed,

I'm confused by all your misspellings, not the content or intention of your message.

 

Here's the question(s) re phrased. And I'm amazed with all the discussions on this topic that nobody can answer it.

Many refer to target cd's as being desirable because they are flat transfers. But they are only referred to as the W. German and Japanese pressings. Are the original u.s. titles not the same? What is different?
The only consensus I've seen so far when someone HAS done a comparison, is that it is the same.
Why the interest in the W.German and Japanese titles and not the U.S.?

 

First of all, when we refer to "target" CDs, we are referring specifically to the discs pressed between 1983 to 1985 for Warner-distributed labels that were manufactured in West Germany, Japan, and France for distribution throughout the world, especially the US, and which have the distinctive "target" design on the non-playing sides of the discs. After 1985, these same titles (and all subsequent titles) were pressed in these countries AND the US but no longer had the "target" designs on them.

Then there are "first pressings", which means exactly what it says – discs that are the first pressings of ANY title (not just WEA titles), regardless of country of manufacture. "First pressings" is a pretty big umbrella and CAN include "target" CDs.

Some of us collect "target" and/or "first pressing" CDs because they're harder to find than most and are valuable only to collectors. In addition, there are those collectors who collect these CDs because they believe they sound better than later pressings, but this is strictly a case-by-case (or title-by-title) scenario.

A first pressing doesn't necessarily mean the BEST-SOUNDING pressing. In my opinion, I don't think anyone can make a certain judgement call on a CD transfer unless they've heard the master tape themselves and was actually there to witness the mastering of the disc itself! As you can imagine, only a very small number of people can make this claim. Oh sure, you can say it SOUNDS like a "flat" transfer because it isn't boosted or have EQ added and so on, but that doesn't necessarily mean it IS a "flat" transfer from the master tape. It is understood that many first pressings were made from tape copies, but funnily enough, some suppposedly "flat" transfers from tape copies sound better than later modernized remasters (for example, a few of David Bowie's RCA CDs).

To put it simply, there are those who collect these CDs only for their rarity, those who collect for their purported better sound quality, and those who collect for BOTH reasons.

I myself fall into the first category. By and large, I don't collect "target" and "first pressing" CDs for sound quality. I just appreciate their artistic aesthetic values.

So, to answer your original question:
"What is supposedly the difference between the japanese/w.german and the original u.s.?"

Some believe that there was a higher standard of quality when CDs were first pressed in Japan and West Germany before the US started manufacturing CDs, the same thinking applied to vinyl pressings. In my view, this is generally a matter of opinion.

Hope this helps you somehow!

 

There is no Target CD of Live Bullet. However, there is a Black Triangle pressing that gets positive reviews around here. This CD is pretty tough to find though.

 

I don't have the remaster of Live Bullet, only the original Japanese black-triangle disc that Jorge mentioned. I like that disc very much.

 

Please pay attention to Kym's excellent, detailed post. The term "target" is often misused.

For pictures of target CDs, go here: http://www.ralphscomiccorner.com/cdjwg2.htm

 

For those who have heard a lot of targets, generally speaking do subsequent non-target US pressings of the same titles (prior to any remaster) sound different?

At first blush I would guess there's no reason they should sound different. But I know from the non-target example of Steve's Buddy Holly FTOMT CD, I think it was, that when US pressing began, a different master, maybe an LP master, was used. I've heard both and I prefer the Japanese pressing.

 

That clears it up a bit.
I'm confused about your statement that when they started to press them in the States they no longer had the target design?? There are tons of them, no?

 

Yes, that's correct – when the WEA labels started to press CDs in the US, they did not use the target design for US-pressed discs. Old stock of WG and J targets still lingered in the US marketplace for a few years.

HOWEVER – to throw a monkeywrench in the whole shebang, there have been a handful of early pressed-in-the-US WEA discs that DO have the target design. So far we target collectors have found like four or five of them.

 

Thanks to all for contributing to this thread and for the supplied links! They were very informative. I realized I already have at least one target and didn't know it (Pretenders - Learning to Crawl).

Now if I could just make sense of the bone threads...

 

What four or five discs are you referring to?

PAT

 

I have the following target CDs that were pressed in the U.S.:

* Linda Ronstadt Greatest Hits (purple target with light blue coating)
* The Doobie Brothers The Best of The Doobies (black target with no color coating, CRC issue)
* INXS The Swing (green target with pink coating)
* The Doors The Doors (orange target with silver coating)
* The Doors L.A. Woman (orange target with silver coating)