Best Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by andrewi, Dec 29, 2005.

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  1. andrewi

    andrewi New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, ON
    Hi all,

    I've been trying to track down the best sounding version of Rumours...so far I've got:

    -Original 1977 vinyl
    - 80's tan WB label with side 1 by Masterdisc instead of Capitol and 'FM Test' in the dead wax
    -Nautilus vinyl
    -Early US Warner Bros. CD
    -DVD-Audio
    -New 2004 Remastered 2CD version

    The original is alright, I guess I haven't found a nice hot stamper yet. The re-issue 80's one has a nice side 1, but pretty blah side 2. As for the Nautilus, the sleeve says it was 'digitally remastered' which scares me since it would be really early digital editing. Also, I think they must have used some sort of alternate tape on 'Gold Dust Woman' as the Nautilus version has the loud sound of breaking glass near the end of the song, and effect which I understood was removed because it made it 'too scary' (actually it's really effective!).

    Maybe someone could suggest which version has the most enjoyable sound, I haven't tried any of the Target discs yet, so I have no clue as to what they add to the equation.

    When discussing this album with Mr.Audiophile Equipment Store Employee he laughed in my face and said no good sounding version exists. I don't believe this is true, but I need the knowledge of the SH boards to help me track one down before I go broke...
     
  2. evad

    evad Well-Known Member

    Location:
    .
    I think the West German Target sounds fantastic. I only compared it to the DVD Audio (2 channel) and 2CD Expanded version, which sound bleached and bright.
     
  3. Roscoe

    Roscoe Active Member

    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    I would have to give the nod to the 2004 remaster as the best of a mediocre lot. Rumours was never a fantastic sounding album to begin with, particularly when compared with the FM White Album (likely the sub-par sonics are due to engineering challenges that are well-documented on the Classic Albums DVD).

    My opinions on some of the various media incarnations of this album that I have owned over the years:
    - Early LP pressings ("trees" Burbank label): A bit muddy sounding, and I have yet to find a pressing that didn't have a lot of rice crispies at the beginning of Side 1
    - Nautilus: Early digital mastering, unimpressive
    - Original WB CD: Poor sound, digital glitch near the end of "Dreams", and a cold intro for "Gold Dust Woman" rather than the fade-up from the original LP
    - DVD-A: Stereo layer sounds pretty good, but I could do with less digital maximization (it's on the outer edge of my tolerance). Tonality is a bit on the bright side, but not too offensive. And that darned cold intro on Gold Dust Woman again!
    - 2004 remaster: Sound is very similar to the DVD-A, but they got the intro to Gold Dust Woman correct.
     
  4. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    I give the nod to the 2004 remaster.
     
  5. DVD-A is nice (I only listen to the 5.1 mix), but I don't like the version of "Never Going Back Again", so I would have to give the 2004 deluxe edition the nod as best overall. At least where CD is concerned.
     
  6. Dennis Metz

    Dennis Metz Born In A Motor City south of Detroit

    Location:
    Fonthill, Ontario
    I agree, but the 5.1 DVD audio is nice.
     
  7. JoelDF

    JoelDF Senior Member

    Location:
    Prairieville, LA
    That's not the "original" cd. That's the later "secret remaster" that was done sometime around '85 I think. It's the current standard cd issue that had the thin black lettering over the cd's reflective background.

    The original domestic cd issue was the W. German made target cd (black lettering over a silver painted background and red target design) that has the original LP's characteristics for all the songs - including the fade-in and early fade-out for "Gold Dust Woman", and the overall slightly different general "sound" for each song (something the "remaster" tried to fix).
     
    marcfeld69 likes this.
  8. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    My favorite is the DVD-Audio disc (stereo track), though I agree with others that it is a bit hard-sounding. The current remaster (two-disc set) is very good, as is the target. I haven't compared these two CD releases.
     
  9. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    I heard the actual master tape over at K-Disc mastering back in the 1980's. The old Target CD sounds pretty close so that's what I play. Everything that came after really is hard on the ol' Parametric EQ moves for me.
     
    On_the_dunes and marcfeld69 like this.
  10. jroyen

    jroyen Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    The West German Target Rumours is the first and only CD to sound identical to my original vinyl -- a real revelation. It may still be slightly muddy, hissy, and dull, but I don't think you'll find a better version.
     
    marcfeld69 likes this.
  11. andrewi

    andrewi New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, ON
    Steve,
    Any chance you could get your hands on the master tape again in 2006 and do a nice 24k+ Gold disc?...

    I find it amusing that one of the most successful albums of all time has yet to be released on MFSL or done by Steve yet. Sure, the overall quality of cd's and vinyl so far hasn't been amazing, but I'm sure a gold disc would 'breathe some life' into the Mac.
     
  12. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    Hi all,

    I prefer the following for Rumours:

    Vinyl: Original 1977 WB Palm Tree Label. I have a quiet copy. Cost me $1.00
    CD: WG Target label version. The current 2 disc remaster is fine but a bit bright.
    DVD-A: Beats the 2-disc set and has nice tonality. Also has "Silver Spring" in nice sound.
     
    marcfeld69 likes this.
  13. ChristianL

    ChristianL Senior Member

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    There's a German vinyl reissue from around 1999 actually done by WB. The best version I've heard so far. BTW, the early CD-mastering with the faded-up Gold Dust Woman has been available here in Germany till the 2004 remaster has been released. WB Europe/Germany obviously didn't use the US secret remastering.
     
    marcfeld69 likes this.
  14. Parkertown

    Parkertown Tawny Port

    I've got a Columbia House Record Club Lp that sounds amazing! My favorite version...
     
  15. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialistâ„¢

    Location:
    B.C.
    A Target CD fan here myself. The others I've heard simply have not measured up in sound quality.
     
  16. JoelDF

    JoelDF Senior Member

    Location:
    Prairieville, LA
    Other than the Capitol cut LP, all I have is the target cd myself. Can't see going beyond it.

    It'd be nice if Steve could do an AF gold, but since it was just done last year by WB itself, WB will not let it be done again as per the agreements that AF and WB had when they first started the deal for the AF issues (meaning nothing that has already been issued as a remaster).
     
  17. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    I'm sure the gold disc labels both wanted RUMOURS (and FLEETWOOD MAC). If you look back, you'll notice that there weren't many Warner Brothers titles on gold disc.
     
  18. Linus

    Linus Senior Member

    Location:
    Melb. Australia
    Is this the version with ALLEN in the dead wax and the non-textured cover?
    I picked one of these up at a market for $2 and the Australian pressings sound muddy in comparison.
     
  19. John Carsell

    John Carsell Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northwest Illinois
    I could never understand why Nautilus choose to do a digital mastering of "Rumours" in 1981. At that time it was more or less experimental and everything else they issued was of the half-speed master variety. Why thay had to use "Rumours" as a guinea pig
    still baffles me.
     
  20. James Glennon

    James Glennon Senior Member

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland

    What about the 'rumour' that the original master tapes were destroyed in a fire and that is why every version after 1980 sounds bad.
    JG
     
  21. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    Just a curious question: Who pressed the "quiet copy" in question? I'm betting it was Columbia . . .
     
  22. James Glennon

    James Glennon Senior Member

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    Is there a way of knowing? I have 2 US vinyl copies and 1 UK.
    JG
     
  23. ChristianL

    ChristianL Senior Member

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany

    Sorry, I can't answer Your question because I bought the LP back to the store because of massive surface noise. I decided to wait for a decent CD remaster. Now I regret my decision not to try another copy back then, because the 2004 remaster didn't sound as good as the WB re-release as far as I remember. Haven't compared them A/B though.
     
  24. ChristianL

    ChristianL Senior Member

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    Referring to an inner sleeve sheet of my Mastersound Wish You Were Here LP, some CBS Mastersound LP's are "infected" with digital mastering, too. Back in the early 80's, there where Japanese CBS/Sony LP's around, "proudly" marked as digital mastered. Maybe they thought: If we transfer them to digital and back to analog, the sound quality will be improved. A vinyl lover might say: To hell and back again.
     
    Soundlabs likes this.
  25. KennyG

    KennyG Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ireland
    I'm not overly fond of any of the CD versions, myself. The original WB CD is very muddy although it seems to be the only place with the proper fadeout to Second Hand News.

    The current 2CD remaster is a little bright but I like it. But I have a major problem with it: the end of Second Hand News seems to have some form of bizarre loop at the end which I believe the LP lacked.

    Ken
     
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