Target CDs...Why?

If I understand correctly, Target CDs are the "first pressing" of a CD release, are foreign, and are worth $$$ because they are collectibles, somewhat like first day of issue stamps, yes?

If so, their being has nothing to do with sound quality at all...they could be best (the old old ones???!!!) or they could be sad sounding...

So their being has really little to do with sound, and yet, this site (seems to me) is dedicated to good sound?

Well, the tart, non-tart, and sports, and Kosher for Passover Coke (SOON TO BE AGAIN, FOLKS) issues have nothing to do with good sound, either...

hmmmmmm.....

How about life's true gusto??

 

There have been many threads about this, but I think it comes down to the two things you mentioned. On one hand they are the first pressings and to some extent it may be the "first day stamp". On the other hand, back when CD's first came out, the record companies started throwing CD's out the door without doing much to them. Take the tape (and sometimes that master tape was the first generation mixdown tape like Steve uses) and put it on CD and sell it.
Once that big rush was over, the record companies started "improving" some of those same CD's by making them louder or bogus marketing things like 24 bit mastering, etc.

So the appeal to the Targets is that you many times get to hear just what is on the master tape "warts and all" as Steve says. So they might not be the best that CD can sound, but if you are sophisticated enough you can fix it (master it) yourself with a parmetric EQ instead of relying on someone to use compressors and processors and EQ's to try and make the sound modern like much of today's CD's-- which also isn't the best that CD can sound.

At least that is my take on the Targets.

 

Flat transfers of whatever copy of the master they were given. Some are good, some are not so good.

 

Maybe someday there'll be a "master list" of what we've discussed on this board about them.

Oc course, maybe Budweiser will brew a decent beer...but I ain't holding my breath!

 

My somewhat take on this is that the companies many times used the mastered for vinyl production master tapes for the first CD issue.

But, it MIGHT HAVE BEEN that they just plugged a (THE) first generation master tape in line to a 1610/30 and that's what was...but I don't see that being all too likely, as the companies DID master for vinyl with EQ and compression and KNEW that master tapes should be altered in some way for production, and so I would think the first likelihood was the more plausible scenario...


But I will not try to guess the moves of the companies as they all scrambled to get their product out on CD to maximize the new cash cow potential.

 

I only collect them because they're pretty and hard to find. I could care less about how they sound, really.

 

Zal, you kind of hit the nail on the head regarding the collectability factor, but a fair majority of these are the best sounding CD pressings of said albums. Admittedly not all though.

 

Like Kym, I collect targets first for the cool designs and because they are rare. Sound quality is a secondary consideration. I find that many targets sound very good, but for ones that don't, I just go out and get the better-sounding version. The better-sounding version is almost always easier to find than the target. So, I get the best of both worlds. I have the rare collectible and the version that sound good.

 

Asking why someone collects Target/early pressing CDs is like asking why someone collects stamps, coins, postcards, or anything else for that matter. It's a hobby, it is fun searching for hard to find titles, and it's interesting to read about other collector's finds.

I'm curious as to why so many on this forum lately seem to question why people collect them. So they may not always be the best sounding CDs, but a lot of people collect Beatles LPs on Capitol, and we know how most forum members feel about those.

 

Me too. However, as was stated by Zal, this forum is supposed to be about sound quality. Given that, some people cannot understand why someone would sink money into discs that sound poor or would buy music without consideration of sound quality. A lot of folks here are only concerned with sound quality and are not collectors. Another point to consider is that vinyl is widely regarded as a collector medium, but CDs are not. For many people, vinyl has a mystique that CDs do not have.

 

If this forum were only about sound quality, we wouldn't have:

The off-topic section.
The long-winding threads.
The tournaments and polls.
The threads about where and how to buy AF releases for the cheapest price.

 

I agree. Those target discs look so damn cool!

 

It's really annoying to get a 'super new version' of anything that seems to have had all the life sucked out of it. Even in the analog age this was happening, it's not all digital's fault.

I buy and sell targets because I can. Mostly these are common music where I already have what I consider to be the best version on vinyl. I haven't found a target CD yet that challenges these, though many do sound more acceptable to me now than they did 20 years ago when I first bought them on CD.

Some of the better sounding early CDs aren't targets. I just got a WG polydor/RSO Blind Faith that sounded just incredible on first listen. I played a newer remaster about a month ago and didn't enjoy it at all..

I think the modern/current equipment is better than the older, and engineers know more about the effects of digital degredation... that doesn't mean that they all take the care necessary to put out a better product, though. I'm glad to find out all this stuff here.. I had to find out about vinyl on my own, and it took a while. I'm now making notes on the 'best sounding CD thread" ..

 

I've said this before, but it irritates me to no end just how bad the current "expanded" remaster of Huey Lewis and the News Sports is. It sucks. What a wasted opportunity given the technology available today and the inclusion of bonus tracks. The best-sounding CD of this classic I've heard is the relatively rare original Japanese black-triangle CD. That disc is over 20 years old!

 

But that's pretty subjective, of course.

What may sound good to one person's ears, might sound terrible to another's.

 

Has a list of good and bad sounding discs ever been posted on the forum?

 

I picked up a West German Target CD of "Fresh Cream" at a record show here in Orlando for $8.00. Sounds better than the remaster to me and has bonus tracks...

 

Is there anything not subjective with regards to music?

 

Is it?

I'll give you an example. Not too long ago somebody mentioned the redbook layer of Roxy Music's SACD hybrid "Avalon" sounded terrible. I didn't say anything at the time, since he's entitled to his opinion. But to my ears, I thought it was a vast improvement over the "remastered" version that came out in 2000. I A&B'd it with the older version and liked the SACD redbook layer better.

Some people feel one way, other's don't...

I take anything labeled "remastered" with a grain of salt.

 

Yeah it is kind of an oxymoron, isn't it?



But that's my whole point. A "fair amount" are the "best sounding"? Maybe. Maybe not.

I'm not trolling or anything. I just feel it's all relative. That's all.

 

Before KeithH attacks you (), let me tell you that Fresh Cream you have is not a target but a first pressing. What are called "target" CDs here are only the first pressings on WEA-distributed labels that have the distinctive "target" design on their label sides.

I just don't want you to be misinformed.