Pink Floyd - what remasters?

Pbject 1: Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here - Harvest CDP 7 46035 2, silver CD, black text, Made In U.K., original cover, "Marketed, manufactured and distribvuted by EMI"
Object 2: Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here - EMI 7243 8 29750 2 1, colored CD, new cover, Made In Holland, "Digitally remastered by Doug Sax", (p) 1992, (c) 1994

Result: 100% digitally identical.

Any thoughts?

 

You don't seem to have much luck with these. Didn't you experience the same thing with DSOTM?

And while I think about it, it makes me wonder if my Dutch Sax WYWH is the same as yours. I'm not all that impressed with it, sonically. It sounds congested to me, seems to favour the midrange, and not a lot else. Acoustic guitars just lay there, without ever having sparkle, etc. I heard a snippet of the Mastersound disc, and it's a lot better.

 

Yes, my "Doug Sax remaster" of DSOTM is identical to the Japanese "TO" mastering.

I agree, it doesn't sound that good. I will get more versions of WYWH in the near future, though. Is the "Made In Japan" Harvest CD a different mastering?

I am wondering how many people wrote Doug Sax' mastering off when in fact they had just a clone of an earlier less-than-ideal Harvest mastering.

 

Here's the first minute of Have A Cigar from my disc:

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=95C32F31454FB24E

 

That's also identical to my two discs.

 

So I've been listening to a UK silver faced Harvest for 11 years and never knew it.

Of course, I have to take back everything I said about Doug Sax's work on this, given that it no longer seems I've heard it!

 

... and this is probably why some folk find the Shine On box is different from the albums available seperately.

 

Refresh my memory. Is the Japanese TO or Non-TO the must have version.

I have the 20th Anniversary edition of DSOTM.

 

Non-TO. Some TO copies do have the non-TO mastering, but it's easier to just go for a non-TO.

 

The non-TO.

As far as I remember, that one had unique EAC peak levels.

By the way: UK silver CD Harvest WYWH CD was normalized to 100%, while the "remaster" was at 97.9%. They came out identical after I normalized the "remaster".

 

How is this confirmed Phil, by a computer program saying they are identical bits or someone actually listening via shoot-out?

 

Some other members have said that they found the same mastering on both discs. I don't know if they did that via a CD player, or a computer.

Saying that though, I'm getting weary of being asked about the use of computer programs. I don't wish to speak for Andreas (this is his thread after all), but before this heads in a direction I've seen all too often, can we keep the debate on the merits of using computer programs for a thread of it's own? Please?

 

Fair enough Phil, it's just that I won't take it as fact unless it was done by listening and honestly, no slag intended, neither should anyone else. Both Steve and Barry Diament use their ears to make certain a mastering is in fact theirs and that speaks volumes to me.

 

I understand Phil's concerns, and I agree with Dave as well to a point.

Both are important ways of comparing the same cd, and I won't take it "as fact" unless both methods are involved in compiling the results, unless it's from Steve or Barry, or someone with their credentials.

That said, both methods can be done separately, and can have their own threads. Those who only need one method will be happy, as will those of us who like reading about both.

So, digitally identical, eh? Interesting...I would like to see the Shine On WYWH enter this shootout, if possible....Andreas?

 

I'm not quite following. Are you saying that the Harvest was already at 100%? If the Dutch "remaster" needed to be tweaked in order to be "100% digitally identical", we've got our terminology slightly skewed, no?

 

That infers that a computer isn't used to play back the audio. It is used to play back the audio aswell.

But no matter - that REALLY is the last I'm saying on the debate. The search engine is a goldmine if you want my input....



Now then. About those Doug Sax remasters that are really 1980's discs ...

 

If you want to confirm that two masterings are identical, the computer is much more reliable than the human ear. Since this is my thread, I would rather not have this issue discussed.

I don't have any other version of WYWH so far...could somebody post a sample from a standard US remastered CD or from the Shine on box in .flac?

 

The Harvest was normalized at 100%, the Dutch was normalized at 97.9%. After I normalized the Dutch at 100%, it was identical to the Harvest.

 

So they weren't identical (couldn't have been if the levels were different), but did cancel out?

 

They cancelled out after the Dutch was normalized to 100%.

 

Gotcha.

I can't see this was deliberate, but then again, someone has taken a previously available digital dub, cut it at a slightly different volume, and labelled it "Doug Sax".

Don't know what to make of this, other than I'm curious to hear a copy from the "Shine On" box.

 

I'll get to posting one later if no one else has done it yet...I've got running around to do today so I'm jumping in to read a bit here and there then taking off again.

Please let me know what information, or which song, or what part of it, to post.

Great thread!

 

Preferrably the first 20 seconds or so from Have A Cigar. Lossless or uncompressed, of course.

 

Does anyone know if the MS Gold of WYWH is the same mastering as that of the Shine On boxset? In an interview with Acoustic Sounds, Sax said:

"...Guthrie is the overseer of all of Pink Floyd's re-releases. James and I mastered all of the titles in the Shine On set. Alan dropped by to take a listen and offer suggestions on the Dark Side."

My MS Gold gives both Guthrie and Sax the mastering credit, but I don't own the Shine On box to verify that it is the same.

 

They're not the same Greg, the Mastersound is much much better. The Shine On mastering is bright.