Pre-remaster Deja Vu CDs

There is/was a thread here about old Deja Vu CDs, but I can't seem to find it now. I did save some comments from it, though, which I think were made by peter:

I've got the German one ("Manufactured in Germany by Record Service GmbH, Alsdorf"), although the printing is all black, rather than having a red ring. Exact same matrix info as the WG above.

And...it sounds pretty good, other than the fact that it's plagued with tape issues. Don't know if I'd call them "drop outs" in the normal sense, but definitely problems. A few key ones:

Carry On: 2:41
Teach Your Children: 1:07-1:08
Almost Cut My Hair: 0:47-0:50 (pretty bad)

Those are just a quick few - I believe there are more.

Does anyone still have the US CD? Does it have these issues? Could anyone post a clip or two from it?

 

I have this CD. I do not remember for sure where it was made - I'm at work so I'll check when I get back home tonight - but I think it's US made, but it could be Japanese. It's definitely not W. German.

I do happen to have a cd-r comp I made that includes "Carry On" with me at work. I think it sounds pretty nice - smooth and easy - but I don't have any other version to compare with.

I don't notice a drop-out per say at the 2:41 mark. With headphones, that's at the end of the first left-channel guitar solo and it has a break between the last two string picks that might seem like a drop-out. But since nothing else drops out with it, I think it's just the way the guitar was played right there.

And, honestly, beyond "Carry On", I don't listen the CD itself much.

Something I did notice when making the cd-r comp, when looking at the track in spectral view, I noticed a change in the high frequency response for a portion of the song. It's been a while so I can't say where this occured exactly, but it seemed to be during one of the guitar solos. It's like another tape was spliced in with less high frequency range than the rest of the song - it fades out above about 18K for just this portion instead of going all the way up to the hard-filtering of 20.5K like all CDs did at the time. I can't make it out when playing the song though. Actually, I'd be surprised if I can really hear anything above 16K at my age anyway.

 

The high end goes away somewhat in the right channel at that point. The stereo image shifts the left a bit. Of course, I've only ever heard that on this CD.

There's an actual dropout (both channels) at 3:01 during "questions of a thousand dreams". That's really short, though, and I don't know if it's on other versions or not.

That's Carry On? Teach Your Children is quite obviously spliced from two mixes that sound different.

Ack...the end of the "Nash lead vocal" section of Teach Your Children has all kinds of tape issues on this German disc.

 

I do have the US CD. I bought it from a forum member, maybe from Peter?

I will hav to check matrix info when I get home.

Anyway, I did compare my US version to Andreas' version (which is the German version, but probably not WG - maybe Andreas can provide some details), and the two were identical.

My version sounds good to me, but there can always be a better version. For what it's worth, I also compared my US CD of Deja Vu to the shared tracks on the non-remastered So Far (which was done by Barry Diament), and they sounded very similar. Definitely not a huge difference there which would lead me to say that one is clearly inferior.

I wish I had a faster internet connection to post some sample clips. Maybe I can take some clips to work and e-mail them to lukpac?

Roland

 

Yes, it was "Carry On", at least the one I noticed.

Maybe the whole thing's been sliced and diced more than a typical Beatles song...

 

My e-mail can handle it if you want.

 

My CD is:
Atlantic SD 19118-2 Europe: 250 001
Matrix: 2 50001 SRC 01
Manufactured in Germany by Record Service GmbH, Alsdorf
silver CD with black text and black ring

The drop-outs and tape problems are as Luke describes. I preferred this mastering over the Gastwirt remaster.

Teach Your Children, first 30 seconds: http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=4230612F2B98FC7B

 

I actually got rid of the, what people are calling, "good" CD because of the tape dropouts and other issues like that.

 

Andreas, thanks.

My US CD, which sounded identical to Andreas' German CD (at least to me) has the following details:

same catalog numbers as Andreas' CD
matrix: 3 19118-2 SRC=08 M8S2 (not sure if the last four letters/digits are actually part of the matrix, they appear to be etched in)
silver CD with red&black rings and red Atlantic logo
MADE IN U.S.A. BY WEA MANUFACTURING INC.

I like how it sounds.

By the way, was this also a Barry Diament mastering? Maybe there was an early version not done by Barry, and then a secret remaster (like with the first two Phil Collins albums)?

Roland

 

According to the first post, that's supposedly a different mastering.

Does it have the specific issues I've described above?

 

Yes, it has the tape issues. They aren't too bad, but noticeable.

Roland

 

Mine is made in West Germany by Polygram. Same dropouts.

 

Just checked the "So Far" compilation, and it also has the tape issue on "Teach Your Children", so it might just be on the master tape. Barry Diament mastered "So Far".

O.k., so it seems I have the "bad" version, but then Andreas must also have the "bad" version, since those two sounded identical to me.

Must be there is another German (or really West German?) version which is better. If it is indeed a WG CD, it seems like the earlier CD is the better one.

Interesting thread, would be great if we could really find out what's going on.

Roland

 

What is the matrix code on yours, and the total playing time?

The playing time of my US CD is 36:21.

Roland

 

I have a red-ring Atlantic (made in the US) with a slightly different matrix 19118-2 SRC 04 (total playing time 36:21).

I haven't heard the Joe Gastwirt mastering but I've always liked the sound of this early CD.

 

Or maybe there was only 1 early CD after all...

 

my copy...silver WITH red ring...matrix 3 19118-2 SRC+07 M4S6
MANUFACTURED BY COLUMBIA HOUSE

36:24

 

My disc is Made in West Germany by Polygram and has the traditional red & black outer ring (total playing time: 36:29). The matrix reads: 7567 19118-2 2895 821 01 (which leads me to believe it is a first pressing.)

It has the same tape issues as mentioned above, but, I'll take this disc (warts and all) every single time over that bizarre sounding remaster! As always, YMMV...

 

Does it have the aforementioned tape issues?

 

I've just checked my German Atlantic CD (Cat # 7567-81517-2, matrix-code 2 50001 SRC 01). No problems as Luke described above, but three clicks on Almost Cut My Hair between 2:32 and 2:34. Sounds pretty good.

 

Could you post or send some FLACs from your disc? E-mail me if necessary.

 

???

 

I have an old US Columbia House pressing, with catalog number A2 19118. Inner ring: 3 19118-2 SRC=08.

I just listened via my AKG headphones, and I couldn't hear any of the faults mentioned (apart from one ... see below). I'll post a clip shortly.

I do hear this one.

 

Weird, because of the identical matrix codes. Different cat #, though. I bought my copy in the mid 90's.
Luke, I had just send You an e-mail.

 

Here is a 40-second-or-so sample (starting at around 2:11) of "Carry On" from this disc.