Amy Winehouse - Back To Black Deluxe Edition - different mastering......

It's the right one.

I went to Amoeba in SF last week with the wife and said I really want that deluxe version. Suprise ...It was under the xmas tree this AM. (she went back) That's what I call Love. LOL. She knows the way to my heart

 

Thank you for the info. I was kind of afraid because the price seemed reasonable.

 

About -0.50 dB album gain. Max peaks are at around -5 dB.

 

The picture and tracklisting matches the one I have, which is the one that Mal started the thread on (quiet mastering of disc 1). If the seller is honest, you did good!

EDIT: Somebody beat me to it before I turned the page...

 

you sure about that?

using flac frontend 1.7.1 and flac.exe 1.2.1 for CD1 of the Deluxe edition, ripped with dbPoweramp, rip is accurate according to Accuraterip (Accuraterip disc ID = 011-000f2735-0081adb1-8e08310b-7; Univeral Product Code on box = 602517490970', box text '2007 Universal Island Records LTD ...[ ] ... manufactured and printed in Hong Kong LC000407.BIEM/SABAM 174 909 7"):

replaygain_album_gain for CD 1 of my copy of the deluxe box is -0.26 dB (foobar reads this as -0.27dB, probably due to rounding)
replaygain_album_peak for CD 1 is 0.545166 (=-0.5 dbFS)

 

Found a used DE @ good ol' Amoeba.

The level difference between the album disc and the bonus-tracks disc is odd, but who cares?... content-wise, the bonus disc is worth having.

 

oops, this actually means 54.5% of full scale, not -0.5 dBFS

Also, at least for Mal's two samples of Rehab, you can't re-create the SE just by raising the DE version peak to 0 dB. So something else was done other than simple level normalization; the DE has a couple of dB more 'dynamic range'. The actual shape of the waveforms, though is, pretty sick if you magnify them (diagonally chopped off peaks) in both versions.

 

I just heard this disc for the first time this morning. I think it sounds way better than the SE of this title. The DE breaths better and sounds a little more open. But still there is room for improvement. The individual instruments are still not pronounced in space like an audiophile production, although it is more laid-back and enjoyable. I recommend spending the couple of extra dollars and buying the DELUXE EDITION.

 

My thought on this is that this is caused by the hard limiting and compression done during tracking and mixing. Once this occures, it is forever, part of the waveform, and can not be removed. if it goes past digital zero on a single instrument's track - it will create the same problems.

I have seen this myself on numerous albums I have worked on.

 

Mine is also the wrong one
It was made in Germany by EDC. SACD jewelcase.
Catalogue number 175 563 1

 

I just received my copy of the Deluxe Edition from an Ebay seller. My copy is manufactured and printed in Hong Kong. "Addicted" has some of the worst lyrics I have ever heard.

 

So, which one is the right one? The Canadian Deluxe album?

 

I guess that that is a matter of opinion. Me and my wife and 2 daughters and our friends think that it is the cutest little poem that we have heard in years.

 

The Hong Kong one was good as well. BACK TO BLACK Deluxe in a little slipcase, that is it.

 

I'm pretty sure that if you get the Deluxe Edition made in the EU that came in the hardback digipack book in hard cardboard slipcase then you'll get the better mastering - the one that seems to have been an error. As soon as they switched to the super jewel box packaging they seem to have also switched disc 1 for the standard loud mastering.

My one with the preferred mastering is on Universal/island 174 909 7. It has the UPC code in the bottom right corner on the back - I believe the later edition that comes in a super jewel box with the unpleasasnt standard mastering has the UPC code in the top right corner.

Good luck finding the slipcase edition - they should be out there and it is definitely worth hunting down.

 

I find those lyrics hilarious. Especially over that driving beat. I believe that was the intended effect.

 

I think the live version of Addicted on the live DVD kills the studio version. Especially the talk box keyboard solo. Sounds so 70's soul!

 

Heven't heard that yet. Sounds like I'd love it, though.

 

I didn't realize it was so complicated finding the right deluxe version with the quieter mastering.

I just ordered the 2CD deluxe edition from Blowitoutahere through Amazon thinking it would be the UK version and they sent an Argentina edition. Sure enough it has the distorted, full volume, garbage mastering. Ugh! This is why I sold off my regular CD version years ago. Now I've got it again. Couldn't even listen to 20 seconds of Rehab before being totally disgusted. How did this album even get such a horrendous mastering in the first place?

Wondering if I should try and return it...

 

That may be the jewel case version with the loud mastering. The pic of the back cover shows the UPC in the top right corner - it's in the bottom right corner on the original slipcase/book version with the better sound.

 

Unfortunately, when they switched from the slipcase/book packaging to the super jewel case packaging, they 'corrected' the mastering for Disc 1 by reverting back to the loud mastering as found on the original one disc release.

To find the preferred mastering it would be best to buy from a seller who can confirm they are selling the original EU cardboard slipcase version of the Deluxe Edition (Universal Island 174 909 7).

 

Hasn't the quiet mastering been out of print for years. Wasn't it replaced almost immediately with the "correct" loud mastering?

 

That's the version they sent me and it is 2 discs. I just didn't realize (or forgot) that there were so many other versions than the original 'UK quiet mastering' version. Anyway, sorry for the hissy fit. I'm over the sonics and just accepting them for what they are.

The album is blowing me away again, musically. I forgot how great it really is. The bonus disc is very good also. The slow version of Some Unholy War is absolutely brilliant, and should've been the album version IMO. To Know Him Is To Love Him and the Love Is A Losing Game demo are quite moving. Makes me even sadder that Amy is gone, hearing all her potential. She told us she was trouble, but she really was worth it.