Dark Side Of The Moon - Holy Grail

You should have seen the WYWH 2 Track that he sold for more

 

I have a black triangle "TO" CP35-3017 and I cannot hear "Ticket to Ride" on the fade out. I could hear it on the 1994 Doug Sax remaster I had, so I know what to listen out for.

 

I bet if you made an analog copy of the redbook layer using the same player and recorder and compared it they'd be even more similar. That is where the Stereophile test fell short. They didn't run the redbook layer through the same D/A and A/D converters as the DSD layer.

 

FYI the "lowly grail" listening test is slightly delayed. I am still waiting for a disc to arrive. It could be another week or two.

 

Yeah, Stereophile's waveform looks completely different though. Maybe they goofed and recorded the front channels of the 5.1 mix.

As far as the "holy grail" goes, I listened to some de-emphasized clips posted a while back. I was completely underwhelmed, to say the least. It sounded distant, boring and uninvolving to my ears. The SACD sounds right to me, in terms of tonality. Shame about the limiting though.

 

clips? You have to hear all of these from a real hi-fi to "get it".

 

It's too expensive for me. I threw in a $90+ bid for one on ebay a while back and didn't get it. Those clips convinced me that it's not going to be worth it for me. And I think my system is just fine.

 

Mike, are you a headphones only listener?

This would explain why you believed the holy grail was uninvolving. All I can say is that there's a huge difference between listening through ear cans and a 10" - 15" woofer, 6" - 8" midrange and a 1" - to a 12" horn. You're completely missing your open room sound that can not be achieved with head phones and will miss all subtleties. THe SACD sounds hard, tight, and uninvolving to me because it doesn't breathe properly in comparison. Heck, even waveform appears flattened on the peaks.

 

Actually I hate headphones but they're handy sometimes My speakers might not be anywhere near high-end but it's not something I can worry too much about right now. I understand what you mean by it not "breathing properly" especially on Money because of the limiting that happened there. But I like the overall tonality and tonality is the biggest thing for me.

 

My system isn't high end (I'm talking big-boys-school high end). Like me, you would probably be happy with the Japan black triangle non-TO with U.K. number or the Japan black face non-TO which sells for around $60 in the forum classifieds (actually, I'm happy with just any old disc for the amount of times I listen to it). But I still have to hear the black face compared with the other black triangles. I've heard the three black triangle discs. Heck, in some posts I read members like there music with higher highs like the modern remasters, so the black triangle TO would suit that taste.

 

Had the shoot out today with these Japan discs.

1. Japan black triangle - Non TO - no CDP 7. The "Holy Grail"
matrix CP35-3017 51A2 +++++.
I don't know the matrix on Dave's disc. Both of our discs are identical

2. Japan black face - with CDP 7
matrix CP35-3017 28A6 CDP 7 46001 2

3. Japan black triangle - Non TO with CDP 7
matrix CP35-3017 22A6 CDP 7-46001 2

4. Japan black triangle - TO version
matrix CP35-3017-U 1A2 TO

See posts earlier in the thread for the differences between the "holy grail" and the others. #2 is closer to #1 than #3 is. They all sound good. #4 will appeal to those who like a bright sound. And from posts I've read I know you are out there.

 

I'd just like to add to Darcy's post that #2 does not have the 3 dimensional ambiance AKA Breath Of Life that #1 does, but is tonally similar. #3 sounds veiled in comparison to #2. #4 I still say sounds like someone boo-booed and didn't engage the pre-emphasis before mastering and the result is an in-your-face bottom and top end.

 

Mine is CP35-3017-7 1A1 and these do sound exactly the same.

 

Everybody lost interest in this one?

 

I just bought, "Dark Side Of The Moon" On MFSL (Mobile Fidelity) - Gold CD (UDCD 517).

I haven't listened to it yet; as it just arrived this morning. But; I am really looking forward to it.

 

MFSL is the definitive release of this album for me. I only have the LP but I assume the CD sounds similar. Very transparent, clean, detailed, just perfect.

 

I used to think so too. Then came the system upgrades and the comparing of different pressings and the MFSL was revealed to be boosted in strange ways in comparison. YS/MMV (your system/mileage may vary)

 

Yeah I'm sure our systems have a lot to do with that. I have the 30th Anniversary, and a couple of older pressings that are very nice, but just not as good to me. I'm going to try and hunt down a Japanese pressing, maybe the Pro-Use LP that people seem to like also.

 

Was this a blind listening test?

 

I wish I hadn't seen this thread...I've wanted to get Dark Side for years (I should probably have a copy of one the biggest musical recordings in human history), and now I read there are, what, 7,000 versions of the damn thing. What about Capitol 1990 UPC 077774600125 ?

I don't need the Holy Grail, MSFL, etc.

 

I'm curious, which of these four discs does not have "Ticket To Ride" at the end, with the fold down to mono. That will answer a lot of questions for me.

 

For Darcy it was. I was in control of which discs we listened to, but honestly a blindfold wouldn't make any difference at least on my system for these end results.

 

Sorry Greg, we didn't listen for that because this test was only about the best sounding version.

 

I think that would've been a very important thing to take note of, considering you think there are now four masterings, correct?

And the 1-4 listing means what, 1 is best, 4 is worst?

 

I'm not saying there are 4 different masteings only that the discs don't sound the same. If they were done at different times or at different plants this may explain something - I don't know (or really care to be honest) why they sound the way they do; they just do. However, I still have three of the discs here. Where is "Ticket To Ride"? I'll give them a listen when I am home and the house is quite.

1 is best. 4 is fourth place. I would rate these as A+, A-, B, C- if that helps.