How is the Rudy Van Gelder-remastered Coltrane Blue Train CD?

I only have the 33 1/3 180G Classic LP - can't help, sorry!

 

I just checked Classic Records site, and it does list a MONO Blue Train LP available in addition to their STEREO versions.

Does anyone here have the Classic MONO Blue Train LP?

 

What about good old Ultimate Blue Train CD? Is it worth getting (I don't want to search for ages and pay $100 or more for MoFi or something - especially since I never heard the damn record!).

 

I have it, much better than the crappy ultimate CD!

Even sound throughout. If you really like it, I think it's worth it.

I'm not a big fan of early hard panned stereo, so the mono LP
works for me.

 

Thanks Joe!

 

Well the ultimate sounds better then the RVG remaster in my opinion. If you have the capability to eq out and in what Van Gelder liked to use, then the cd don't sound that bad.

 

I just got the new SACD and compared both layers to the Ultimate Blue Train CD. Yes the new RVG is bright, but its more detailed - the Ultimate Blue Train seems muddled in comparison - horns, and drums smeared across both speakers. I am not crazy about any CD/SACD version I've heard.
Still searching for the Classic DAD version.....

 

That would be the version to have in digital...had a question i needed to edit in. So are you are sayign you think even then cd layer of the sacd/cd has more detail then the ultimate blue train?

 

Yes the CD layer of the SACD has more detail than the Ultimate Blue Train. The CD layer of the SACD is not that much different than the SACD layer in sound quality. However, be prepared for Cymbals that will prevent you from listening to it more than twice in a year. Given that, I prefer the CD layer, because my Linn CD player makes things less bright versus my Marantz SACD player which is already slightly bright on SACD's.

 

Thanks for the info..

 

I am reviving this thread, since I just got the Classic DAD from Elusive Disc. I compared the DAD to the SACD and Ultimate CD reissue.

The Ultimate CD was the worst sounding - a bit muddy/mushy and not as distinct sounding as either the SACD or the DAD.

The DAD was the best, as has been said here in a previous post. It had a clarity that was not as present on the SACD.

The SACD sounded alright, closer to the DAD than I might have expected, but it was a bit brighter sounding than the DAD (which can be somewhat bright in and of itself).... and then we have the differing stereo "mixes"!!:

1) The DAD has a very wide stereo presentation. Instruments are panned hard right and left.

2) The Ultimate redbook CD has a less wide stereo presentation, less wide than the DAD. Still it borders on hard left and right panning but much less so than the Classic DAD.

lastly -

3) The SACD is very narrow stereo (almost mono), with almost everything that was panned hard right in the center, and I felt the mix tended to lean to the left.

Weird. 3 different media (DAD, CD and SACD) and each one had a totally different stereo soundfield "mix" present. Is there no consistency to the master tapes? Are the 3 different versions made from different master tapes? Are some remixed, and others not? They are all somewhat different, enough so that I will keep all 3 to listen to at different times.

What gives?

 

I can't really help you at all, but I'm glad to see someone else hearing this much difference between various pressings. I'd bet the 45 RPM 4LP sounds like the DAD and the regular Classic LP sounds like the CD or SACD. The difference is quite dramatic.

Do you here any major EQ differences aside from the brightness of the SACD?

 

MikeT,

Try the MoFi!

I've owned The Ultimate, the MoFi and the DAD. While the DAD was good, I didn't have a DVD-A deck that I felt was on par with my CD playback so I went the MoFi route. The MoFi has smooth sound, no compression. Pretty good dynamics. If Steve sez the mono has even greater dynamics, wow would that be the one to have

 

Mike T, thanks for sharing the results of your shoot-out. I've got the DAD, MFSL gold CD, and Ultimate CD, so I think that's enough. The only reason I would get the SACD -- if I knew that it wouldn't crack! -- is to do the same comparison you did.

 

Gee, I have all three that Mike T mentions, and I still don't like any of them! The reverb on the horns is just so screwed up! It causes digital distortion on all of these masterings that just bugs the heck out of me.

A forum member said he would send me a copy of the mono from Classic Records. I'm hoping that one comes and solves this dilemma for me! Cuz I've heard it's dry as a bone, which is what this set needs, hell, crys out for!