Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind - Which CD masterings exist?

Well, then there 2 of us fooling ourselves and most likely a lot more people/members.

 

No, I am not 100% sure, but in 99% of the cases, the EMI UK and WG releases share the same mastering (I only know of one exception at the moment, Pink Floyd The Wall).

 

For "The Number of the Beast" I have both the 1st Japanese BT pressing and the UK EMI CD. I can't really hear a difference, and to me the EMI UK CD sounds just as good in this case.

I haven't compared any levels yet, at least I can't remember that I did.

 

Sorry to go off topic, but really? Is there more information on the greenline series? I have Queensryche's Warning from this greenline series and thought it sounded pretty great - much nicer than the US pressing.

 

This is a very interesting thread.
I've just started collecting Japanese Maiden CP32 discs.

I received my Japanese Somewhere In Time CP32-5158 CD on Tuesday.
I'm happy to have it. I just wish that I had my Castle 2CD version with me to compare. My Maiden Castle 2CDs are at my mom's home 300+ miles away.

Has anyone done a straight up comparison of the Castle 1995 reissues and the Japanese CP32 releases? I have all of the Bruce era Castle 1995 2CD sets. I'd like to know if I am wasting money by attempting to collect the CP32 Maiden releases.

Regards,

Milan

 

There was a another post I made in that thread on the Maiden boards where I clarified that I had had a couple of bad experiences with the greenlines, and was told it was universal for the series. So I ended up making a blanket statement which I explained in a later post in that thread. It was based soley on a small sample size, and if you say the Warning sounds great I believe that and stand corrected.

 

Haven't done any graph or volume comparison for SiT, but they sounded the same to me. Also TNOTB sounded the same. Only LaD was much better on the CP32

 

I would like to hear how the Japanese PoM sounds... because the Castle 2CD doesn't sound any good! I think it's the worst sounding album of IM.
Just listen to the fade of the cymbals on Revelation (specially the beginning). Ouch! They sound like a crappy mp3.

 

So is the Japan Pastmasters the best one?

 

I have both the Pastmasters II Japan CD and the US Capitol. They had different levels but canceled out when level matched.

US Capitol:

92.9 93.8 95.5 95.5 95.2 95.5 95.5 86.1 90.4

As far as the sound of this mastering goes, it isn't all that good - sounds pretty thin. I thought it might be the sound of the original recording, but the 12" 45 of "Flight of Icarus" sounds much better.

I also compared some other Maiden albums on CD, and this is what I found:

The Number of The Beast:
UK EMI 2CD set digitally identical to CP32

Powerslave:
UK EMI 2CD set and CP28 canceled out when level matched (UK was .2dB louder)
US Capitol CRC pressing CDP 546045 (matrix DIDX-000247 6) is a different transfer (doesn't line up with the above two) but I did not hear a difference.

Somewhere In Time:
CDN Capitol C2 46341 (matrix 077774634120CA) is a different transfer compared to the CP32 but as with Powerslave, I did not hear a difference.

Seventh Son:
UK EMI 2CD set lines up with the CP32 but doesn't cancel out (perhaps different EQ?). The UK EMI sounded very slightly better to my ears (top end was smoother).

 

To support Mike's post above, here's the EAC for the Capitol (CDP 7 46363 2) issue:

TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
---------------------------------------------------------
1 | 0:00.32 | 6:12.45 | 32 | 27976
2 | 6:13.02 | 6:48.60 | 27977 | 58636
3 | 13:01.62 | 3:50.20 | 58637 | 75906
4 | 16:52.07 | 5:26.40 | 75907 | 100396
5 | 22:18.47 | 4:12.15 | 100397 | 119311
6 | 26:30.62 | 4:56.28 | 119312 | 141539
7 | 31:27.15 | 3:42.00 | 141540 | 158189
8 | 35:09.15 | 3:27.05 | 158190 | 173719
9 | 38:36.20 | 7:25.65 | 173720 | 207159


Track 1

Filename Where Eagles Dare.wav

Peak level 92.9 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC BB98169C
Copy OK

Track 2

Filename Revelations.wav

Peak level 93.7 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 8437469B
Copy OK

Track 3

Filename Flight Of Icarus.wav

Peak level 95.5 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC F2CF6E94
Copy OK

Track 4

Filename Die With Your Boots On.wav

Peak level 95.5 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 68D6AAFF
Copy OK

Track 5

Filename The Trooper.wav

Peak level 95.2 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 16CF57F8
Copy OK

Track 6

Filename Still Life.wav

Peak level 95.5 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 3A78F01D
Copy OK

Track 7

Filename Quest For Fire.wav

Peak level 95.5 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 86D1D70D
Copy OK

Track 8

Filename Sun And Steel.wav

Peak level 86.1 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC ED166BC0
Copy OK

Track 9

Filename To Tame A Land.wav

Peak level 90.3 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 5EED75CF
Copy OK


All tracks accurately ripped

No errors occurred

End of status report

 

O.k., here's an updated table of the different masterings. It seems like these are all derived from the same original transfer, but levels were changed along the line slightly.

 

Right, so they should all sound pretty much the same. Although the US Capitol is a bit on the low side.

 

We should do that for all the other albums, too..

 

The BT and the UK EMI are identical.

Just for clarification. The green triangle is art that is exclusive to this disc, not part of a "line" or series of discs/pressings.

 

starting with the first one

 

a little off the subject of older studio cds,does anyone have any opinions on the mastering/mixing of the beast over hammersmith cds or maiden japan?

 

Which Maiden Japan are you referring to? The digipak version? That's an unauthorized release.

 

Original UK vinyl...

 

As far as I know, it's only been released/mastered once. I think the mix is excellent. It's definately loud/compressed. In this instance, I don't find it distracting/grating.

 

I concur.

 

Hello
Yes I was reffering to the maiden Japan cd ep first Ten years and the castle.these 5 songs are still a favorite chunk of maiden for me.
I know beast over Hammersmith was only released in it`s entirety on cd from eddies archive.I personnaly think the mixing/mastering sounds great but I was curious to hear other peoples opinions since I never heard anyone else comment after it`s release not to mention my friends all listen to hip hop.

 

Very interesting thread...

I have all the 2CD EMI sets and I'm very pleased with the sound on those... I'd be curious to listen to some Black Triangles, but I don't think the differences would be striking...

I have my 2CD Piece Of Mind set here with me and I'd like to pose a question to the more knowledgeable of you here:

The catalogue number for this one on the CD spine is 7243 8 35871 2 4, and it coincides with the bar code number on the back insert... at the bottom of the bar code box it says "UK: CDEM 1573", and "Printed In Holland"... both CDs are "Made In Holland" as well...
My assumption is that CDEM 1573 is the actual catalogue number, but it puzzles me why the bar code number would be featured in the CD's spine...

For those of you who have the UK Piece Of Mind EMI 2CD: Does it match my description, or is my copy a different (maybe European) release?

 

Killers Black Triangle has lower overall level than the 2-disc Castle; and perhaps the Castle is a bit compressed, I don't know, but the waveforms are quite different, Replay Gain values are quite different:
Another Life Castle 1995: -5.48db
Another Life BT: -2.44db

the BT sounds better to me - more spacious, punchy bottom end.

 

Here we go with a new can of worms! I was recently able to hear The Number of the Beast and Piece of Mind, CP32s. The Piece of Mind CD sounds very bright and trebly, especially evident on The Trooper. The Number of the Beast sounds very different, with lots of bass. That one was great.

Now, what confuses me about this is these CDs were apparently issued at the same time (they're CP32 5108 and CP32 5109), but it seems Piece of Mind has pre-emphasis and The Number of the Beast doesn't. Anyone know why that would be? I also noticed that Powerslave, released on CD in 1984 I think (the first of the CP32s, over a year before Piece of Mind was issued), doesn't have this issue, so that makes it particularly odd.