Listen to Steve Hoffman mastered Katy Lied

I'm a little late..but here EAC times and info for Katy Lied U2E:A

 

Grant, the times on your disc are the same as on my Japanese pressing and Leppo's US pressing.

 

Here's the EAC times for Steve's Katy Lied:

 

I agree that the album is "raspy" (on some tracks more than others)...it sounds to me like some sort of overload distortion. And this is in addition to the frequency response problems.

I listened to the wav file of "Doctor Wu" and, once again, it sounds very close to, if not identical to my JVC CD. It seems to me like the first few seconds of this track are slightly brighter than the rest.

One of the quick tests I use to determine if a track has enough top end is to turn up the treble control on my hifi until I think it's definitely too much...then I back the treble off a bit and listen for a while to see if I like the results, adjusting as necessary. On "Doctor Wu", I ended up with the treble control at about 3 o'clock (flat response is at 12 o'clock), which is a pretty substantial boost. Since my treble control is a rather "blunt instrument", the results were not entirely satisfactory, but at least the track got some life in it.

Unfortunately, leaving the treble control there for the next track ("Everyone's Gone To The Movies") proves to be way too much...the vocals are unbearable at this setting. The Citizen box set version of Katy Lied went too far in this direction...too much treble boost for most of the tracks (which exacerbates any "raspiness"), but IMO "Daddy Don't Live In That New York City No More" has a more pleasing tonality on the box set than on the JVC CD.

 

Leppo, the track times on your disc are so close to those on Grant's disc that we may simply be observing differences in the CD drives. These times look to be way too close to represent different masterings.

I don't have EAC, but it would help if you and Grant would post peak information for each track from EAC. That would be informative.

 

EAC Peak Levels
1. 100%
2. 100%
3. 94.1%
4. 100%
5. 100%
6. 100%
7. 79.2%
8. 92.3%
9. 89.2%
10. 100%

 

EAC extraction logfile from 20. April 2004
Steely Dan /Katy Lied
MCAD-37043-U2E:A

Track 1 Peak level 100.0 %
Track 2 Peak level 100.0 %
Track 3 Peak level 94.1 %
Track 4 Peak level 100.0 %
Track 5 Peak level 100.0 %
Track 6 Peak level 100.0 %
Track 7 Peak level 79.2 %
Track 8 Peak level 92.3 %
Track 9 Peak level 89.2 %
Track 10 Peak level 100.0 %

No errors occured
End of status report

 

Here's the data from the S1E:1 disc

Steely Dan / Katy Lied (MCAD 37043 S1E:1)

EAC extraction logfile from 24. April 2003, 8:13 for CD

Track 1 Peak level 100.0 %
Track 2 Peak level 100.0 %
Track 3 Peak level 94.1 %
Track 4 Peak level 100.0 %
Track 5 Peak level 100.0 %
Track 6 Peak level 100.0 %
Track 7 Peak level 79.2 %
Track 8 Peak level 92.3 %
Track 9 Peak level 89.2 %
Track 10 Peak level 100.0 %

Copy OK
No errors occured

 

Grant, thanks for clarifying that. Recall that you and I got the same data on our various Japanese pressings.

 

Leppo, please do not refer to your disc as "Steve's Katy Lied". I know that you feel that the sound matches Steve's description of his mastering, but the fact is that we do not know who's master we are listening to. I have stopped assigning Steve's or Nichols' names to various pressings of Aja and Katy Lied as a result.

 

Yes we did.

I could post another "3rd" disc, but it also comes up with the same peak levels/times.

 

Grant, I think it's pretty well established that we are all listening to the same mastering. We just don't know who's work it is.

 

We've been debating this for a year and we still don't have a definite "mastering" answer. Please let the madness end!!!

 

If the JVC turns out to be Steve's, that doesn't help me since I don't like how it sounds (although that would bring some closure). If it isn't...that means that Steve's could be out there somewhere, but at this point I've pretty much given up hope of ever finding it. The "answer" I'm really looking for is - a great sounding version of Katy Lied - with or without the mastering of SH.

And for those of you that are completely satisfied with the JVC (or its equivalent), does it really matter who mastered it?

 

I like the sound of the JVC pressing overall. The "sizzle" from the DBX processing is a problem, though. The JVC pressing definitely beats the Compact Disc/Compact Price version and the current remaster.

As for who mastered the JVC pressing, we only care because we are still wondering if there are two versions out there.

 

I've revived this thread because I got a JVC Katy Lied that sounds way better than my US disc. The catalogue # is MCAD 31194. No DIDX number is listed. Inner ring # is MCAD 31194-1 1C. "Mfg by JVC" is listed around the other side of the inner ring. The copy I have is a BMG direct marketing disc with no UPC. The catalogue number is printed on the front cover in the lower left corner.

Is this like the JVC's that some of you have? I'm wondering because the sound is way better than my US copy. The back covers are different too. The JVC has the standard MCA back cover art. The US reproduces the art from the front cover, only more blown up.

I don't know how to 'put up' a sound-file, but to my ears this is much fuller, warmer than the 'SHMovies' mp3 that was up for awhile in this thread. Needless to say, I'm happy, but curious. I haven't seen anyone talking about a disc with this catalogue number.

Also the running times are different than those listed a couple of pages back. These times come from my i-tunes player so I'm not sure how accurate they are...

Black Friday 3:42
Bad Sneakers 3:19
Rose Darling 3:05
Daddy Don't 3:15
Doctor Wu 3:57
Everyone's 3:44
Your Gold 4:14
Chain Lightning 3:00
Any World 3:55
Throw Back 3:14

They're pretty close to the ones mentioned earlier, and yet some are off by a few seconds.

So, I think I have a Steve Hoffman mastered copy, unless there is a third mastering job floating around. Do I?

 

Please do not take the following as a "slam."

Your disc is not be the Hoffman mastering. What you have is the 1991 reissue in MCA's old "Compact Disc/Compact Price" series (as identified by the plaid design on the back insert). It is my understanding the the '91 Steely Dan reissues were mastered by Roger Nichols, and they are not nearly as good as the original 1984-1985 CD issues.

Note that your disc is a US pressing. The JVC pressing of Katy Lied that has been discussed here is the original Japanese pressing from 1985. The catalog number is MCAD-37043, and the back insert shows back-cover artwork for Katy Lied instead of the plaid design on the '91 issue.

I have MCAD-31194 disc and have compared it to the original Japanese pressing (MCAD-37043) and greatly prefer the original Japanese pressing. Frankly, I feel that the current remaster is better than the MCAD-31194 disc.

 

Oh well, I only paid a couple of bucks for it. I guess I was thrown off by the lower catalogue number...

Before I go back into lurk mode, let me ask this...

I have a MCAD 37043 japan disc, but it does not have the patented SH sound. It is different from Nicholls mastering on the 31194 disc. Does this mean that Nicholls remastered this title again in '91?

 

Wasn't 1991 the time when MCA did not use the digitial master prepared by Nicholds, and rather mastered it newly from the master tapes? (There is that Roger Nichols interview where he complains about the sound of the later pressings of the Steely Dan CDs and that MCA did not use his mastering anymore.)

 

Yes, Nichols remastered the Steely Dan catalog in 1991.

 

Yeesh. I've given it another listen and it is a tad bright. But the bass and presence are rather nice. I still don't understand why MCA went to a lower catalogue number for a later release.

Oh well, back to the search...

 

Please send me any questions or comments via PM regarding Steve's Katy Lied.

 

This still could mean that other pressings are Steve's. Remember that all the Japanese pressings reviewed in this thread show the same track times as your disc.

 

Yes Keith, as Steve has said numerous times read between the lines.

Like Who's Next, I feel the best way to identify a SH Katy Lied is to look at the total disc time.

 

Say,
Can I throw a wrench into this previously-thought-closed debate?

I bought an MCAD-31194 with the exact timings today of the Steve discs. I don't have the samples from the confirmed SH version on my computer any more to compare, but the midrange sounds pretty decent overall, but I'm comparing to memory, obviously (so I could be full of it).
However, at this point, I'm doubting somewhat that this is a different mastering, just a different catalog number - now, it COULD have been remastered somewhere along the line with the 31194 catalog number, I'm not disputing that. I'm just thinking that not all 31194's are bad...and maybe some are really good.
Now, I'm interested in a couple things. First, in hearing the samples of the SH version again. Second, in seeing the track timings from EAC of 31194 discs from those who have them and haven't posted (Keith, since you've said your 31194 isn't the same as the 37xxx series, in particular).

Thanks.