Pink Floyd "The Wall" on Columbia C2K

Already did

 

That's a Chinese pirate copy. It is not HDCD, nor DSD, nor anything else they put on the label. It is a direct rip from whatever the current issue disc is.

Never buy any of these.

 

Good Lord, why didn't they just add the DTS and Dolby Digital logos on it while they were at it?

 

Hi,

Looks like this one is a grey market Chinese disc. Itsafakkauh! (it's faux!). Ripped from the current EMI disc.

 

I knew that looked familiar (apart from the initials) ... I just checked with my brother, and that's the version he's had since we were sharing a room (and a stereo) back in the '80s. I hated the Floyd then, so I was never interested. But now I'm going to borrow his copy and see how it stacks up against the MoFi.

 

Actually I had that CD for about 2 days last year. It did show up HDCD in Windows Media Player 10. Regardless, I got rid of it on Ebay as quick as I could.

 

I always figured these ones were crap.

 

Pre-emphasis

Wow, I'm glad I saw this. I guess I overlooked it the first time I read through this thread.

I didn't realize, or had forgotten, that the C2K pressings, including the US-pressed ones, used PE. I just got an old US-pressed edition a few days ago, and I was wondering why the lossless files I ripped to listen to on my portable player sounded so thin and trebly and awful. Once I figured it out, I was able to get around the problem, and now the songs sound great on the portable. (And during that process I was also able to remove the clicks in "Comfortably Numb" quite easily, using Adobe Audition.)

I do prefer the C2K's sound to that of the MoFi, which now sounds unnaturally bloated in the bass to me.

 

I managed to track down two early editions of this 2CD set in the last 24 hours - they're both en route to me . . . one from Georgia and another from England. Part cash, part barter, the deals work out to about US$25 for each set.

One is supposed to be the original USA Columbia version C2K 36183 . . . the previous owner (Georgia) thinks he bought it around 1984/85 (is that possible; was it released around that time?). I guess I'll find out when it gets here whether it's the original or the repressing of C2K 36183.

The other is Harvest Made in Japan black label, and the previous owner (England) was kind to email me a JPG of the first disc for my inspection prior to purchase. The codes in the inner ring of the disc are as follows:

CDP 7 46036 2 1B5

Did I do well with these purchases? I'm looking forward to comparing the two.

Craig(VC).

 

Will my 2005 model Yamaha universal player decode the pre-emphasis of these old CDs without a problem?

I think other old CDs sound fine on my system (just listened to The Cars on Elektra, for example, the first CD I ever bought back in 1986), but I have no idea how to tell which of those old CDs have pre-emphasis and which don't.

Sorry if this is an elementary/generic question, but as I mentioned in my previous post I just shelled out $50 for two early editions of this 2CD set and I don't want to be disappointed with brittle/thin sound because my CD player can't handle the pre-emphasis.

Thanks,
Craig(VC).

 

I would guess that it will, Craig. My SACD changer is just a few years old, and it plays PE-encoded discs very well ... In fact I have yet to run into a player that doesn't.

 

I have yet another variant on the C2K 36183. Came in a fat boy case, is US made and has the same matrix number on disc 2 that Dave reports on his, buty strangely disc 1 has slightly different code: 1A CK36184 26 C1. It also has a DIDP # unlike a similar scan of another copy posted earlier (BTW, what is the deal with "DIDP" #s anyway?)

I'll try to post a scan:

 

OK, just listeneed to The Wall C2K 36183, and yes, IMO, it's really really excellent. I can understand what the fuss is about. Is it the best CD version of the Wall? Don't know, and can't say. In and of itself, it's excellent.

 

Dave, now I am really confused. I can hear that (annoying) click on any device, in the car, on a boombox, on my main stereo, on my computer, on my discman, etc.

You had to change the power chords to hear it? On the other hand, your system and your ears seem to be very revealing that you can hear differences with various CD pressings where others state that they sound the same to them.

There must be two different versions, one with a more pronounced click and one with a very light click (possibly after somebody tried to remove the click in the digital domain, but did not succeed 100%).

The click on my regular US CD is so prominent that everybody can hear it right away.

Can you post a wav-form of the first five seconds of CN? The click is visible in the wav-form, if I remember correctly.

Roland

 

I recently acquired the C2K 36183 version of The Wall after having lived with the MFSL version for a good 15 years or so. Although I like what I've heard so far, I haven't given the C2K a good thorough listening yet, but I did notice the "clicks" in Comfortably Numb, which are not present on the MFSL.

I also noticed a "click" at the one-second mark on The Show Must Go On. I don't see this fact talked about around here. Has this been documented, so to speak? Are there any other "clicks" on this version?

 

No, I believe it's the same volume in all the C2K pressings... at least, the versions that have passed through my hands.

 

I don't know if it's been mentioned here, but I'm assuming the earlier U.S. pressings that don't have the little triangle, don't have the pop before Comfortably Numb.

 

I have a Japan for US pressing of the C2K, which would probably be the very first US issue.

It has the click.

The whole issue is really minor, IMO. It's a drag, but for a 100 minute album with proper mastering it's really a very small concern to me.

 

And if it bothers you so much, you can always remove it in audition and burn a CD-R Now if I knew how to de-emph...