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What is a "gold" CD?


emmjlm

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Can somebody explain to me?  They aren't SACD or DVD-Audio, but aren't they supposed to be better recordings than standard issued CDs?  How does this work?  Does anybody have experience with these?  Are they good?

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Can somebody explain to me?  They aren't SACD or DVD-Audio' date=' but aren't they supposed to be better recordings than standard issued CDs?  How does this work?  Does anybody have experience with these?  Are they good?[/quote'] Most are better than standard versions yes, but if the master recording was poor then the gold CD will be also. I dont think the gold color adds anything audio wise but designed to stand out as a superior recording for sales.

 

 

 

REGARDS SNOW
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I have a bunch of them, and continue to buy them in spite of their oftentimes steep price tags. As snow says -- it's all about the mastering.  Some of the Mofi/DCC/Audio Fidelity recordings sound really good.  Some, not so much different than the standard issue discs.  My gut feeling is that they are way overpriced as far as what they deliver with regards to significant sound "improvement."  You shouldn't need to pay through the nose to get an original quality recording.
 
While the Golds can be very nice I am more and more convinced that some of the highest quality redbook discs out there are being burned from digital files produced by the elite level of underground vinyl rippers who have made it their mission to archive and save the original recordings from the endless cycle of remastering, compressing and obsessive tweaking that so many have been subject to.  These guys are locating the highest quality original vinyl pressings available, and ripping them via turntable/cartridge combinations that cost half as much as my house.  The pros among them record in full 24bit 192khz resolution and then resample to 44/24 for clean-up purposes (clicks, pops, etc). Finally the rips are dithered to standard redbook 16bit/44khz. They don't do anything by way of 'enhancing' or boosting the original, and the results are oftentimes very warm and natural sounding, spacious, and breathtaking.  I recently compared a vinyl rip of Elton John's "Yellow Brick Road" to my MFSL, and to my ears the vinyl rip was sonically superior.  And that's saying something as I thought the MFSL version was really, really good.

Of course for those with nice turntables this is all probably not of much interest as they can just go after the top vinyl pressings themselves.... emwink.gif
 
 
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I noticed the prices are quite high and not many are around.  I don't have any, and am not sure I will given the steep prices.  It would be nice if there was a site that ranked the quality of "standard" CDs.  Its really disappointing to get a new CD that has such low quality recording.  I think the two best sounding CDs I have are The Eagles - Greatest Hits, and Eric Clapton's Unplugged.  I also have a few half speed LPs that sound great.  Unfortunately, I have a lot of CDs that aren't really that great.  Does anybody have any suggestions on some of the better sounding CDs out there?  Generally I listen to classic rock & pop from the 70s - 90s, along with some of the more current music.

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Remastered:

Beatles

Stones

early Blue Oyster Cult

Zappa/Mothers of Invention

Pink Floyd

and Jeff Beck sound really good to name a few.

 

Something's Off:

Doors boxed set

Cream boxed set

 

Really Horrible:

Black Crowes

Red Hot Chili Peppers
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Mofi and Audio Fidelity Gold discs are still being produced and can be purchased new here:

 



 

and here:

 



 

There is also a guy goes by the name of Jonifan on ebay who is an authorized sales rep for the new MoFi stuff.

 

This is a very subjective but worthy pursuit, and is bound to start some disagreements, but since you asked here's my 25 cents on cds from that period -- 

 

Agree with Steve that the recent Beatles Remasters are very good.  Not sure I'd agree as to the Stones Remasters unless we're not talking about the same "remasters".  The best sounding 70's era redbook Stones CD's that I've found are the German-pressed Londons, but I fear we are moving into some highly offensive Hoffman-level uber-geek territory here...  happy0009.gif

 

Same deal on the Bowie.  The remastered Ryko stuff sounds just terrible on my system.  Completely dry and lifeless.  Look to the West German RCA presses on the 70's era material but be prepared to pay for it if you buy it on eBay....a lot of times you can find these at the local used CD shop for cheap because many people assume that if a disc has the word "remaster" on it it must therefore follow that it is sonically superior.  The German RCA Bowies that I managed to grab (Aladdin Sane, Hunky Dory, Ziggy etc) are real diamonds.

 

Pink Floyd: I bought that set "Shine On" with the studio albums "digitally remastered" and they didn't bug me.  I listen to Animals from that set quite a bit and find that it is a very analogue sounding and enjoyable pressing.  Meddle on MoFi is muy fantastico, but again it is trumped on my system by an original Harvest pressed vinyl rip.

 

 

If you don't want to hunt down and spring for the excellent MoFi versions, the latest Supertramp Remaster series are solid sounding.   Because it is heavy on the treble Supertramp material by nature can be shrill and fatiguing.  They did a nice job on the remaster series tempering that.

 

Steely Dan Remaster series is very nice as well. Although Aja and Gaucho on the Mofi discs are really full, detailed and gorgeous sounding.  All the Donald Fagen redbook discs were mastered extremely well, as one would expect.

 

Queen's catalogue has never been done justice in cd format except for the Mofis of Day at The Races and Night at The Opera.  The Japanese mini-lps (of which I unfortunately have 5) are super compressed and really shrill and unpleasant.  Not inexpensive either.  Go for the Hollywoods.  They're cheap, plentiful and sound better than everything but the aforementioned MoFi's.

 

Zeppelin is a whole 'nother story.  I've got the all the 1990 Remasters, The Page remasters (Complete Studio Recordings Garage Box), the Diament discs, many of the Japanese mini's -- and don't listen to a one of them since getting my hands on the excellent vinyl rips. Hendrix and Zeppelin just never seemed to translate well to redbook in my estimation.

 

There's at least a departure point for further discussion.  I'm sure there is plenty of feedback to be had on this subject, and it is a good subject to explore....

 

 

 
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Lots of good info there, Monte.  Just a few quick thoughts off the top of my head.

 

New Beatles CDs emthup.gif

 

Those Bowie Rykodiscs have been out-of-print for years.  I'm more interested in hearing about the newer releases on Virgin.  I'll probably be picking up a few of those soon.

 

I'm not happy with the current Supertramp remasters, after hearing Crisis? and Quietest Moments...  They sure sound grainy to me.  The MFSL Crime of the Century is very good, but these days I'm sure it's hard to find and expensive when you do.

 

I was also disappointed with the Dire Straits Making Movies remaster on WB, despite the SBM hype.  Anyone else have any experience with their other early titles?

 

The Peter Gabriel remasters on Geffen sound very good to me (1, 3, and So).  Very smooth and detailed.  Unfortunately, it looks like they all went out-of-print recently.

 

I also like Roxy Music's Siren remaster on Virgin.  Same with the recent reissue of Devo's Are We Not Men?
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Those Bowie Rykodiscs have been out-of-print for years.  I'm more interested in hearing about the newer releases on Virgin.  I'll probably be picking up a few of those soon.

 

I'm not happy with the current Supertramp remasters, after hearing Crisis? and Quietest Moments...  They sure sound grainy to me.  The MFSL Crime of the Century is very good, but these days I'm sure it's hard to find and expensive when you do.

 

 

Am interested to hear new Virgin Bowies (god that sounds aberrant and filthy) as well, but my experience with a lot of the "remaster" reissues has made me kind of gun shy about trying an artists next big series of reissues.   I have a bunch of those Ryko's and strongly dislike what they did to my memory of how those recordings should sound.  Maybe I'll give a couple of the Virgins a try (...yuck...down boy...jesus....)  happy0009.gif

 

The two Supertamp remasters you list as grainy are one's I have not heard.  I own the remaster of Breakfast and think it is decent enough, but listen to a vinyl rip of it way more often.  As for Crime all others have been been ruined since purchasing the mofi for way too much money....

 

Finding the good Redbooks is especially a chore for people with unforgiving systems.  Some have far stiffer requirements than I do, and things are going to sound different based on many factors besides disc quality.  Still everyone knows when they hit on a disc that just nails it and sounds fucking great. I really think this topic has legs and would love to hear more opinions on this specifically from users of Carver/Sunfire products. 

 

I actually have a question for you that may be better directed off board regarding the real Harry, for whom we both apparently share a "thing" for.  All of the digital Nilsson I have pretty much stinks quality-wise (low bitrate mp3s ripped before I knew any better) excepting a rip of the MoFi Nilsson Schmilsson - which sounds absolutely stunning to me but I can't find a copy that I can afford to buy)....

 

....and a  copy of the Original Master disc of The Point (not offensive, but as it is my favorite, would gladly be improved upon).  Aerial, Pandemonium, Dracula etc are all discs I would like to get for my collection in the highest possible Redbook quality.  I suspect you may have done some research on this matter and may be able to save me some misery.  Any input would be greatly appreciated.  I don't know if any others share this interest so a PM would be fine.

 

 
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Some recent reflections on the Gold Disc affliction: 
 

The new Randy Newman "12 Songs" Gold Disc from Audio Fidelity sounds great, but I don't know how it stacks up to the other copies of it that are available as I'd never heard the album before.  Still, I didn't expect much out of it sonically and its sparse beauty blew me away.
 
Audio Fidelity's gold disc of "The Smoker You Get, The Drinker You Get" is another new master I've recently heard that pinned my ears back.  Clean. Open. Crunchy like the Joe Walsh I remember.  Like it very much.
 
10cc - The Original Soundtrack (Mofi Gold)  - I like it, not love it so far.  Was perhaps unfairly expecting a much deeper soundstage from it. Sounds a little 2-dimensional on my system.  DCC has an "unauthorized" version that they mastered and 'couldn't release' that you can usually come up with for about $25.  They claim them to be very limited, but every time one gets bought another one quickly takes it's place.  Somebody's probably cranking them out in the basement.  I think you can find the DCC "unauthorized" version (whatever the hell that means) on eBay as well.  It has no cover -- just a disc and a jewel case.  DCC claims it blows away the MoFi which they declare crap.  I'd like to do an A/B for myself because so far it wouldn't go that far but the MoFi hasn't really opened up for me....
 
 
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I actually have a question for you that may be better directed off board regarding the real Harry' date=' for whom we both apparently share a "thing" for.  All of the digital Nilsson I have pretty much stinks quality-wise (low bitrate mp3s ripped before I knew any better) excepting a rip of the MoFi Nilsson Schmilsson - which sounds absolutely stunning to me but I can't find a copy that I can afford to buy)....
 
....and a  copy of the Original Master disc of The Point (not offensive, but as it is my favorite, would gladly be improved upon).  Aerial, Pandemonium, Dracula etc are all discs I would like to get for my collection in the highest possible Redbook quality.  I suspect you may have done some research on this matter and may be able to save me some misery.  Any input would be greatly appreciated.  I don't know if any others share this interest so a PM would be fine.
[/quote']
 
The Harry question is easy.  Look for the Japanese mini LP sleeves released in 2007.  They are all superb.  Below is a review I pulled from Amazon.com.  I can't really add anything to his comments.
 
These all seem to hover at about 40 bucks a pop on Amazon, but I know I've seen them sell for a fraction of that on eBay.  Whether some of these might be the Russian bootlegs he talks about at the bottom, I don't know.  It's the first I've heard of that, and I don't know how somebody would distinguish them from the real thing.
 
In 2006' date=' after painstakingly purchasing and comparing all the Nilsson domestic, European and Japanese CD versions, I posted a review on the best-audio edition of each title. That was split between four UK, one domestic and six Japan CD's.

 

However, time and technology have marched on. In Q307, the entire Nilsson pre-1978 catalog (except "The Son Of Dracula", announced but subsequently canceled), were remastered anew and released in mini-sleeve format by BMG Japan.

 

So, what was slightly confusing before, with all the different international and domestic versions, has now been simply resolved: In terms of the best audio available, the fifteen new BMG remasters are head-and-shoulders superior to any pre-existing Nilsson CD. While the older versions were no slouches, these new BMG's are absolutely GLORIOUS. And, finally, there's complete, matched-mastered sound through the entire catalog, in contrast to the dynamic range variations in the older releases from varying remastering schemes.

 

In A/B comparisons between the new and older versions, it is also obvious different masters were availed of, because there are snippets of additional audio on the BMG's that never appeared elsewhere.

 

In addition, there are now approximately seventy bonus tracks spread out through the new BMG set; demos, alternate takes, singles and non-album tracks. Only one previously-available track is not in residence on the BMG set: "Waiting", which is found only on the "Harry/Nilsson Sings Newman" UK 2-fer.

 

If you are a true Nilsson fan, then don't delay in getting these, as all mini-sleeve releases are limited edition. It is possible, of course, that BMG will release these as less expensive jewel-case releases down the road. However, as the original Nilsson LP jackets were often wonderfully imaginative affairs, having these exact replicas only heightens the joy of ownership.

 

Amazon only allows 10 product links per review, so below are the first ten titles. The remainder, you'll have to find on your own (TIP: look for the 2007 release date when searching):

 

Pandemonium Shadow Show

Aerial Ballet

Skidoo

Harry

Nilsson Sings Newman

The Point!

Nilsson Schmilsson

Aerial Pandemonium Ballet

Son Of Schmilsson

A Little Touch of Schmilsson In The Night

P*ssy Cats

Duit It On Mon Dei

Sandman

That's The Way It Is

Knnillssonn

 

WHAT IS A JAPAN "MINI-LP-SLEEVE" CD?

 

Have you ever lamented the loss of one of the 20th Century's great art forms, the 12" vinyl LP jacket? Then "mini-LP-sleeve" CD's may be for you.

 

Mini-sleeve CDs are manufactured in Japan under license. The disc is packaged inside a 135MM X 135MM cardboard precision-miniature replica of the original classic vinyl-LP album. Also, anything contained in the original LP, such as gatefolds, booklets, lyric sheets, posters, printed LP sleeves, stickers, embosses, special LP cover paper/inks/textures and/or die cuts, are precisely replicated and included. An English-language lyric sheet is always included, even if the original LP did not have printed lyrics.

 

Then, there's the sonic quality: Often (but not always), mini-sleeves have dedicated remastering (20-Bit, 24-Bit, DSD, K2/K2HD, and/or HDCD), and can often (but not always) be superior to the audio on the same title anywhere else in the world. There also may be bonus tracks unavailable elsewhere.

 

Each Japan mini-sleeve has an "obi" ("oh-bee"), a removable Japan-language promotional strip. The obi lists the Japan street date of that particular release, the catalog number, the mastering info, and often the original album's release date. Bonus tracks are only listed on the obi, maintaining the integrity of the original LP artwork. The obi's are collectable, and should not be discarded.

 

All mini-sleeve releases are limited edition, but re-pressings/re-issues are becoming more common (again, not always). The enthusiasm of mini-sleeve collecting must be tempered, however, with avoiding fake mini-sleeves manufactured in Russia and distributed throughout the world, primarily on eBay. They are inferior in quality, worthless in collectable value, a total waste of money, and should be avoided at all costs.

[/quote']
 
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 The new Randy Newman "12 Songs" Gold Disc from Audio Fidelity sounds great, but I don't know how it stacks up to the other copies of it that are available as I'd never heard the album before.  Still, I didn't expect much out of it sonically and its sparse beauty blew me away.

 

Thank you, sir!  That's all I've been waiting to hear before pulling the trigger.
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