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Hey Charlie,I can't help you, but I sure would like to know how they sound too. |
YES, I can't help out either as I listen to the "real" Pink Floyd (AKA Tomita:-). |
Listened to the "UmmaGumma" tonight. As usual, was blown away... The Floyd has always been a carefully recorded group so should you run out and scoop the new ones up?
Well, this issue is very strong sonically and certainly very quiet (low noise floor). There was no background cover included other than a blurb about Doug Sax mastering the material in 1994 (so why is it just being released now???) I don't know, if you DON'T have the albums you CAN'T go wrong with these but I wouldn't suggest ADDING these to what you already have (unless you are a collector/rabid fan, etc... (P.S. Belinda Carlisle naked in Playboy? Somebody pinch me!!!) |
Guys
They are already available mail order,not too expensive here in the UK.
However are we sure they've been remastered?
They come in the little miniture LP sleeves like the Doors re-issues,but in the ad I've seen they do not mention remastering,nor have I read it anywhere else until you mentioned it Charlie.
Charlie,does your flyer mention who and where, on the remastering?
It is possible EMI have updated their versions but read on.....
Last year I bought Wish You Were Here-first time available in the small LP packaging (25th anniversary of that album,complete with shrink wrap,post card)however the CD is infact the version from 1992!
It should be noted this is labelled EMI 2000, this version.
For anybody not sure, the Floyd albums were remastered intially in 1992(EMI) but then in 1997 the albums were remastered again under the supervision of the band and labelled anniversary editions--these '97(Columbia) versions are noticably better than their '92(EMI) counterparts.
There is also the complication of the MF gold discs where their version of Wish You Were Here is arguably still the best,their versions of Meddle and DSOTM are so quietly mastered I would need a sound meter to accurately decide which version is best!
Hope this helps.
Ben |
charlie: the emi/capitol reissues that justicles mentions (but for a couple of "anniversary editions") were remasters done in 1992-94 by doug sax at The Mastering Lab in LA; they were released last year (these also appear to be the same series noted by dweller). according to cdnow.com, there are at least a couple of titles released so far this year (the wall and ummagumma) that were produced in japan under the toshiba/emi label. i've not seen or heard these but i'd be interested in learning more about them, particularly whether they are different from the 1990's doug sax remasterings. BTW, i don't see the toshibas listed on musicdirect.com. -kelly |
to make things even more confusing, i've just found some floyd reissues done in 2001 that are produced in the UK or Australia. I don't know from the limited information available online where or when these "albums" were mastered. there was also a 20th anniversary reissue of DSOTM released in 1993, which i beleive is another doug sax remaster. -kelly |
Warning: The Toshiba_EMI UmmaGumma outer jacket is larger than a standard CD case and therefore does not fit into my storage cabinet... Surprise!!! |
dweller: interesting. the capitol/emi reissues are in cardboard sleeves that replicate the lp covers, but they simply envelop a standard jewel box. guess we now have a sure way to differentiate the toshiba's from the other reissues. from your description, however, the new cd's use the same remasterings done in 92-94 in the usa. hmmm. -kelly |
Thanks, everybody. I will try to find out more.
I had a hard time believing that Pink Floyd would have let anyone other than Steve Sax touch their master tapes, (from what I hear.) I have the Sax "Wish You Were Here" and it is very good. If this is a reissue, somehow, of his work, I would be happy to know it.
They are $27.99 US from Music Direct. And they do describe them as a "Japanese mastering." ??? !!! Charlie |
Kelly,Charlie et al,
This is getting confusing but probably only to me.
First up the EMI releases were first,remastered in 1992-94 as you state Kelly by Doug Sax.
In 1997 Columbia (not EMI)released 30th Anniversary editions of some Floyd albums-DSOM was not included for some reason but these included the statement "Digitally remastered under the bands supervision"-however on my copy of WYWH it says remastered by Doug Sax(doesn't give a date!).
Were these stickers misleading and actually only the packaging changed?
What complicates it for me is that both '97 versions of The Wall and WYWH sounded better to me than the '92 versions that I already had....you could for instance detect the ambient sounds at the start of both albums sooner than on the '92 versions....I guess they could just have mastered the '97 versions that bit louder.
I no longer have the 92 versions but I believed my ears at the time.
I'm off to a Floyd newsgroup to see if they can shed some light on this........
Any ideas here on Audiogon,are we just getting the same remasters constantly repackaged?
Ben |
The person I talked to today at Music Direct says that this is a Japanese mastering from the mid 90's. He reported that he had heard DSOM and Animals from this batch; while he prefered the MoFi DSOM, he liked Animals better than other versions he had heard.
He did tell me, as I pressed for more info on the mastering, that most people were buying them, not for the mastering, but for the "album mini-covers." So, somewhere along the line we went from the flier stating, "they're the best digital versions we've ever heard," to most people buying them for the collector plastic and paper covers. That is not reassuring, to me.
I shall throw my money in the hat and give one or two a try. If they are bad, I will come back and whine a bit.
Charlie |
If you like your Pink Floyd devoid of bass and on the shrill side, get these EMI pressings. This is the kind of mix, IMHO, that begs for tone controls, (digital please, and hurry.)
The psuedo lp packaging is kind of cool, and the Japanese writing let me get my son, (the Pokemon master,) interested in my "Japanese edition" cd.
Charlie |
