Audiophile Pressing?


Recently I've run into a few "Audiophile" pressing that were very disappointing. There are of course some that are fabulous. I'm an avid collector of Audiophile vinyl in particular, but many CDs as well. It would be helpful (to many, I hope) to know what albums to avoid spending the extra $ for an audiophile pressing that really isn't audiophile. The one that was most disappointing was DCC's Queen "night at the opera". Way too much compression--the EMI original issue is far superior. The EMI was on CD. I listened to both the CD and vinyl version of the DCC (the problem was in the mastering--they were equally bad). On the other hand try comparing Cat Stevens Tea for the Tillerman on MFSL vs the original CD--I find it hard to listen to the original CD once I heard the MFSL. By the way--this is not say that DCC does poor mastering--in fact I was very surprised because I have many DCC albums that are excellent. Also, I have some pretty poor MFSL. These are just individual examples. What examples do others have of "audiophile" pressings that either don't measure up or are so fantastic everyone should own them.
abstract7
If you ever hear an original Island (pink label)Tea For The Tillerman, or, the Island (pink rim label, UK pressing with 3U matrix) you will throw all of the other versions away.
Hey Phild! I know about some of the horrible compression used on rock albums. When CD's were introduced, many rock recordings sounded MUCH BETTER as compression was used many times in the actual record mastering process and not in the master tape. I find it strange that MFSL would choose to release Gold CD's with a compressed mastering tape (Moody Blues "Threshold of a Dream" is another example, although nowhere near as bad as the Queen CD. Yet the MFSL Gold version of Queen's "News of the World" is a masterpiece! Yeah, some songs are compressed, but "Get Down, Make Love" is jaw dropping!
Hey Fatparrot,

I don't have any experience with that Queen album, but it's very possible that a lot of that compression is actually on the master tape...they may have recorded or mixed with compression. It's not at all uncommon with rock records.
I should have clarified that the EMI was the CD release and was an import at the time. I agree that most of their vinyl has been somewhat disappointing.
I have Queen's "A Night at the Opera" on MFSL Gold CD and it is by far THE WORST rock release I have ever heard from them! Compressed to hell and totally lifeless. I just assumed the master tape was crap. I'm going to check this out on my vinyl MSFL copy (my VPI cleaning fluid should arrive today). I'll let you know.
I've heard that some of the EMI vinyl audiophile pressings aren't all that great, and many people seem to think that most Simply Vinyl releases are not any better than a mass market release.
I always thought Cat Steven's Tea for the Tillerman had a pretty tipped-up treble. Otherwise all the mfsl albums I have sound better than the original, esp. the anadisc versions. What I have found disappointing SOMETIMES are japanese pressings with harsh treble, compressed soundstage and depth.