Which Pink Floyd pressings/masterings are THE ONES to get?

comfortablycurt

Hey everyone.

Anyone have any thoughts on the SQ on the various Pink Floyd vinyl pressings, and digital remasterings? Which versions are the ones to get?

Some of the Pink Floyd CD's I have really leave me disappointed in the SQ department. My CD copy of Meddle, for instance, sounds so bad that I can't even bear to listen to it. My old, extremely warped vinyl copy sounds wonderful though. The same basically holds true for my CD copies of Obscured By Clouds and Saucerful of Secrets...as well as Piper at the Gates(though to a lesser extent than Meddle).

On the other side though, in some ways, I prefer my CD copy of Animals, to it's vinyl counterpart. My DSOTM SACD also certainly sounds better than my 30th Anniversary DSOTM 180g vinyl.

I've heard a MoFi version of DSOTM on CD, and A/B'd it with the SACD. In some ways the MoFi version sounded slightly better.


If I want the best versions...where do I need to look? Do I just need to find their entire catalog on vinyl? I believe MoFi has released some other Floyd albums as well. Should I look into those ones? How do they stack up against the normal issue CD's?


Anyone have any thoughts on the SQ of the "Oh, By the Way" box set? Overall reviews on it seem kind of mixed...some complaints about packaging, some complaints about SQ, some people saying that the packaging is great, some people saying the SQ is phenomenal. Ya know...the normal plethora of Amazon.com reviews...lol

nooshinjohn

Pink Floyd "ECHOES" on vinyl is superb.

headrott

The MOFI version of Meedle is quite good. Possibly close to as good is the original pressing (Japanese (NOT import but) U.S. pressing made in Japan) of Meddle is good as well as the DSOTM is very good. The newer remasterings of Floyds' albums are better than the previously remastered ones, but I would recommend any of the MOFI, original pressing versions over these newer remasters even. For Wish You Were Here I can recommend the Sony Mastersound Gold CD edition. It's quite good.

Greg

comfortablycurt

nooshinjohn wrote: »

Pink Floyd "ECHOES" on vinyl is superb.

Do you mean the greatest hits album? I've got that on CD...I've seen it on vinyl before, and I've always wondered how it sounded. For the most part, the Echoes CD does sound pretty good, compared to those same songs on their respective albums. The one thing that drives me crazy about Echoes...is the fact that they cut about 7 minutes or so off of the song "Echoes". Did they by any chance remedy this on the vinyl? That'd be awesome.

This is one that I've been wanting to pick up for a while. I'll definitely have to keep my eye out for one.

headrott wrote: »

The MOFI version of Meedle is quite good. Possibly close to as good is the original pressing (Japanese (NOT import but) U.S. pressing made in Japan) of Meddle is good as well as the DSOTM is very good. The newer remasterings of Floyds' albums are better than the previously remastered ones, but I would recommend any of the MOFI, original pressing versions over these newer remasters even. For Wish You Were Here I can recommend the Sony Mastersound Gold CD edition. It's quite good.

Greg

The MOFI pressings you're referring to...these are CD's, correct?

(does MOFI even produce vinyl?)


I'd love to get a higher fidelity version of Meddle. That's one of my favorite albums of all time...in big part due to the song Echoes. The original vinyl copy that I have sounds great, but the record's fairly warped. Fortunately, it still tracks nearly perfectly. I've just gotta remember to not let the arm auto-return when the side ends, or else the needle drags across the record...lol

I'll look into the ones you mentioned, especially the MOFI version. I was very impressed with the MOFI version of DSOTM, when we A/B'd it with the SACD.

I'll also look into the Mastersound version of WYWH. Does anyone have any news on the supposed development of WYWH on SACD? I've been reading rumors of it for a few years now...is anything ever going to come of that?



I've seen the live performance of The Wall, by Roger Waters, on SACD around the web before. Is this one worth picking up? Admittedly, The Wall is one of my least favorite Floyd albums, so this one isn't really a priority.

hearingimpared

nooshinjohn wrote: »

Pink Floyd "ECHOES" on vinyl is superb.

That's where I was going Curt but John beat me to it. Absolutely Superb!!!

Also I have yet to buy a MoFi (MFSL Original Master Recording) that didn't sound awesome.

hearingimpared

Keiko wrote: »

http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo.asp?number=EMILPI36111

Trust me on this LoCurtico. It's an excellent vinyl box. And yes, MoFi does produce vinyl as well.

Yep that link is to the Echos I was referring to. Unbelievable SQ plus, "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" is done contiguously.

Norm Apter

So what did you decide on, Curt? Anything yet?

I was just checking some of the versions of Meddle available on E-bay. Here are some examples of what these are going for:

Meddle MFSL Gold CD new/sealed -- Buy it now $899.00 (no, thats not a typo!)
Meddle MFSL Gold Mint (like new) -- Buy it now $119.00
Meddle Japanese Mini-LP CD, Mint -- Buy it now $115.00

Which CD version of Meddle do you have (the one with which your are dissatisfied)? Is it a silver face with the following markings: CDP 746034 2?

Thats the one I had and I wanted something a bit better, but I'm not willing (or able) to drop the anything close to the kind of coin listed above.

Well, aside from the MFSL (which seems to be recognized as the best), another top contender is the Sony CD32P. I was tracking a new CD32P on E-bay a while ago that ended up being sold for about $56. If that is within your price range, you may want to do some searching on E-bay and see if you can find one on E-bay at a competitive price.

I didn't want to spend that kind of money so I settled for something in between, a Toshiba/EMI TOCP-53806. I think I got it for about $19 at CD Pacific. It was pressed originally in 1994, but re-released with the same mastering in 2007 and 2009, so its still in print and not going for a fortune.

The thing about Japanese pressings, in general, I feel is that they are mastered at lower volumes but still retain nice dynamics (and a sound not nearly as "thin" as the original U.S. Columbia pressings). So I usually turn up the volume bit, but I never get that sort of edgy listening fatigue that goes with heavily brickwalled/overly compressed CDs. In this case the EMI /Toshiba seemed like a nice compromise, though I have no illusions that the MFSL and Sony would certainly have superior sound quality. It all comes down to how much coin you are willing to drop.

Geez, I just wish Pink Floyd would turn over their catalog to the same guys who did the Beatles' box sets and let them have it. I'd gladly pay $230 just to have everything from Pipers through Animals.

Other than that, I think the Doug Sax remasters are generally pretty good -- these differ from the original Capitol /Columbia pressings in that they have picture faces rather than silver faces. I've tested library copies of the Sax remasters of Wish You Were Here and Animals and both, particularly the former, proved to be noticable improvements over my original Capitol / Columbia reissues in my comparisons. In fact, just today I ordered the Sax remasters of Animals and Obscured By Clouds for total of $18 including shipping. Are there better sounding versions? No doubt...but not at $6 a pop plus shipping. As an aside, I think there are clear limitations to how good Animals will sound on any version. I've heard, in many instances, how there just wasn't great production put in to this album which has left most if not all CD versions lacking (though maybe a bit better on vinyl???)

Finally, I've listened to the 40th anniversary remaster of Piper at the Gates of Dawn (3 CD set), remastered by James Guthrie and released in 2007, and in my opinion it has excellent sound quality.

RuSsMaN

Without breaking the bank, the pressings under the 'Harvest' label are the ones you want, not the regular 'Columbia' label. They are plentiful, and affordable - my entire Floyd collection is Harvest, and it's outstanding.

Cheers,
Russ

comfortablycurt

Keiko wrote: »

http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo.asp?number=EMILPI36111

Trust me on this LoCurtico. It's an excellent vinyl box. And yes, MoFi does produce vinyl as well.

hearingimpared wrote: »

That's where I was going Curt but John beat me to it. Absolutely Superb!!!

Also I have yet to buy a MoFi (MFSL Original Master Recording) that didn't sound awesome.

hearingimpared wrote: »

Yep that link is to the Echos I was referring to. Unbelievable SQ plus, "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" is done contiguously.

I'll definitely be picking that one up. I was just listening to Echoes on CD earlier...and even the CD is pretty well done overall. I'd love to hear it on vinyl.

Keiko wrote: »

I have the Shine On 9 CD box set that I think is pretty well done. I prefer the MoFi Gold CD of DSotM over it's SACD counterpart. YMMV.

http://www.amazon.com/Shine-Pink-Floyd/dp/B000025MKW

In some ways I preferred the MoFi DSOTM as well. That was just with one comparison though...I'd love to have both here to do some comparisons in my own rig. I'll definitely be looking into at least the MoFi DSOTM, and probably some other MoFi Floyd releases.

RuSsMaN wrote: »

Without breaking the bank, the pressings under the 'Harvest' label are the ones you want, not the regular 'Columbia' label. They are plentiful, and affordable - my entire Floyd collection is Harvest, and it's outstanding.

Cheers,
Russ

Are these CD's, or LP's that you're referring to? I'll look into this. I'm always trying to keep costs down wherever I can.


Thanks for the advice everyone!:)

comfortablycurt

Norm Apter wrote: »

So what did you decide on, Curt? Anything yet?

A few things. I'm definitely going to pick up the ECHOES 4 LP set. I'm also planning on getting the MoFi version of DSOTM.

I was just checking some of the versions of Meddle available on E-bay. Here are some examples of what these are going for:

Meddle MFSL Gold CD new/sealed -- Buy it now $899.00 (no, thats not a typo!)
Meddle MFSL Gold Mint (like new) -- Buy it now $119.00
Meddle Japanese Mini-LP CD, Mint -- Buy it now $115.00

eek...I'm definitely not looking to spend quite that much. Maybe sometime down the line...but not right now.

Which CD version of Meddle do you have (the one with which your are dissatisfied)? Is it a silver face with the following markings: CDP 746034 2?

Thats the one I had and I wanted something a bit better, but I'm not willing (or able) to drop the anything close to the kind of coin listed above.

The face(label) on the CD is blue(basically the cover photo)...and the surface behind/around the label is silver, with the markings: CDP 0777 7 46034 2 3.

Same one? I can't stand to listen to this CD...it just sounds tinny, and edgy the whole way through.

Also, upon further inspection, I just realized that the label on the top of the CD isn't even centered properly...lol

Well, aside from the MFSL (which seems to be recognized as the best), another top contender is the Sony CD32P. I was tracking a new CD32P on E-bay a while ago that ended up being sold for about $56. If that is within your price range, you may want to do some searching on E-bay and see if you can find one on E-bay at a competitive price.

I didn't want to spend that kind of money so I settled for something in between, a Toshiba/EMI TOCP-53806. I think I got it for about $19 at CD Pacific. It was pressed originally in 1994, but re-released with the same mastering in 2007 and 2009, so its still in print and not going for a fortune.

The thing about Japanese pressings, in general, I feel is that they are mastered at lower volumes but still retain nice dynamics (and a sound not nearly as "thin" as the original U.S. Columbia pressings). So I usually turn up the volume bit, but I never get that sort of edgy listening fatigue that goes with heavily brickwalled/overly compressed CDs. In this case the EMI /Toshiba seemed like a nice compromise, though I have no illusions that the MFSL and Sony would certainly have superior sound quality. It all comes down to how much coin you are willing to drop.

Thanks for the advice. The Sony CD32P may be a bit out of my price range right now...but maybe later down the line. I'll definitely look into the Toshiba/EMI

Geez, I just wish Pink Floyd would turn over their catalog to the same guys who did the Beatles' box sets and let them have it. I'd gladly pay $230 just to have everything from Pipers through Animals.

+1000

I'd love to get some new (cheap) quality remasters of every Floyd album.

Other than that, I think the Doug Sax remasters are generally pretty good -- these differ from the original Capitol /Columbia pressings in that they have picture faces rather than silver faces. I've tested library copies of the Sax remasters of Wish You Were Here and Animals and both, particularly the former, proved to be noticable improvements over my original Capitol / Columbia reissues in my comparisons. In fact, just today I ordered the Sax remasters of Animals and Obscured By Clouds for total of $18 including shipping. Are there better sounding versions? No doubt...but not at $6 a pop plus shipping. As an aside, I think there are clear limitations to how good Animals will sound on any version. I've heard, in many instances, how there just wasn't great production put in to this album which has left most if not all CD versions lacking (though maybe a bit better on vinyl???)

Animals is actually one of the CD's that I don't mind listening to. I have it on both CD and vinyl, and both sound pretty good. As you mentioned though, due to internal conflict in the band, Animals wasn't recorded with the same precision as some of their earlier stuff, and is never going to match the SQ of an album like DSOTM.

I'll also look into the Sax remasters.

Finally, I've listened to the 40th anniversary remaster of Piper at the Gates of Dawn (3 CD set), remastered by James Guthrie and released in 2007, and in my opinion it has excellent sound quality.

I mislisted that in my original post...my copy of Piper on CD is one of the ones that I'm actually very happy with. I believe mine is the 40th anniversary edition, but it's just a 2 disc set. One disc is mono and the other is stereo.

I also have Piper in stereo on vinyl, and it sounds excellent. It's part of "A Nice Pair", a 2 LP set that also has A Saucerful of Secrets(which also sounds fantastic on vinyl).

headrott

RuSsMaN wrote: »

Without breaking the bank, the pressings under the 'Harvest' label are the ones you want, not the regular 'Columbia' label. They are plentiful, and affordable - my entire Floyd collection is Harvest, and it's outstanding.

Cheers,
Russ

Russ, there must be 2 versions of the Harvest pressings then. The ones I am thinking of are the Harvest "Made in Japan" U.S. first pressings and are very good. I don't know if they released every album on the harvest label on CD or not? I have: Meddle, DSOTM, and The Wall. They are relatively hard to find now and pretty expensive though, so I think they may be different than the ones you are talking about? A link below will give an example of the Meddle CD on the Harvest label:

http://cgi.ebay.com/PINK-FLOYD-Meedle-1984-MADE-IN-JAPAN-HARVEST-CD_W0QQitemZ360200474437QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMusic_CDs?hash=item53dd9f0f45

Greg

RuSsMaN

I was talking about vinyl, not cd's - I was focused on the 'pressings' side of the post.

Cheers,
Russ

Derrick4Real

I have to share an excellent site I am am member of (not a torrent or mass distribution site) where the owner accepts the vinyl you send in, then rips it on an incredible rig then shares it with other contributors. He is a great guy...does it for free...and the quality is simply amazing.

Check his recent Pink Floyd rips & reviews HERE

I have recently downloaded several of the vinyl rips that trash the sound of the cds that I currently own.

comfortablycurt

RuSsMaN wrote: »

I was talking about vinyl, not cd's - I was focused on the 'pressings' side of the post.

Cheers,
Russ

Thanks for the clarification. I checked my Floyd vinyl...

My vinyl copies of Meddle, Obscured By Clouds, and the 2LP set "A Nice Pair" are all on the Harvest label, and sound fantastic!!

My vinyl copy of Animals is on Columbia though, and the sound is just so so.

I've got David Gilmour's self titled solo album on a Columbia pressing, and the SQ is quite good on this one, though it seems a bit quiet at times. Anyone know if Gilmour's solo stuff was released on the Harvest label as well?


Thanks for the info Russ, I'll definitely be keeping my eyes out for Harvest label Floyd pressings.:)

Derrick4Real wrote: »

I have to share an excellent site I am am member of (not a torrent or mass distribution site) where the owner accepts the vinyl you send in, then rips it on an incredible rig then shares it with other contributors. He is a great guy...does it for free...and the quality is simply amazing.

Check his recent Pink Floyd rips & reviews HERE

I have recently downloaded several of the vinyl rips that trash the sound of the cds that I currently own.

Very cool! I'll definitely have to check that out!

hearingimpared

Keiko wrote: »

I have the Shine On 9 CD box set that I think is pretty well done. I prefer the MoFi Gold CD of DSotM over it's SACD counterpart. YMMV.

http://www.amazon.com/Shine-Pink-Floyd/dp/B000025MKW

I have this one too Curt and it is very well done for redbook of course if the whole box set was done on MoFi Gold or SACD that would be spectacular but expensive. You can't go wrong with "Shine On" as it is though.

comfortablycurt

hearingimpared wrote: »

I have this one too Curt and it is very well done for redbook of course if the whole box set was done on MoFi Gold or SACD that would be spectacular but expensive. You can't go wrong with "Shine On" as it is though.

I may have to check that one out...

Looks like the cheapest used one in "Like new" condition on Amazon is $225...that's not too bad for 9 albums. I already have the 25th Anniversary redbook version of DSOTM, which is the one in this box. It's not as good as my SACD version, but it does still sound excellent. I'd imagine the other ones were done with the same quality.

comfortablycurt

Alright...

Keiko has ripped the ECHOES vinyl set to CD for me to check out! Should be fun...I've been looking forward to checking out some vinyl rips for a while now. I'll have my redbook version to compare it to...so it should be interesting.:)

Thanks Mike!! I can't wait to check it out!!


I think I've also decided that I'm gonna check out the Shine On box set.

I'm also going to be keeping my eye out for Harvest label Floyd pressings.




First though...there are a few Floyd albums that I don't own on either CD or vinyl...and I want to at least get the full collection first, before I start re-buying albums that I already have multiple copies of...lol

More
Ummagumma
Atom Heart Mother
The Final Cut


I've got Atom Heart Mother and The Final Cut on cassette, but I need to get both of them on CD(and/or vinyl) as well. I also need to get More and Ummagumma...so, these are probably going to be some of my next music purchases.:)

After these...I think I'm going to look into the ECHOES vinyl set...and the Shine On box set.




Anyone have any comments on the "Oh, By the Way" box set? Reviews everywhere seem really mixed on it.

Packaging looks purty and all...but is the SQ there? For a box set that size, they don't really throw much extra stuff in either. Take the Shine On box set for example, which comes with an extra disc full of their early singles.

If you look on amazon, there are a lot of your typical reviews about how the product is a ripoff, most likely from people who have never owned it. Lots of pretty positive reviews too. I'm thinking that "Oh, By the Way" is probably one to pass on? Reviews seem passingly positive as far as SQ goes, but nothing glowing. The general consensus seems to be, "Release these damn albums on SACD!!!".

I'm thinking I'll pass on this one, unless anyone has anything otherwise to say about it.

hearingimpared

Curt, I have several vinyl to CD rips from Mike and I can tell you, you are in for a real treat. The difference in the vinyl rips compared to the regular CD are nothing less than stunning. You get that real vinyl feel of the open airyness, inner detail and much much more that vinyl is known for most notibly NO DIGITAL GLARE! You might hear a tick or a pop here and there but you'll listen right past it.

You know me, I'm a vinyl nut and am very impressed with Mike rips.

Good luck in acquiring the copies that you don't have.

Joe

MCCLIPSE

The live version of "Sorrow" from the Pulse double disc album is amazing! Awesome SQ and thundering bass.

comfortablycurt

hearingimpared wrote: »

Curt, I have several vinyl to CD rips from Mike and I can tell you, you are in for a real treat. The difference in the vinyl rips compared to the regular CD are nothing less than stunning. You get that real vinyl feel of the open airyness, inner detail and much much more that vinyl is known for most notibly NO DIGITAL GLARE! You might hear a tick or a pop here and there but you'll listen right past it.

You know me, I'm a vinyl nut and am very impressed with Mike rips.

Good luck in acquiring the copies that you don't have.

Joe

Awesome! I'm really looking forward to getting my ears on these. That digital glare and edginess is what really kills CD for me. Vinyl just has a more rounded, natural type of sound to it 9 times out of 10. The ticks and the pops don't bother me...I rarely even notice them anymore.

When I get my ears on Mikes vinyl rips, I'll be sure to report back here with some listening impressions.:)

Keiko wrote: »

Send them to me, LoCurtico. I can rip cassettes to, albeit I've only done it a couple times....The Final Cut is probably my least liked Floyd release. I believe many of those songs were rejected as part of The Wall album, but correct me if that's wrong. I know the song titled, When The Tigers Broke Free or The High Command is included in the film, but not on The Wall album. I do want to get a copy of Atom Heart Mother since I don't have it....If you're reading this, GG, I want dibs on that vinyl.

If you were going to rip them from cassettes, these aren't the ones you want...lol...They're not exactly in pristine shape anymore. They've been listened to a lot, and were already used when I got them.

I'd have to agree. The Final Cut is probably my least favorite of all the Floyd albums. In general though, I tend to prefer the David Gilmour based Floyd albums, or the Gilmour/Waters creative collaboration. Even The Wall ranks pretty low on my list of favorite Floyd Albums, though it is still an excellent album.

You're correct that several of the songs were cuts that got rejected from The Wall. The working title of The Final Cut, up until its release, was actually "Spare Bricks". Most of the songs on TFC were written/developed during the recording of The Wall. Originally, TFC was planned to be an accompanying soundtrack album to The Wall movie, as several of the compositions are changed significantly from their album versions. That concept was eventually scrapped, and Waters ended up writing some new material for the album as well. So, roughly half of the album was derived from The Wall sessions, while the other half came from other inspirations.

When The Tigers Broke Free was included in The Wall movie, but not the album. It's also included in ECHOES. It wasn't originally included in TFC until the last round of remasterings.

Keiko wrote: »

I was just looking at this on amazon, Curt.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000X1LH6C/?tag=toyalliance-20

232.00 seems a little steep, IMO, but I see some vendors have it for around 80.00+3.00 shipping. Probably the same EMI masters included in the Shine On box set, but re-packaged as mini LPs. If you don't own most of those already, I think 83.00 for that collection is a pretty good deal.

Hmm...somehow I glanced right over the merchant pricing on Amazon. I just saw the $232 "new" price, and passed it off. For $80 or so...I might have to look into this.

MCCLIPSE wrote: »

The live version of "Sorrow" from the Pulse double disc album is amazing! Awesome SQ and thundering bass.

+1

There are some great cuts on the Pulse album. I have the double disc Pulse soundtrack, but I no longer have the Pulse DVD. I need to pick up another copy of it sometime.










I just got done spinning my Harvest label pressing of A Saucerful of Secrets, the 2 LP set A Nice Pair. I haven't listened to this one in a while...sounded fantastic!!

It doesn't hurt that my copy of A Nice Pair is in essentially pristine condition.:)