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Topic: Is there a website/forum with quality CD reviews? (Read 6237 times) previous topic - next topic
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Is there a website/forum with quality CD reviews?

...by which I mean, quality reviews, not necessarily just reviews of quality CDs.   

There are so many CDs which have been re-released with added content, not all of which have been sonically ruined.  It would be great if there was a reference site which could guide us away from the clinkers.  I'd like to be able to check, before wasting my money, which version is likely to be the definitive release.

If I had infinite money, of course, I'd be buying them all and writing the reviews myself.   

Is there a website/forum with quality CD reviews?

Reply #1 –
Yeah, it is a pain deciding whether it's worth buying a brand new remaster with extra tracks or looking for a used copy of the original CD.

What exact CDs are you looking for? I've done some research myself and if I've searched for that CD before, I can point you to the right links.

Is there a website/forum with quality CD reviews?

Reply #2 –
Quote from: Boiled Beans on
Yeah, it is a pain deciding whether it's worth buying a brand new remaster with extra tracks or looking for a used copy of the original CD.

What exact CDs are you looking for? I've done some research myself and if I've searched for that CD before, I can point you to the right links.

Megadeth discography, remixed & remastered version. Do you have the link?

Is there a website/forum with quality CD reviews?

Reply #3 –
Mostly prog rock albums such as ELP, Yes, Genesis, Flash, Captain Beyond, Pink Floyd, Renaissance, etc. etc.  But also some classic rock (Beatles, Stones, Grand Funk, Trower, et. al.) and 70s/80s pop such as The Motels, Duran Duran, Seatrain... quite a lot really.  I know there aren't many choices for some of the preceding, and I already have early CD pressings for all that I could locate, but to list everything I'm looking for would take up a LOT of space.  I'll detail some more of them if you're willing to comment.

I remember a discussion earlier about the Stones CDs which was very helpful, and I've heard rumblings about the Beatles EMI CDs vs. later efforts.  And for sure the latest round of Grand Funk remasters are inferior; the difference between the early pressings of the second album "Grand Funk" and remasters is dramatic and visually pretty obvious - but I had to buy the remaster to find that out.  Just hoping I can continue the search without constantly bugging people here for pointers.

Is there a website/forum with quality CD reviews?

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Seeking_Lossless on
Megadeth discography, remixed & remastered version. Do you have the link?


Whoops, nope, not familiar with them.


Quote from: GregDunn on
Mostly prog rock albums such as ELP, Yes, Genesis, Flash, Captain Beyond, Pink Floyd, Renaissance, etc. etc.  But also some classic rock (Beatles, Stones, Grand Funk, Trower, et. al.) and 70s/80s pop such as The Motels, Duran Duran, Seatrain... quite a lot really.  I know there aren't many choices for some of the preceding, and I already have early CD pressings for all that I could locate, but to list everything I'm looking for would take up a LOT of space.  I'll detail some more of them if you're willing to comment.

I remember a discussion earlier about the Stones CDs which was very helpful, and I've heard rumblings about the Beatles EMI CDs vs. later efforts.  And for sure the latest round of Grand Funk remasters are inferior; the difference between the early pressings of the second album "Grand Funk" and remasters is dramatic and visually pretty obvious - but I had to buy the remaster to find that out.  Just hoping I can continue the search without constantly bugging people here for pointers.


Regarding Pink Floyd, the 1994 remasters are very well done, you don't have to worry about them, although I remember reading the 30th anniversary CD side of the SACD of Dark Side is rather compressed.

The latest Rolling Stones Remasters, you can take a look here
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthre...275&page=12
You can start from page 7 or even page 1 if you have the time. 


For the Beatles, if you mean the Let It Be Naked or "1" CDs, some people have complained about NR and slight dynamic compression. But to me, it's acceptable. This has been widely discussed/argued/flamed about in the Steve Hoffman forums in the link above. You can do a quick search there.

In fact, there's also hundreds of pages of speculation about the 2009 remasters there.
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/search.p...earchid=6746898

And also some funny threads
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=181513

Is there a website/forum with quality CD reviews?

Reply #6 –
Wow!      That last link is a gold mine - and full of scary numbers.  I bought a lot of CDs when they first were released because I feared they'd go out of print; had no idea how popular they'd be.  Looks like a good decision in retrospect.  I will pore over that and the previous site before making any further queries here, thanks!

Is there a website/forum with quality CD reviews?

Reply #7 –
Quote from: GregDunn on
Wow!      That last link is a gold mine - and full of scary numbers.  I bought a lot of CDs when they first were released because I feared they'd go out of print; had no idea how popular they'd be.  Looks like a good decision in retrospect.  I will pore over that and the previous site before making any further queries here, thanks!


Yeah, interesting to compare the CD vs Guitar Hero versions of Death Magnetic!

The site is relatively new so it's still being updated quite frequently.

You can even submit your own findings by using the dynamic range meter
http://www.dynamicrange.de/
(I haven't tried it yet though)

 

Is there a website/forum with quality CD reviews?

Reply #9 –
Thanks for that link, Boiled Beans.

I know the TT Dynamic Range Meter is flawed but it's better than nothing and from my experience at least it gives comparable measurements for different remasters of the same recording.