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Topic: How to distinguish different masterings of the same disc (Read 2769 times) previous topic - next topic
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How to distinguish different masterings of the same disc

Is there a way to tell if you have different masterings (not different pressings) of the same disc?

With different pressings the write offset is different. Of course a different master would also likely have a different offset but the actual audio should also be different while the number of tracks and track lengths (CD TOC) may all be the same.

I suppose checking the replaygain may be an indication, but is there any way to know without ripping the disc?

Is anyone aware of any remastered discs that have the exact same CD TOC as a different mastering?

How to distinguish different masterings of the same disc

Reply #1 –
Quote from: Eli on
Is there a way to tell if you have different masterings (not different pressings) of the same disc?

With different pressings the write offset is different. Of course a different master would also likely have a different offset but the actual audio should also be different while the number of tracks and track lengths (CD TOC) may all be the same.

I suppose checking the replaygain may be an indication, but is there any way to know without ripping the disc?

Is anyone aware of any remastered discs that have the exact same CD TOC as a different mastering?


You can rip (or Test) a cd in EAC and look at the log file. Do that for both the cd's you have of the same title and compare the Peak Levels of each track. If they are the exact same, you have the same mastering, if they are different, well you get the idea. Although, you can have the 'same' mastering but sometimes it gets 'level shifted' so the peak levels will be different but all at the same percentage of the original. Does that make sense? Of course with new cd's and everything is maxed out to 100% on everything, you can't tell that way.

How to distinguish different masterings of the same disc

Reply #2 –
Wouldn't same-masters also have identical CRCs if they were calculated without using null samples?

How to distinguish different masterings of the same disc

Reply #3 –
no, with different masterings the music information is actually different, so the CRCs should be different. But because it may just be a different write offset resulting in a different CRC that makes it more difficult.
 

How to distinguish different masterings of the same disc

Reply #4 –
But if the mastering is the same, the CRCs should be the same. Any difference in offset wouldn't matter if you're not using null samples for calculation. Of course, this would apply only if there's digital silence between the tracks.