crapfromthepast
MusicFan
Joined: 14 September 2006
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2239
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| Posted: 06 September 2016 at 7:51pm | IP Logged
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The LP and 45 versions both have the hi-hat in the right channel, if anyone asks.
45 edit (runs about 2:56)
First, the clunkers to avoid:- Silver Eagle/Capitol's 3-CD Formula 45 (1988) - uses high-generation source tapes
- Good Music's 2-CD Rare Gold (1990) - holy moly, this CD sounds terrible
- Cema's 2-CD Mellow Gold (1991) - uses noise reduction
Now, the serious discs, all of which sound far better than the three I listed above.
There's a decent-sounding analog transfer on Rhino's Billboard Top Hits 1976 (1991), which is also used on:- Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 4 1976 (1989; digitally identical; I realize that this doesn't make chronological sense, but my copy of this disc is an RE-1 remaster, which may have come out after Billboard; not sure what's on the original 1989 non-RE-1 release)
- Time-Life's Guitar Rock Vol. 3 1976-1977 (1993; left and right channels are swapped)
- Time-Life's AM Gold Vol. 23 1976 (1996; digitally exactly 2.7 dB louder)
- Time-Life's 2-CD Body Talk Vol. 4 Together Forever (1996; digitally exactly 0.104 dB louder)
- Time-Life's 2-CD Classic Soft Rock Vol. 3 Into The Night (2006; differently-EQ'd digital clone)
All of the above sound pretty good, and I would have been perfectly happy with the sound quality, until I discovered one outlier. There's a new analog transfer on Rhino's Have A Nice Day Vol. 18 (1993), which sounds much more open and expansive than Billboard. Remember back in the days of cassettes, when you played back a tape with Dolby B noise reduction engaged, and a song sounded all muffled? Then when you turned off the noise reduction, the song sprung to life? That's the difference I hear between Billboard Top Hits 1976 and Have A Nice Day Vol. 18. I'll be curious to hear your opinions about the difference in sound quality, if you have Have A Nice Day Vol. 18 plus one of the others in the list above. (EQ too bright? Added reverb or some other studio trick?)
My preference for the 45 edit: Rhino's Have A Nice Day Vol. 18 (1993)
LP version (runs about 4:33)
I only have the LP version on Time-Life's 2-CD Singers And Songwriters Vol. 4 1976-1977 (2000) and Time-Life's Ultimate Love Songs Collection Secret Lovers (2004; differently EQ'd digital clone of Singers And Songwriters). Both sound basically the same.
Edited by crapfromthepast on 07 September 2016 at 6:17am
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