Pink Floyd: The Best CD Masterings

Steve Hoffman forum is great for this kind of info because everyone has an equipment profile filled out and you can know their frame of reference.

 

When I find a Steve Hoffman Forum member who I agree with over and over and rarely or never disagree with I "follow" them. I posted this list of members I follow a little over a year ago.
https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...y-rock-record-releases.1723/page-2#post-96654

 

Okay, I finally received the West German Harvest black face "The Wall" CDs I mentioned in a previous post. This mastering is clearly better sounding to me on my 2 channel system using Roon than the Canadian and MFSL masterings. The Canadian CDs rip has pre-emphasis so the highs are too boosted and the MFSL rip has just a bit too much low end boost.

I would be quite happy with either the West German CDs rip or the "Shine On" box set CDs rip but I am really glad that I bought the West German release as I think the West German rip sounds best overall. It has a bit more clarity to the sound and really shines with the volume turned up. It is more natural sounding and has better dynamics. Neither of these masterings have the loud pop in "Comfortably Numb". I can hear why the EFI/Harvest masterings of "The Wall" are considered the best.

 

More Pink Floyd mastering fun....this time with "The Dark Side of the Moon".

I have four versions of TDSOTM on CD:

MFSL UD1 1988
"Shine On" box set release (Doug Sax) 1992
Doug Sax 1993
James Guthrie 2011

Of these, I really like the MSFL mastering the best. Both "Time" and "Money" are exceptional on the MFSL. This mastering sounds both smooth and detailed. I love the clarity yet it is not at all harsh on my 2 channel setup. Even at high (too high) sound pressure levels. This mastering is a bit boosted in the highs and lows compared to the others but it just sounds right!

Either of the Doug Sax masterings are quite good but overall I like the 1993 mastering better. The 2011 James Guthrie mastering is really well liked based on a poll over on the Steve Hoffman forum but it is my least favorite. It's the most digital sounding to me.

 

I agree with all of this. I also feel most people on the Steve Hoffman forum don't really have the digital equipment to disguish between the DSOTM masters since they're all very good. It's not something you can accurately differentiate on a $300 CD player.

 

Yeah, I have all of these (and a few more, like the black triangle), and the MFSL is probably my favorite.

 

As a young teen my first concert I attended was Dark Side of the Moon and with many other concerts over the decades Dark Side of the Moon remains in one of the top end best .
Just like thier concerts the bands attention to sonics are usally quiet good .
I would agree The Wall has outstanding sonics and the best I’ve heard it was on vinyl , an early British pressing and another sonic block buster is the vinyl box set of Pulse .
My Lps but not my stereo,...
Listening to the Wall through Dcs digital components, again not my stuff Pink Floyd were performing almost live for us .
I do have that Canadian black face CD recommended on Hoffman’s site and through my modest system it sounds great .

 

Ok, so, update to me buying different masters and comparing them:

The first one, a made in Japan version I can get you the information on if you're really curious, arrived just fine and sounds great.

The second one arrived in utterly destroyed condition. It's as if it were serial crushed by some huge f'ing guy. (Props if you caught that reference.) A claim has been filed with eBay.

The third has not arrived, after waiting about a month, and again a claim has been filled with eBay.

So, my advice to everybody is to purchase masters which you can actually listen to, as they will undoubtedly sound better than the alternatives.

 

I still prefer the West German Harvest black face mastering after listening to all 4 mastering that I have. The West German discs I ordered from Macedonia finally showed up after a month and half. So now I have two sets of the West German Harvest black face mastering. This second set ripped just fine but disc 1 has some minor scratches on the front and back. Anyway, if someone wants this set, I will sell it for $10 plus PayPal and shipping fees. I will put an ad up for this as well.

 

Somehow I missed this thread. I have spent a lot of time comparing different masterings of Pink Floyd albums on CD. For my taste, my favorite mastering of The Wall is the 50DP 361, which is the first Japanese CD issue. I know the mastering has been re-used on other issues but I don’t remember which ones in particular.

For DSOTM I go for the original Black Triangle. It may not be from the master as several of the later versions are, but the tonality on it is so good. After that I’d probably go for the Blu-ray 2.0 mastering from the Immersion set.

For WYWH it’s the 2.0 mastering on the Analog Productions SACD.

For Animals and The Final cut I like Sax’s 1997 masterings, although I haven’t heard the Shine On versions.

For Meddle the MFSL is very good.

 

For Piper I listen to the mono disc from the 40th anniversary set, and for Saucerful of Secrets I do either the Sax stereo or a needledrop of the U.K. mono.

 

@Merrick

The Japanese 50DP 361/362 discs have pre-emphahsis. The Canadian black face C2K-36183 is based on the same mastering with the levels being different. Both have pre-emphasis and both have the pops at the beginning of "Comfortably Numb". The West German black face Harvest CDP 7 46036 8 release uses the same mastering as the Japan for UK black face Harvest CDS 7 46036 8 and UK Silver face Harvest CDS 7 46036 8 sets. Just the levels are different with the WG levels being the best. None of these releases have pops at the beginning of "Comfortably Numb".

I have listened to the Canadian black face C2K-36183 discs with the pre-empahsis removed and the WG black face discs extensively. I prefer the WG sound. It just seems more natural especially the voices.

For DSOTM, the original Japan black triangle CP35-3017 release had pre-emphasis so I avoided it. The consensus on stevehoffman.tv is the 2011 remaster by James Guthrie is supposed to be as good or better than any. The MFSL release is also well liked on stevehoffman.tv and is my personal favorite. I have both the James Guthrie and MFSL releases and the 1992 Doug Sax mastering which very good too.

I have the "Shine On" boxed set which I rely on for the rest of the Pink Floyd albums in my collection. Those are all Doug Sax masterings and sound quite good.

 

I’m aware of the pre-emphasis on those discs and have them de-emphasized. The WG does sound like it’s the best of all possible worlds though, maybe I’ll buy that spare one off of you.

The only 2011 that is my go to is Obscured By Clouds.

 

Great thread. I agree with most of the above.

I too go with the WG version of The Wall
I like the Japanese Black Triangle for DSOTM, though the Japanese Black Harvest and the European original Silver Harvest are plenty good as is the Ultradisc 1
For WYWH I actually prefer the gold Mastersound over the original Japanese 2 track - 35dp4. I I have an original 13 track Oz pressing which competes as well.
I agree with Obscured by Clouds by Guthrie.
The MFSL of Meddle is spectacular.

Both the Sax Shine On remasters and the Guthrie Discovery box are excellent though IMHO.

For the most part you can’t go wrong with the early West German pressings of most things. The Dire Straits stuff is amazing.

Listen on a Marantz transport - Yggdrasil - Phonitor XE and Cavalli Liquid Gold X for the odd DSD Stones discs. Utopia, LCD 4 and HD 800 modded.

Edit: I have a shitload of Floyd bootlegs also if anyone ever wants to know the good, the bad and the uglies.

 

Some of my preferences have changed since my last post here. I prefer the 24/96 DSOTM from the massive DSOTM box over the Black Triangle, and my preference for Animals shifted to the first Japanese CD pressing.

 

From Enjoy the Music


Long Awaited Multi-Channel Pink Floyd The Dark Side Of The Moon
The much anticipated Pink Floyd The Dark Side Of The Moon in hybrid multi-channel SACD is finally available! This multi-track masterpiece is mixed for 5.1 surround sound and stereo from the original analog master tapes by Pink Floyd Producer / Engineer James Guthrie. According to Acoustic Sounds, "Another classic Pink Floyd title receives the multichannel reissue treatment and Acoustic Sounds and Analogue Productions is once again proud to handle exclusive distribution of this monumental SACD. How lucky we all are to hear this legendary studio recording realize its full potential. The SACD also of course includes a stunning stereo mix. And as this is a hybrid disc, the album is of course also playable on a standard CD player."

 

Isn’t that just a reissue of the existing SACD?

 

I don't think so. I think there was a major battle between Gilmore and the other dude about this new remaster.

 

According to this: https://superdeluxeedition.com/news...e-of-the-moon-sacd-finally-ready-for-release/

The 5.1 mix is the same and the SACD layer is the same. The only change is the CD layer. However they don’t specify if this is an exclusive new CD mastering for this release or if it’s the same as the last CD mastering from 2011 or 2016 or whenever they last remastered the PF catalog.

Don’t get me wrong, I do think the SACD mastering of DSOTM is one of the best, and the 5.1 is fun too if you’re equipped for it, but I don’t think there’s anything actually new here.

 

Thanks. Saved me some $