Steely Dan 'Gaucho' grouch-o

Hi Graeme,

My 2000 USA remaster on MCA 088 112 055-2 sounds excellent.

I can't speak for the original (unremastered) version on CD, but some of the original efforts of oldish albums on CD (notably Fleetwood Mac - 'Rumours') were of lamentable quality.

It's my experience that albums recorded in the States, sound better on USA made CDs.

Where was your copy made? I have had CDs made in Argentina which sound particularly shite.

Good luck.

John.

The best version is the MFSL disc but it will cost you an arm and a leg. The new Steely remasters have a boosted top end which I find a bit fatiguing when listening to them for a period (but that is my opinion).

The only other versions to get are the SACD and the DVD-A. The SACD is on par with the MFSL disc.

Interestingly, my 'new' CDS2 has now been on for over 2 weeks and the problem is much less acute. The player had been in storage for 19 months previously but is now really opening up -quite amazing really.

quote:

Originally posted by ewemon:
The best version is the MFSL disc but it will cost you an arm and a leg. The new Steely remasters have a boosted top end which I find a bit fatiguing when listening to them for a period (but that is my opinion).

The only other versions to get are the SACD and the DVD-A. The SACD is on par with the MFSL disc.

Hi - where can these disks be bought from please?


thanks in advance

Hi Rightwing - I did a quick google myself to find 'Musical Fidelity Sound Labs' Gold discs.

A recent 'Gaucho' sold on ebay for circa. $150.00.

Graeme

Hi Graham

I have the US SACD (it's a CD Hybrid) of Gaucho which to me sounds great and certainly not harsh. However, I think it's availabilty is limited, so again you may need to look around the web to locate one - they do have them here -

http://store.acousticsounds.com/browse_detail.cfm?Title_ID=12340&sct=music

- but I paid a lot less than this a few years ago! Good luck.

Best Regards
Geoff

quote:

The best version is the MFSL disc

My first edition US vinyl betters my remastered CD by a fair margin.

You can get a UK SACD for about £10 if you check Amazon.

..Ok I know the purists will protest but seriously the DTS version of this is stunningly good ..let's just hope that Aja finally gets a hi-res 5.1 release!

quote:

Originally posted by Graeme Hutton:
My CD copy of this disc is edgy and harsh for the first 3 tracks or so. It is not the remastered version as far as I can tell.

Aja (remastered) sounds fabulous by comparison....anyone care to comment?

CDS2 XPS/82 Scap/250 + Epos ES14's

Thanks

Graeme

Hello Graeme,

about fifteen yonks ago in 1992, I purchased 'Gaucho' CD, (MCLD-19146) it was standard issue dated 1980 & distributed by BMG Records (UK) Ltd. It had a MCA 'masters' sticker on the front and it cost me a tenner (the going rate at the time). A good friend of mine also had this gaucho album but in a special gold CD format. So we spent some time on the edge of our seats comparing one cd with tuvver (like you do). After an hour of this amusment he finally got up and said, "Well, I've waisted me money there"!
I suppose I couldn't tell any difference either... and we did try on my all naim system CDS/250/SBL and also his Meridian/140/kef system. Both places, both cd's sounded great, very enjoyable., oh! and the same.

Anyway, coming up to date with only the last couple of weeks, a colleauge of mine recommended aja as the bestest SD album ever, so taking his word on this,... I purchased (through amazon) a USA import - digitally remastered off the original tapes (UICY-9745 UM/USM japan). With postage this album cost me 12quid odd. It sounds truely lovely...! although I don't have another aja for comparisome...
However, while on amazon I couldn't help but notice SD albums 'digitally remastered' at 4.97 ukp each. So I bought pretzel logic, can't buy a thrill, royal scam, katy lied and countdown to ecstasy. They all sound very enjoyable, but isn't that just the steely dan sound?
I'd recommend these to anyone, save your money and enjoy! ~

all the best~

nymph.

p.s. my fave is, 'can't buy a thrill' it's just so funky!

I have 3 versions of Gaucho. An early Japanese version made for the US market, the SACD and the new remaster and the best is the early Japanese.

Thought this may be of interest ...
From the USA Music Direct site ....

STEELY DAN - AJA (LIMITED EDITION JAPANESE IMPORT 200g LP)

We just received word form Universal Japan of their latest LP production run! The Japanese are meticulous in the pressing of their records and each album will be pressed on dead-quiet, 200g Japanese Virgin Vinyl, obliteraterating pressings done elsewhere. Only the highest-quality titles are being released from the original analog tapes. This is a strictly one-time pressing run and quanities will be extremely limited. You definitely do not want to miss out on this extremely collectable run of AAA titles, so we strongly urge you to order now. Let’s support Universal Japan and maybe they’ll press more titles!