SA-CD.net - When do we get U2 on SACD?

Post by SnaggS May 28, 2012 (1 of 6)
Joshua Tree would be perfect. Thats my tuesday morning dream. Daniel. Ps. I see Nora Jones is now listed to buy.

Post by Goodwood May 29, 2012 (2 of 6)
I still can't believe how awful the remastered RBCD is of War compared to my early 80s original.

Post by sordidman May 29, 2012 (3 of 6)
Goodwood said: I still can't believe how awful the remastered RBCD is of War compared to my early 80s original. oh man.... The latest releases are so much better than the early '80s pressings that were done from the vinyl. Yes, they are still compressed, but the sound is a lot better, - at least on my system. There doesn't seem to be any indication that Bono or whomever cares about SQ.

Post by The Seventh Taylor May 29, 2012 (4 of 6)
SnaggS said: Joshua Tree would be perfect. It's available in China ;-) /showthread/25946/40747/y#40747 The obvious opportunity would have been the 3-disc 20th anniversary edition in 2007 but they missed it completely.

Post by Lochiel May 30, 2012 (5 of 6)

sordidman said:

oh man....

The latest releases are so much better than the early '80s pressings that were done from the vinyl. Yes, they are still compressed, but the sound is a lot better, - at least on my system.

There doesn't seem to be any indication that Bono or whomever cares about SQ.

I definitely agree that the U2 remasters are much better than the 80's releases. But we can and should all be glad that, although they are somewhat louder, they're nowhere close to 90% of typical "remasters" released today.

I actually got the opposite impression from the new issues - all of them were remastered under the direct oversight of The Edge, according to the liner notes, at a respected mastering facility (Bernie Grundman Mastering in L.A.) with a pretty good (though not spotless) reputation for not over-crushing remastered reissues. My take is that U2 recognizes the enormous musical value of their back catalog and took care to make sure someone at the label didn't ruin their legacy with terrible sound on these reissues.

One might make the argument that the Uber-deluxe edition of Achtung Baby and its $400+ price tag was a little over-the-top, however, but I guess there's a die-hard, core of their fan base that will pay that kind of money. I have "settled" for the merely two-disc Deluxe editions for all their albums from Boy to Achtung. SACD would be awesome, but I would not hold my breath...

Post by sordidman May 30, 2012 (6 of 6)

What I meant by not caring about the SQ, - is that many of their recordings were originally really bad SQ. Not talking about mastering with compression for radio....

We need to be careful with the term "louder." If it's actually "louder" than the upper treble, cymbals, vocal "s"s are sibilant and way to hissy, - IMO, - a better term is "hot to tape."

As opposed to compressed, - which is different, - in that the signal is "squished" so that there are no quiet parts, and no loud parts. This was done for radio, - so that there would be no dead air.

U2 have made some great music with some of the worst recording values ever. Sadly, ironically, one of the greatest producers, engineer, songwriter, and noise creator, Brian Eno was all over the wretched "Unforgettable Fire" recording. It is truly horrible. October, was also a horrible recording, - IMO.

I suspect that these bad U2 recordings cannot be fixed, as they came from the studio that way.

Remember, before a consumer gets a product in hand, - it is likely be 5 to 7 generations violated.... And, IMO, mastering should only refer to the process of cutting glass/metal/lacquer...