Take the WOW CD challenge...

[ed191-bq%violet.Berkeley.EDU@berkeley.edu (Taylor)]

(Really from Hugh Maher)

There's been a lot of talk recently on the net about the
alleged inferior quality of the U.S. Kate CD pressings - 
mainly with " "The Whole Story" CD. As a result, several people have
been wary to buy anything produced in the U.S., and it sounds like
others have been shelling out extra bucks for the British imports.

Since I haven't noticed anything wrong with my U.S. pressings (and I
have several Brit. ones to compare) I asked for specific examples of
the flaws in the U.S. CD's, and was told to compare the song "Wow" by
William Le Febvre. 

After switching back and forth between the two, (US "TWS" and British
"Lionheart") I can hear the difference
he's talking about, but it's the complete opposite of what was said!
It's the original BRITISH pressing (actually, done in W.Germany) that
sounds muffled and not as clear. 

Granted, when I put them in two nearly identical CD players - (the sony
mini-portables; D-5 and D-7), and ran it off the line output, the 
U.S. one WAS slightly "quieter" than the brit one, but nothing that 
required cranking up the amplifier to the extent that was claimed.
(the difference was perhaps half a notch on my 30 watt/channel amp).

So I switched the mini plugs over to the adjustable headphone jacks and
adjusted the volume so they were equal, and switched between the two
in-phase/cued up songs. As I said, the acoustic guitars on the U.S. version
were much more clearly separated and clear, whereas the old Lionheart
import's guitars sounded like they had lost a lot of the high frequencies
(like it was from a 3rd generation master). Also, I noticed a lot of
distortion on her voice on the word "Dives" from the line "He always diiiives
too soon, too fast...", accompanied by several sections of muddy low bass
rumblings - neither of which were present on the US version.

I would think that EMI-America would be shipped the same exact CD DIGITAL
master as was used for the British "TWS", especially since they seem to
be on a worldwide standardization binge (witness the uniform CD preparation
of the Beatles CD's), and wouldn't leave it up to each factory to master
each of these major releases to their own liking (or carelessness).

The only other thing I can think of is that the slightly "louder" british
version might SOUND better, since the ear tends to favor louder sounds.
But when played at exactly the same volume with no treble or bass adjustments,
I can't hear anything wrong. (By the way, I even played "TWS" in my older
CD player to make it's challenge even harder, but it still came out on top.)

I also did all sorts of other comparisons, and didn't notice any problems
anywhere else, either. 

I can't help feeling that after years of inferior U.S. vinyl pressings, 
there is a certain status associated with anything import
(for other reasons as well) that is now being carried over to CD, as
everyone is expecting the US CD's to automatically sound inferior, and as
a result, they do, since sound is ultimately psychological.

Having said that, what the FUCK is EMI (America?? or UK too?) doing, 
mastering "Never for Ever" so that the sound starts at "--0.01"
rather than "0.00", thus irritatingly cutting off the first half-second
of the opening piano chord in "Babooshka" when it is first turned on?
Has anyone else been having this problem? If it's only on the US discs,
I'll eat my words, although I'll need a few more specific examples
(other than "Wow") before I'm convinced.

[I never thought I'd be saying this, but]
"Buy British for Status"
"Buy American for quality" (except for Babooshka...)

Hugh