Which major labels had the best flat transfers for CD?

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GoogaMooga
custodian of oldies
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Which major labels had the best flat transfers for CD?

Postby GoogaMooga » 02 Jan 2021, 23:45

Some of those 1980s CD's are highly sought after by the Hoffmanites - no compression, good dynamic range. I've got CD's from 1982-1983 that sound fantastic. Sure you have to turn the volume up a little more, but then you get rewarded with great sound. Other CD's sound tinny and anemic. It's a veritable minefield to navigate.

I'd say Warner and Columbia/CDS from the 80s often need remastering.

While EMI, Atlantic, Mercury, Motown, RCA - they are usually fine as they are.

Target CD's - I have a few and they are among my most prized CD's.

from http://www.thetargetcdcollection.com/p/ ... -info.html

Target CDs are CD-pressings made in West Germany or Japan (or in some cases in France or the USA) from the early 1980s when the compact disc was first invented until the beginning of the 1990s. They were mainly albums from artists that were on Warner Bros. Records or their associated labels.

They are called Target CDs for their unique painted label side surface that resembled a targeting reticule with the markings at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o'clock respectively and with 4 to 8 squares placed horizontally in the middle of the disc.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Charlie O.
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Re: Which major labels had the best flat transfers for CD?

Postby Charlie O. » 02 Jan 2021, 23:57

I'm not convinced that you can generalize by label. For example, I've heard some Columbia CDs from that era that sounded wonderful, and some Atlantics (including some "Target" CDs) that sounded like crap.

I think PolyGram may have been the most consistently decent (Mercury, Polydor, Verve, etc.).
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GoogaMooga
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Re: Which major labels had the best flat transfers for CD?

Postby GoogaMooga » 03 Jan 2021, 00:08

I agree with you on the Polygram group of labels.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck


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