CARPENTERS The Compact Disc Collection

[Chris Mills]

Well spotted, just checked my CD and track 12 is listed as Road One, how about that. I've heard of Nimbus, I'm sure they had a CD pressing plant in the UK back in 90's, I'm pretty sure your CD collection is authentic.

 

[Harry]

Well spotted, just checked my CD and track 12 is listed as Road One, how about that. I've heard of Nimbus, I'm sure they had a CD pressing plant in the UK back in 90's, I'm pretty sure your CD collection is authentic.

This is good news. Could you also check the other misspelling detailed above, just to be sure?

Harry

 

[Chris Mills]

All your missplellings match mine except for An Old Fashioned Christmas.

 

[Chris Mills]

Nimbus is an authentic company, did a Bing search, in fact they have a manufacturing plant just up the road from me in Cwmbran, Wales, UK. Not sure if they are still producing disks. As soon as I read Nimbus in your post, I was thinking that I'd heard of them before.

 

[LondonRobert]

Harry,

I have this set, the original version that is 12X12 with 4 discs inserted into cut outs on each page . Number 4397.

I confirm my set has ALL the same spelling mistakes as you have mentioned..........
I'm just going to listen the the A Song For You album, as i have always wanted the mfsl version of it - now i realise i have had it all this time!! Thank you for telling me!

It's quite a nice set, except my version isnt very user friendly - its quite fiddly getting the disc out etc, plus the fact there are 'some' remixes here and there.

My remastered classics version of Horizon had a very annoying click which mysteriously appeared - so i did a cdr copy of that track - it sounds identical to remastered classics versions ( but without the click!)

Regards
Bob

 

[LondonRobert]

Further to above,
The A Song For You disc sounds absollutely lovely in this collection - I don't think I had actually played it before!! I had the original A & M cd so didn't play it.
The only thing I'm not keen on is that it has remix of Its Gonna Take Some Time - with the overdone piano and synth drum beat.........

I just wondered, there might be a discussion on this, how do the remastered classics compare in audio / sound quality to the original A&M cd's?? IN this set, they do seem to be slightly 'warmer' sounding in general, more 'rounded'. Perhaps the remastered classics have a brightened EQ??
It would be interesting to hear peoples views on this, if they have both versions.

Bob

 

[Harry]

Thanks for the info Chris and Bob. It's comforting to know I wasn't scammed again!

It's noce to have both originals and remixes in ones collection so as to be able to compare, and also depending on ones mood as to which to play. I certainly enjoy both. Virtually any remix is sonically smoother and cleaner than to original mixes. That's part of why Richard spent so much time on them. we would all love if the original tapes could sound as good as the remixes, but it's just that some of the older tracks are inherently noisier, hence the reason that Richard felt compelled to replace them.

By recording new bass, drums, and piano tracks on newer, more sophisticated equipment a lot of the noise floor for the old recordings disappear. Add back in Karen's vocals, the backing vocals, and the rest of the strings and such to the new foundation and suddenly the recording sounds better in terms of signal to noise ratio.

Harry

 

[LondonRobert]

Yes, Harry, I agree with you that the 'remixes' have a better audio quality.

How do you feel about the difference in audio quality and mastering between the original A&M cd where remixes arent involved ( voice of the heart, lovelines,horizon etc) and the remastered classics version of the same album? I have a feeling that the remastered classics have lost some of the warmth when compared to the original 80's cd .......................??

Bob

 

[Harry]

Yes, Harry, I agree with you that the 'remixes' have a better audio quality.

How do you feel about the difference in audio quality and mastering between the original A&M cd where remixes arent involved ( voice of the heart, lovelines,horizon etc) and the remastered classics version of the same album? I have a feeling that the remastered classics have lost some of the warmth when compared to the original 80's cd .......................??

Bob

I might go along with that - it's highly subjective. One thing is for sure - when the original '80s A&M CDs were made, the original tapes were in some cases only about 10-15 years old. By the time the '98 remasters came about, the tapes had another 10-15 years of age on them, and we know tape degrades over time.

I hear this same phenomenon with my Herb Alpert CDs. The old original A&M discs from the '80s, in many cases, are far superior to those that were remastered in the '00s. And it's not for trying - I'm sure Herb Alpert & Bernie Grundman did the best they could with those old tapes, but they simply sounded better 20 years ago. So even without much care and attention to the mastering back then, they sometimes just sound crisper and more "alive" on the old discs. It's not a hard and fast rule, and as I say, it's highly subjective, but I'm happy I held onto the older discs when newer ones came out.

Harry

 

[LondonRobert]

Thanks Harry,
Im a big Abba fan and their various remasters are , IMHO, awful sounding, when compared to the original polydor releases from the 80's.
I think I am going to have a good listen to the compact disc collection that you have just acquired and have a good comparison with the remastered classics. As you say though a lot of it is down to personal taste ........
I DO really notice how lovely sounding the AS4Y album in this collection ( the MFSL clone ) sounds - its really beautiful, i feel. The vocals are very much like in Horizon, as though Karen is sitting in the room with you, they seemed to have done a very good job with it, it sounds warm and has bass, whereas maybe the remastered classics is EQ'd slightly bright and trebly .......... thats my thoughts anyway, I'm sure some people will disagree! hehe

I urge people to donate a few pounds/dollars/euros etc to keep this site going - if everyone sent a small amount , I'm sure it would cover the costs ok - as Harry said before - we would all REALLY miss it, if we didn't have it anymore, its a wealth of information........

Regards
Bob

 

[Rewi]

I had always wanted to own a copy of this set since I first read about it in the back of a library book (back in 1993). During late 2006, I tracked a second hand one down ‘accidentally’ whilst browsing the net catalogue of my favourite local second hand music store – I snatched it at NZ$89.95 (postage free). I was totally elated at finally getting it and tried playing them at work. The first disc I played sounded really weird - there was a prominent crackling sound and everything sounded so muffled (at best) to nothing but crackling. My elation turned to dismay as I quickly found that NONE of the discs would play properly. I was totally gutted and so I contacted my music store. They said they would arrange a free courier bag to pick it back up and I’d get a full refund. The discs did look weird – dark near the edges or warped in a way as if they’d been in the sun too long or something. I did a quick mini-research on the net and I ended up with the solution (or problem) – ‘bronzing’ and ‘disc rot’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD_bronzing which lead me to http://www.classical.net/music/guide/society/krs/excerpt3.php . I emailed the music store I got my set from and told them to never mind about issuing the refund – I was going to attempt to resolve it myself. If I remember correctly, the actual discs had PDO prefix codes near the hole of each disc so I ended up emailing (the now sadly defunct) PDO (UK) helpline. PDO were SO good about it. In fact, we actually had some really nice emails going back and forth. All I did was send back my CDs (just the discs, not the casing/binder it was in). It did cost a bit sending from New Zealand to the UK – about NZ$20 but I didn’t care – all I wanted was a playing, functional set. Upon getting my discs, they in turn sent back a full un-bronzed set of silver discs. Coincidentally, I did this all (buying set/finding out it was faulty/contacting PDO/sending old set/receiving new set) just a couple of months before the original warranty period finished. I was going to recommend everyone with faulty copies to send to them again since I understood that companies (who dealt with disc rot/bronzing) were still replacing discs even after warranty, but now I see that PDO were replaced by EDC Blackburn – whom also have gone out of business. If anyone's attempts to obtain replacements were successful after the 2006 warranty period, then it would be nice to know (whom they did it through). This is such a pity as the customer service at PDO was really nice and really personable. As for my replacement CDs, they still work beautifully. Hearing how many of the albums are now ‘different’ or something (I don’t really have experience on this), I’m not sure if my ‘new’ set is different from the originals from that set – I don’t really mind if they are different, as long as it’s still Carpenters! I’m open to comparing copies if anyone wants me describe my individual disc catalogue numbers. For all I know they are just cheapie replacements!

 

[Mike Blakesley]

The old original A&M discs from the '80s, in many cases, are far superior to those that were remastered in the '00s. And it's not for trying - I'm sure Herb Alpert & Bernie Grundman did the best they could with those old tapes, but they simply sounded better 20 years ago. So even without much care and attention to the mastering back then, they sometimes just sound crisper and more "alive" on the old discs. It's not a hard and fast rule, and as I say, it's highly subjective, but I'm happy I held onto the older discs when newer ones came out.

Which begs the question....surely somebody out there besides us A&M Cornerites knew that some of the old CDs sounded better than the new ones, due to tape aging issues....so why not just re-use the music from the "old" disks? It's not as if they were doing new mixes or anything.

Maybe somebody who is really knowledgeable about engineering, such as Capt. Badazz, can shed some light on this. (If he reads the Carpenters forum, that is!)

 

[Harry]

Which begs the question....surely somebody out there besides us A&M Cornerites knew that some of the old CDs sounded better than the new ones, due to tape aging issues....so why not just re-use the music from the "old" disks? It's not as if they were doing new mixes or anything.

Maybe somebody who is really knowledgeable about engineering, such as Capt. Badazz, can shed some light on this. (If he reads the Carpenters forum, that is!)

I would surmise that those engineering-types will all answer something like this: CD's from the '80s may have come from less-aged tapes, but the mastering of them was flawed. So even though we might say that they sound "better", it's a subjective thing. They might have been "smoother" - less tape degradation, dropouts, etc., but they mastered to the CD medium much more crudely. And then there's the matter of CDs being no better than the sampling rate of 16/44.1, which many claim is not as pure as true lossless analog, which they can get from the master tapes, whether it's aged or not.

Harry

 

[Harry]

I'm in no way connected to the sale or seller, but I just spotted a COMPACT DISC COLLECTION in the initial large format on eBay from someone in Great Britain. They're asking $67.18 plus expensive shipping that will bring it up to near $90. If you were to break that down to a per-CD cost, it's somewhere in the $7.50 range. And the notes and packaging are surely worth something too.

Considering the rarity of the set and its limited/numbered status, I'd consider that a good deal for a Carpenters completist. If I didn't already just buy one of these, I'd probably jump at the chance.


Again, I have no connection to the seller, who has 100% feedback. I just spotted it and thought I'd pass along the info.

Harry

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Wish I'd seen this before the auction ended -- I might have tried to get that. Oh well.

 

[Harry]

Did anyone from here grab it?

 

[LondonRobert]

It is a nice set, although for ease of use, its not the best - i tend to play the remastered classic discs.

However, since Harry had documented that AS4Y is exactly the same as the MFSL release, i do play that one more these days - it does sound wonderful, albeit with some remixes. However, shock, horror, Im beginning to see the appeal of the remixes. Even on IGTTST, the stereo piano used to really bug me, but when i compared it to the original, it sound much more vibrant, whereas the original can sound, perhaps slightly 'flat' in sound - if you know what i mean!

When i first bought the set i played it a LOT, because i didnt have all the discs on original a & m cd's, in fact im not even sure if all of them were even available at the time! The christmas portrait set is also non remixed, so sounds a LOT better than the version on the christmas collection set.

Regards
Bob

 

[bste2003]

I purchased this set on CD back in the early 90s (My Mum actually put some money toward it) and we pre-ordered it from the now closed 'Our Price Store' at £169.99 I had the problem mentioned here after about 6 months with the bronzed discs and wrote to (at the time) Polygram who replaced the entire set - I just had to cover the postage and insurance. When I received the new set, it had silver discs but the Limited Edition Number was sadly a lot higher than the one I had returned.

I was burgled in late 2006 and this set was amongst my treasured collection that was stolen, however, I still have the same Cassette Collection which is very smart and the size of a shoes box. I have since obtained the collection on CD in both the Small Format and the LP Sized presentation box which Richard can be seen holding in a television promotion of the box set with Wogan in the early 1990s - its a nice set and a great thing to have as a Carpenters fan but the new mini LP box set (Japan) is a much smarter set as the original artwork is included - something which is really missed on the 'White Box' set.

 

[Harry]

There's an eBay listing of this set right now with a very good price on it:


I cannot of course vouch for its condition nor the seller's integrity, but it caught my eye and I thought I'd pass it on.

Harry

 

[LondonRobert]

I have the set Harry, but thanks for letting people know......
Anyone who wants the MFSL version of 'a song for you' - this may be a good way of obtaining it, as Harry advised us, the AS4Y version in this set is exactly the same as the MFSL version. Some remixes but it sounds gorgeous, its mixed so beautifully.
It also has the christmas special edition cd, which isnt the remixed version included in the christmas collection 2cd set.

Regards
Bob

 

[Dean Lander]

I remember Richard Carpenter appearing on the Terry Wogan show aired on BBC 1 in England I think in October 1989 or 1990 when the compact disc collection came out. He even donated a box set for auction in the Children In Need Charity TV Show which was also hosted by Terry Wogan. I remember this as it was the show that inspired me to go out and buy the collection.

 

[newvillefan]

I've got that clip somewhere...must dig it out and upload it to YouTube. He said in that interview that Karen would have loved the compact disc.

 

[GaryAlan]

I have had the 12X12 of the UK box set for quite a while now.(an eil.com purchase many years ago)
I have never played each and every disc, I have only listened to the ASFY, and since I was underwhelmed by
the remix (-ing), never bothered to play the remainder of the set. ( Remixes seem to be a mixed-bag, at times).
The Japanese Anthology 4-LP set has the Karen Carpenter photograph in large color, as it composes
the outer sleeve jacket of one of the albums in that set.
By the way,
Stephen (from England): Here in the states, were I to tell the police that I was burgled, and the items stolen included
a Carpenters Box Set, I would probably get laughed at with incredulity. (!).

 

[Dean Lander]

Nimbus is an authentic company, did a Bing search, in fact they have a manufacturing plant just up the road from me in Cwmbran, Wales, UK. Not sure if they are still producing disks. As soon as I read Nimbus in your post, I was thinking that I'd heard of them before.

Nimbus were used by A&M in the UK in the late 80's and were used in my Carpenters Compact Disc Collection (12x12 LP sized Box set). They were at the time to be more superior in quality to other CD manufacturers.

 

[Chris Mills]

Nimbus were used by A&M in the UK in the late 80's and were used in my Carpenters Compact Disc Collection (12x12 LP sized Box set). They were at the time to be more superior in quality to other CD manufacturers.

Hope your collection has passed the test of time, unfortunately for me, mine started to degrade rapidly, it's now unplayable. Looking on the positive side, I'm still happy to have it in my collection.