Original Japanese "Equinox" c.d. may be better

[venturaguy49]

After reading the Rudster's comments on the faulty audio quality of "Equinox" c.d, I put mine to the test, and after playing "Night and Day" several times, and through both speakers and headphones, finding no audio glitches, I can only conclude that what I have is an earlier, and better mastering. The copy that I have doesn't feature a miniturized version of the original graphics, as do the other A&M c.d.re-issues, so my guess is that it was mastered separately from the rest, meaning that I was lucky to have purchased it when I did, but it also means that the company that released the series goofed by not using that version, if the one that Rudy has referred to is that bad...lol, mine is as perfect as it gets!
Also, I'd wish to thank the gal who brought that B.M.B. iNet special
(the 3 c.d.set) to my our attention, cuz now me's got some classic stuff of theirs because of her timely posting.

Warm Wishes,
the hookahkid, who's outta here 4 now

 

[Harry]

Actually, in the case of "Night And Day", the dropouts seem to be heard ONLY on the Verve re-issue. I just dragged out all eight CDs on which this track occurs from my library, and on all of them, except the Verve, there aren't any obvious dropouts like the one at the :10 - :11 on the Verve.

FYI, the CDs that I have that contain "Night And Day" are:

Equinox (Verve)
Equinox (POCM-1880)
Greatest Hits (US album, German pressing)
Very Best Of (Germany)
Grandes Nomes box set (digital copy)
A&M Gold Series
Very Best Of (UK)
Essential (UK)
Sergio Mendes Songs Selected by Shinichi Osawa (Japan)

Why the Verve has such a nasty dropout is really a question mark. The other, most recently issued, would be the Japanese Songs album, which sounds clean, though really loud, bordering on distortion. Perhaps the Japanese master is cleaner than the US, or the folks at Verve used something closer to the original which has deteriorated?

Harry
...questions, no answers, online...

 

[Rudy]

That "loud" CD is probably compressed to within an inch of its life. All too common of a trend lately. Hopefully it's not no-noised like the two versions of Fool On The Hill that I own.

I've heard other dropouts on the Verve CD of Equinox but don't have it handy to compare. I really notice dropouts when I have my big audio system on, turned up a bit, and where my computer desk is situated, I'm within three feet of the left speakers.

I just hope the tapes aren't deteriorated that badly. Even the first Brasil '66 album on CD has some dropouts and slight dullness to it...my Mobile Fidelity LP is still the best version I own of this title.

 

[Rudy]

I just had a thought--I wonder if the newest Japanese version of Equinox is better than the U.S. version? It could in theory be the same mastering, but then again, Japan may be using masters they already have had on hand. $20 is a gamble to find out though.