Since I am pretty much setup gear wise and have been for a few years I have been concentrating on getting as much music as I can to spin and enjoy both gear and music now.
Call me crazy but in the last few years I have been on a mission to track down both rare out of print and early or first pressings of CD’s. Mostly 1990 or earlier pressings.
Fortunately in the 80’s I bought new many CD’s that are now way out of print and resale for big $$$ on ebay and Amazon. I did miss a lot to.
Just recently I found a seller on CL giving up his collection. I managed to buy around thirty mostly early or first pressings of some good bands including; Blue Oyster Cult, Alice Cooper, Styx, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Rainbow etc…
But the search is always on and have found some cheap deals here and there.
I like some of the re-masters including my Van Halen & RUSH collection but others I purposely seek out the early pressings and ignore the reissues.
Are there anyone else out there doing this or are do the new re-masters suffice?

What really surprises me is that I expect to see more dumping their old CD’s at resale stores, Goodwill, ebay etc, with all the ripping on hard drives these days, but some are very hard to find.

I pretty much hold tight to my MFSL cd's

My 5.1 cd's

My SACD's

and my DDD cd formats

I thought the earlier CD pressings were considered audio-wise to be inferior?

However they might be collectible as "objects", which I guess I sortof understand ....

The problem with many of the new "remastered" discs is they are simply adding compression and raising the level to 0dB/-1dB, making them louder. As a result, all of the dynamic range is gone.

This is why I like older vinyl. I do have all my original CD's and will be keeping them but my focus has changed.

This is why I like older vinyl. I do have all my original CD's and will be keeping them but my focus has changed.

Same for me. I'm less concerned about finding music on CD lately. Until they start mastering CD's properly, vinyl is final for me. :music:

I love vinyl too but CD's are my main priority these days. Because I listen at home and in the car (never the radio!) its just easier for me.

originally posted by operaman I thought the earlier CD pressings were considered audio-wise to be inferior?
As far as early pressings being inferior I have read and heard the same.
My take on it is that possibly the master used on earlier pressings was in better shape then? But then again the first release of the KISS catalog on CD was botched up but good. Songs cut at the end and songs left off and out of sync on some, sound wise was weak also. Safety copies? Inferior masters used? Who knows. Albums like Aldo Nova's Subject on CD sounds almost as good as the LP version very close. Thats when I feel I have it good. But is defintely a roll of the dice when it comes to CD's.

The loudness wars (compression etc) is one of the reasons for my searching for older pressings.
Things like Ozzy actually taking newer members and re-recording bass and drum tracks on reissues of older albums are another concern.
TKO had several albums remixed differently for CD release I prefer the original first pressings. Tokyo Blade has done the same.
Strange things like Paul Dianno's CD release of his band after Maiden called Battlezone on the album 'Children of Madness' has songs in different order and one omitted in favor for another replacement quite different than the LP release. In those cases I make homemade CD's from early LP or cassette pressings and add them next to the actual CD release for different choices in listening.
Lately searching early releases has become an almost obssession just wondering if others face this too. I feel in most cases the early versions are better, some early discs are actually thicker not that it helps the sound any but does as far as breakability pulling them from tight stubborn CD trays.
Something about looking at a 1980's first Polydor release versus some newer cheese Sony Legacy Recordings release.

Are there anyone else out there doing this or are do the new re-masters suffice?

Constantly on the lookout for those 1st pressings. Remasters? Sometimes, but my priority is looking for those early CDs. Just check out my signatures.

I have Dark Side of the Moon on the original US vinyl, EMI anniversary 180 gm vinyl, quad vinyl, the early but basic garden variety CD (not the Toshiba one some drool over, just the standard US CD, bought when it first came out), and the 1992 remastered CD. Of all of these I regard the sonics of the original CD as inferior to the remaster. Of all I prefer the EMI remastered vinyl or the original quad vinyl the highest, with the remastered CD and original stereo vinyl a close second.

I find a lot of my early CDs to be on the shrill side. I am really not interested in getting more of them for sonic purposes at least. Now as collector items, sure, I can see that.

Since I am pretty much setup gear wise and have been for a few years I have been concentrating on getting as much music as I can to spin and enjoy both gear and music now.
Call me crazy but in the last few years I have been on a mission to track down both rare out of print and early or first pressings of CD’s. Mostly 1990 or earlier pressings.
Fortunately in the 80’s I bought new many CD’s that are now way out of print and resale for big $$$ on ebay and Amazon. I did miss a lot to.
Just recently I found a seller on CL giving up his collection. I managed to buy around thirty mostly early or first pressings of some good bands including; Blue Oyster Cult, Alice Cooper, Styx, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Rainbow etc…
But the search is always on and have found some cheap deals here and there.
I like some of the re-masters including my Van Halen & RUSH collection but others I purposely seek out the early pressings and ignore the reissues.
Are there anyone else out there doing this or are do the new re-masters suffice?

What really surprises me is that I expect to see more dumping their old CD’s at resale stores, Goodwill, ebay etc, with all the ripping on hard drives these days, but some are very hard to find.

The early cd's sound sucked on a lot of them:yes: The music was recorded to low compared to the newer and remastered ones. I collect them because when they first came out you could get the EXACT vinyl version on CD.
Unfortunatley companies started to move away from that and begin to issue "The Best Of" compliations of my favorite groups while ignoring the fact the we (I) Wanted a particular song known as an "album cut" A song That you and your buddies liked and played at parties but didn't get much or any radio play,But blended well with the rest of the tunes.They were not included on any best of or compliation versions, So you were S.O.L unless you owned the first versions (released on Cd). That's why Ronnie Laws Friends & Stranges, Grover Washington "Reed Seed" and others sell for $100 or more. They will never be reissued as a single CD because they like many other groups have been relagated to the "best Of" status. Motown two LP'S on one CD was a great idea until they realized Cd's were here for the long haul.They then started to sell them as individual CD's:yes:

The CD's I bought to "replace" (say pre 1990) my vinyl are 9 out 10 times inferior. It was not until 2 years ago when I upgraded my system that really began to notice it. Thank goodness I did not get rid of any of my LPs. Most of the greatest hits CD I bought are not near as good ad the original LP. I would say that remastered CD's are better sounding to me in general. The Doors remasters come to mind first.

It all depends really, though, doesn't it?

For example, the Dylan song Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands on Blonde on Blonde - unless you have a really early pressing, the LP vinyl cut of this track is a complete disaster - muddy and incoherent. Pretty much ANY cd version is better than that. Again, unless you have a first or second pressing LP, but who's so lucky?

I also have a number of 80's classical CDs that I scored from a rich guy/audiophile/collector when he was "downsizing" - they are pristine CDs bought from 1984-1990, and I can confirm they are slightly more compressed and "dim" than later CDs - specially remastered or no.

A classic album Metallica Kill em' All has 2 songs omitted
Am I Evil? & Blitzkrieg from the first Megaforce release and more recent re-issues. The only way to get those on CD that I know of is the first pressings from Elektra, which I just found at a Goodwill for $3.

Megadeth's 'Killing is my Business and Business is Good' only has 'These Boots' Nancy Sinatra remake in it's uncensored form on the first pressing. The fact that the production of the album is bad is not the early CD releases fault it's because the band drank up $4000 :beerchug::beer::drunk::nutz::puke:of the $8000 fronted to them for the album and had to produce it themselves after having to fire the hired producer for lack of funds.

Those are just two examples and I can't even vouch for other genre releases that either the band completely re-mixed for a re-issue or remaster and messed with the original mix as you remember from your first listen on LP or cassette.