I have no complaints with my copies, but I want the 'best' and I'm up for upgrading the following:
- Meddle
- Wish You Were Here
- The Wall
- Animals
- The Wall
- A Momentary Lapse of Reason
- The Division Bell
Gracias!
Paul
Just going on your request for "the best" and ignoring for now cost and ease of obtaining, I'll toss out the list I sourced over at the Steve Hoffman Forum. I went through a similar quest last year. There resides a guy that has reportedly collected and reviewed all the various release versions and summarized these as The Holy Grail versions for best sound quality. You can see all his work and comments at
http://pinkfloydarchives.com/In random order summary, of the titles you mention, I located the following;
Meddle CD [1st Japanese. issue – 1985]
Toshiba-EMI Records, CP32-5032
Matrix: CP32-5032 11A1 +++++
Comments: This is the very first Japanese issue, and the very first Japanese pressing. Sound quality is outstanding.
Wish You Were Here CD [1st Japanese issue - 1982]
CBS / Sony Records, 35DP 4
Matrix: 35DP-4 71A6 [CSR COMPACT DISC CSR COMPACT DISC CSR COMPACT DISC]
Comments: This is one of the very first Pink Floyd CDs ever made, and its sound is legendary. It is considered by audiophiles to be the best sounding Pink Floyd CD ever made.
Animals CD [1st Japanese issue – 1987]
CBS / Sony Records, 32DP 360
Matrix: 32DP-360 11 +++++
Comments: This is the very first Japanese issue, and the very first Japanese pressing. It sounds great! You won’t find one that sounds any better.
The Wall 2-CD [West German pressing - 1985]
Harvest Records, CDP 7 46036 8
Matrix:
Disc 1: SONOPRESS C-6909 / CDP 7460362 A
Disc 2: SONOPRESS C-6910 / CDP7460372 B
Comments: This is the rare early blackface German pressing that sounds so good. It is getting very hard to find. A really great sounding CD of The Wall album.
The Final Cut CD [1st Japanese issue - 1983]
CBS / Sony Records, 35DP 53
Matrix: 35DP-53 41A4 [CSR COMPACT DISC CSR COMPACT DISC CSR COMPACT DISC]
Comments: The third Pink Floyd album issued on CD was this Japanese issue of The Final Cut. This is a very early pressing of the very first issue of The Final Cut, and it truly sounds fantastic.
A Momentary Lapse of Reason CD [U.S. - 3rd issue ]
Columbia Records, CK 40599
Matrix: 1A CK40599 24 C1 [P 104]
Comments: The third issue of this CD in the U.S. with a new mastering. One of the best sounding copies of this particular album.
The Division Bell CD [1st Japanese issue 1994]
Sony Records / SRCS 7324
Matrix: DP-6682-1 1 + ++ ++++++++ IFPI L277 [IFPI 45K8]
Comments: This is the very first Japanese issue, and the very first Japanese pressing. The instruments and sound effects really come out on this one. With obi.
And for giggles,
Dark Side of the Moon CD [1st Japanese issue - 1983]
Toshiba-EMI Records, CP35-3017
Matrix: CP35-3017-7 1A1
Comments: Dark Side of the Moon was the second Pink Floyd album to be put onto CD. This is one of the very first pressings of Dark Side of the Moon on compact disc. It is the legendary “non-TO non-CDP” 1A1 pressing, and it is considered by many to be the best sounding copy of Dark Side of the Moon.
As you can see, most are first cd pressings, from Japan or W. Germany and not "remasters". These early digital transfers reportedly are superior due to early generation, or original master source tapes and minimal compression. A lot were direct flat transfers similar to what was used with vinyl pressings apparently because they didn't know better (thank goodness). The exception to these would be the remasters done by Doug Sax around 1992 that are reportedly reasonably close to the next best thing.
The digital convertors at the time in the mid 1980's are reportedly inferior to what is used now, but it's a hard call to say exactly why these sound so good. Of the 3 or 4 of these I sourced, I find them preferred over most of the available "remasters". I guess, to my ears, the lack of compression and maybe earlier generation source tapes out way our modern higher tech convertors, later generation sources tapes and heavy handed compression techniques. It's kind of ironic to think that the same era 1980's to 1990's CD players we had to use made a lot of the CD music sound like crap and now that we have superior s.o.t.a. Hi-rez DACs, most of the current CD music released sounds like crap and a lot of the original non-remastered titles sound often times better, imho.
Fwiw, this same guy had his entire collection up for sale last year at an asking price of around $5,000 if I remember correctly. I don't recall if it ever sold. I know there was a lot of sticker shock. These titles on his list are rare and highly regarded by PF collectors. I recall reading of a sealed DSOTM cd selling on ebay for close to $2K. Most can be found in used condition, depending on rarity and condition, for $50 up to $150 range.
Kenreau
