Elvis, Rock and DSD

A quick and dirty analysis of Elvis,ROCK reveals that where possible the Kevan Budd revamps have been used.

The quirks are:-

Dixieland Rock - the only track actually DSD'd especially for the album.
All Shook Up - Uses the Bendeth treatment.
Jailhouse Rock - Bendeth
King Creole - From 2nd To None
I Need Your Love Tonight - From 2nd To None
I Got Stung - from 2nd To none
A Big Hunk Of Love - NOT DSD
Hard Headed Woman - NOT DSD

Elvis, COUNTRY is worse - a quick look suggests that at least 5 tracks are not DSD originated. On the other hand 11 tracks were DSD'd for the first time.

Off to buy Elvis,INSPIRATIONAL today - will keep you posted on the tracks origination.


Elvis,

The best indication about the source of the remastering is usually the ISRC number, which tells you the year (digit 6+7). Here are the ones for "Elvis Rock":

USA820400249 Don't Be Cruel
USA820400248 Hound Dog
USA820400211 Blue Suede Shoes
USA820400227 Tutti Frutti
USA820400212 Heartbreak Hotel
USRC10200071 Jailhouse Rock
USRC10301068 I Got Stung
USRC15805822 A Big Hunk O' Love
USRC10301065 Wear My Ring Around Your Neck
USRC15805825 Hard Headed Woman
USRC10301066 King Creole
USRC10301069 I Need Your Love Tonight
USA820400263 Too Much
USRC10200070 All Shook Up
USA820400254 Long Tall Sally
USA820400251 Rip It Up
USA820400231 Got A Lot O' Livin' To Do!
USA820400234 Party
USA820400229 Mean Woman Blues
USA820600001 Dixieland Rock

--------58-------- Not remastered
--------02-------- Bendeth remasters
--------03-------- Sony remasters
--------04-------- Kevan Budd remasters
--------06-------- Newly remastered

Here are the year designations excerpted from the ISRCs for Elvis Inspirational:

If I Can Dream -- 04
Crying In The Chapel -- 02
Amazing Grace -- 04
Danny Boy -- 06
In The Ghetto -- 69
Mama Liked The Roses -- 06
An Evening Prayer -- 71
Put Your Hand In The Hand -- 06
You'll Never Walk Alone -- 04
How Great Thou Art -- 04
I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen -- 06
He Is My Everything -- 71
A Thing Called Love -- 06
And The Grass Won't Pay No Mind -- 06
If That Isn't Love -- 73
Help Me -- 04
Only Believe -- 70
Wonderful World -- 06
Bridge Over Troubled Water -- 02
The Impossible Dream -- 06

Last edited by elvissessions on Fri Jun 02, 2006 10:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Here are the year designations excerpted from the ISRCs for Elvis Inspirational:

In The Ghetto -- 69
An Evening Prayer -- 71
He Is My Everything -- 71
If That Isn't Love -- 73
Only Believe -- 70

So I would assume these five tracks are the original LP masters that were just transferred to DSD and did not need any further equalization as they sounded fine as is?

These ISRC numbers are confusing

What do they "really" mean in the context of a "new" cd compilation that is newly Mastered By Vic Anesini.

According to the RIAA web site:

A new ISRC must be allocated when a new sound recording is created, for example:
1) a track is re-mixed;
2) changes in the playing time of a track are intended “musically or artistically” and are longer than 10 seconds (playing time is measured from the first recorded modulation to the last recorded modulation);
3) a previously released recording is partially used as part of a compilation; and lastly,
4) a “full restoration” of a historical sound recording is performed by re-mastering, re-pitching, re-equalizing, de-noising or de-clicking a track to meet contemporary quality standards. The registrant of the recording has discretion when making the determination between full re-mastering (sound restoration) and simple re-mastering (reproduction without sound restoration).

An ISRC must be assigned to every different track of a recording but not to an unchanged track when it is reused on a new sound recording. To guarantee the unique identification provided by an ISRC, the reuse of an ISRC that is currently allocated to another track or version of the track is not permitted. The RIAA site further defines a "different track":

The following are "different tracks" and so require new ISRCs:
Remixes, edits or new versions of a track
Tracks with changed playing times
Partially used tracks (i.e., faded in or out)
Fully re-mastered tracks (tracks with fully restored sound qualities)
If a company decides to change the title of a track, with no alterations to the track itself, we recommend keeping the same ISRC.


Well, I'm going to throw this big question out there: Do all these differing year codes mean that Vic did not really remaster each and every track for these 3 genre releases, but merely compiled them?

You'd think if he alone is given the remastering credit for the cd, then each track would have a unique ISRC number that could be traced back to a unique DSD Anesini mastering.

Let the discussion begin.

What these numbers are essentially saying is that all of the tracks on these compilations are sourced from the most recent DSD remasters and not from the old box sets that had the early 90's digital transfers. People probably didn't realize this but BMG started using DSD technology way back in 2002 and has used it on every single mainstream release since then with the exception of "30#1 Hits".

Even "2nd to None" was DSD mastered if you read the credits you'll find Andreas Meyer doing the tape transfers, he is Sony's DSD guy. If a track gets DSD transferred and does not require equalization it will probably not get a new ISRC number and year (which explains the few expections). All depends on how good the original mastertapes sound to the mastering engineer. Sometimes these tapes do not require any remastering.

A good indication of how some of the mastertapes sound before they are being tweaked to the max are probably the two 1997 DCC releases "24 Karat Hits!" and "Elvis is back!" which feature minimal re-equalization resulting in a very raw and untouched sound, with all the analog warmth present that are on the original tapes.

well all three the Country, Rock, and Inspiration cd's are great with fantastic sound..

This is fascinating and interesting information and I thankk you guys for discussing this in depth.

I bought all 3 BMG genre cd's and they sound wonderful to me, even thou, honestly, I haven't played them at all after listening to them the first week they came out

Guess this discussion has inspired me to give 'em another listen 2morrow...

I share none of your enthusiasm, Minkahed, for these re-tread compilations. Only the prospect of improved sound will bring me on board.
This piece-meal, "slice & dice" and "re-compile" strategy does not win me over, not at $18 a pop (in most U.S. stores)....

Thanks for the information.

Whilst I am also disappointed with RCA/BMG’s mainstream policy of issuing pointless compilations, I think the information about the mastering also highlights the fact that these types of releases do provide major headaches for collectors that are keen to upgrade wherever possible but don’t want to keep buying the same tracks again and again.

I also find it strange that some tracks are not considered worthy of the remastering treatment, and I think this highlights the fact that these products are thrown together to exploit the loyal fans.