Difference between true and "Euro" Japanese Warner reissues

[Daniel A]

I was curious about the "Japanese" Warner CD reissues mentioned on this forum, seemingly originating from Italy. I ordered copies of both the "true" Japanese and the "EU Japanese" reissue of Chick Corea's 'Tones for Joan's Bones' to compare them. After checking them with EAC as well as with a wave editor I found that the the actual data on the two versions is bit identical.

There is no way to tell if this goes for other titles in the 1000 Yen series, but I will not compare (or get) any more titles as the remastering on 'Tones...' doesn't appeal to me.

The Japanese version is on the left and the EU version on the right. The only difference is the "Made in EU"/"Japan" and differering catalog numbers.

However, there is printing on the inside of the Japanese OBI strip while the EU OBI is blank.

The disc itself has the Japanese catalog number, even the EU disc. The discs are seemingly from different manufacturers, and of course the EU disc says "Made in the E.U." (upper disc on the picture)

Then, about the mastering... I find it a bit tiring and too trebly. As you can see from the waveform of the WPCR-27015 (the first track, "Litha") it's "brickwalled".

Edited October 23, 2014 by Daniel A

[Daniel A]

The US Rhino release from 1998 (cat no 8122-75352-2) is even more brickwalled, though it's marginally less trebly to my ears.

There was a Japanese SHM reissue of the album 'Inner Space' a few years ago, WPCR-13194. It has the whole 'Tones...' album plus a few bonus cuts from the same session and two tracks from a Hubert Laws album.

While I can't be sure since I don't have the 70s LP version any more, the CD reissue may use the same master that had some added reverb. It sounds distant and "processed" in comparison with the JP/EU/US versions, but at least it's not as heavily compressed. Also, the bass sounds boomy and too boosted.

Finally I compared these reissues with the original Vortex LP release.

As shown in the wave graph, it doesn't suffer from the heavy compression (Edit: or, from the looks of it, limiting) of the CD reissues of the album (except for 'Inner Space').

I think it sounds the best, although when going directly from the CD reissue one gets the impression that it lacks some upper end. Starting with the LP with nothing to compare it to, it sounds more pleasant than any of the CD versions. As has been noted earlier, this session was not recorded in the greatest fidelity, but the music is absolutely fantastic.

Edited October 24, 2014 by Daniel A

[clifford_thornton]

Guess I'll hold onto my original Vortex LP then.

[erwbol]

Thank you for your efforts. Tiring and too trebly are also my objections to the new Warners. For me the eight titles I bought were unlistenable.

[xybert]

Thanks for the brilliant post Daniel. Extremely useful on multiple levels.

FWIW i think the 1000 yen japanese/EU warner version of TFJB sounds way better than the previous CD release mentioned in post #2, to the point where it was well worth the repurchase for me.

[jazzbo]

I thought I heard subtle differences between European and Japanese copies I have of Coltrane titles. Could have been fooling myself but overall I like the sound of this series a lot. I suppose they are "trebly" but I have an excellent treble control on my amp that shunts to ground outside the signal path, and I can control the tweeter output via resistors and I generally have my system with well-controled high frequencies as a general practice; I am very sensitive to treble grain and grit, probably one reason I don't use headphones.

So I guess one can buy either the European or Japanese versions, or not buy any of them at all, as one sees fit! I've bought dozens. Probably a dozen dozens.

Edited October 24, 2014 by jazzbo

[mikeweil]

I thought Tones for Joan's Bones wasn't that well recorded, like many Atlantic LPs of the day, so I wouldn't expect wonders from a remaster.

Edited October 26, 2014 by mikeweil

[clifford_thornton]

yeah. None of the Vortex LPs I have sound particularly crisp although they are all very nice copies.

[Daniel A]

Thanks, folks. I don't want to appear obsessed with the technical aspects of these reissues. It's good that so much of the music is available. It was also quite fun comparing the different releases and formats. I may end up just making FLAC:s from the LP.

yeah. None of the Vortex LPs I have sound particularly crisp although they are all very nice copies.

I haven't played it in a while, but recall the Jarrett 'Exit Signs' sounded OK. Do you have it, Clifford?

[paul secor]

Looking at the title for this thread on New Content, I thought that it had something to do with Warne Marsh:

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Edited October 24, 2014 by paul secor

[Daniel A]

Fascinating thought! The true Warne? Or the "Euro" Japanese...