Re: Quad Mixes

>Now, the interesting question is... are all the MCA discs out there like 
>mine, or is there a defective batch? Using 0s & 1s, I don't see how.
However, 
>it is possible that the master tape given to MCA was inferior, or
something 
>got screwed up in their mastering process...  
> 
>Stay tuned... 
 
In theory, the MCA and Polydor discs should sound identical, because they
derive from the same digital master.  In practice, however, variations in
sound quality can arise when sound engineers at different pressing plants
fiddle (i.e., digitally edit, eq, etc) around with the master.  Why would
anyone fiddle around with a digital master when, presumably, it sounds
exactly how the reissuer producer wants it to sound?  I dunno, but several
high end audio magazines have reported on this (and have actually
identified differences between the data on commercial CDs and the purported
master), so it appears to be a problem.  Of course, this could all be a
load of bull, though I'll withhold judgment until I have the opportunity to
do an A/B comparison between the MCA and Polydor discs (which I probably
never will).  Personally, I found this mix on my MCA set to be rather
anemic on the first half of the first disc but decent from then on. 
Overall, I think I prefer the movie soundtrack mixes (especially "I am One"
with the piano part) to either album mix.