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CBS Half Speeds? Digital?

I bought a fine collection of audiophile discs here on audiogon from a nice fellow back East. I was just interested in the MFSL and Nautilus vinyl but the 50 or so albums included about a half dozen CBS half speed "audiophile" pressings. Curious I spun Billy Joel's "The Stranger" and couldn't believe how badly it sounded. Like a CD with noisy vinyl. There was a write up on their "technical" specifications and if I'm not mistaken they actually converted the analog master to digital and then cut the vinyl from this "exciting" new master. These were pressed in the early 80s when digital conversion technology was primitive to say the least. Any of you audiophiles care to shed some light on these discs? I tried the Springsteen and a couple of Michael Jackson albums and they sounded equally bad. If they did in fact convert analog masters to digital tapes and then pressed vinyl the persons responsible should be forced to listen only to MP3s for the rest of their natural life.
ntscdan

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nrchy
2,124 posts
 
I listened to the CBS half speed master of Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" two days again and I was real happy with the sound. This is an older version, no digital here.
I know when digital was all the rage in the early 80'many of the companies rereleased good recordings but with digital remastering. Of course no one knew how to do it at the time and the recordings sounded like hot steaming excrement!
Since those days people have learned how to use the new technology, and some of the recordings are actually listenable. SOME!
Like Tom suggested, read the fine print. It's possible you might be getting some real gems.
Good luck.
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