The original CD was in a paper gatefold jacket, that should be the best one.
Good Achtung Baby CD? I got a bad one.
Achtung Baby is probably my favorite US album. When it first came out I had it on cassette tape. Then, years later acquired it via iTunes. Always listened to it on OEM car stereos or low end systems.
Now that I've got my high end system I do not like the SQ of the standard compressed iTunes version. So I did a little research on the dynamic range web site dr. loudness-war and purchased a cheaply priced copy of the Island Records CD (314-510 347-2, cat # D125174) that rated pretty highly on that site in regard to dynamic range anyway.
Well, it does not sound good. Way too bass heavy and bass is a muddy wall of background noise, midrange and vocals seem lost in it all, treble is okay. It seems like the dynamic range is concentrated in the high and low ends. I noticed on the CD that it was "Manufactured for BMG Direct Marketing, Inc." I'm assuming this was a club CD. It was new (old stock). Don't know if that might be part of the problem or not.
I compared it to Tidal's high res version (but just from my laptop to pre-amp via RCA cord, no DAC) and even that sounded better than the CD but still not great in my opinion.
So I'm wondering, who has a CD of this album that they like? I do not have an SACD player or BluRay. Or do all the CD versions sound so-so? That would be surprising for a band like U2 but still possible I guess. Any recommendations much appreciated.
George
Now that I've got my high end system I do not like the SQ of the standard compressed iTunes version. So I did a little research on the dynamic range web site dr. loudness-war and purchased a cheaply priced copy of the Island Records CD (314-510 347-2, cat # D125174) that rated pretty highly on that site in regard to dynamic range anyway.
Well, it does not sound good. Way too bass heavy and bass is a muddy wall of background noise, midrange and vocals seem lost in it all, treble is okay. It seems like the dynamic range is concentrated in the high and low ends. I noticed on the CD that it was "Manufactured for BMG Direct Marketing, Inc." I'm assuming this was a club CD. It was new (old stock). Don't know if that might be part of the problem or not.
I compared it to Tidal's high res version (but just from my laptop to pre-amp via RCA cord, no DAC) and even that sounded better than the CD but still not great in my opinion.
So I'm wondering, who has a CD of this album that they like? I do not have an SACD player or BluRay. Or do all the CD versions sound so-so? That would be surprising for a band like U2 but still possible I guess. Any recommendations much appreciated.
George