Forums dot lukpac.org

All this talk about the Beatles box got me thinking about Ted Jensen. I was talking to Mr. Hunte about it, and he indicated there was very little, if any work of Jensen's that he liked. I mentioned that I didn't think Empty Glass was too bad, but I'd never heard the original.

Well, I made a quick stop at my local shop today, just for the hell of it, and what was there but the original Atco Empty Glass (alas not a target though). All I've had to go by to this point is what Fang has had to say:

Fang wrote:CD Comments: This CD was among the earliest of CDs. The first pressings (made in Germany) were extremely bright and hard to listen to. The 2nd pressings offered an improvement, but not enough to make a difference. The USA and Germany remastered pressings are also too bright and tinny, while the Japan (East West) remastered version is fine in many spots, but too bright in important areas (i.e. vocals for "Rough Boys" and "Let My Love Open The Door"). The Japan (Imperial) sounds harsh in some spots, OK in others. The bonus tracks on the CD are mastered much better and sound just fine. The Atlantic - Gold (USA) CD sounds great.

Now, I *believe* we've found the gold Empty Glass is identical to the Jensen remaster, but I'd have to double check.

Anyway, after comparing the two, the Jensen actually isn't too bad, IMHO. I don't know if it's perfect, but it adds some (IMO) needed bass, and cuts back on the mids a bit. Not that different from the Beatles boxes, I guess, but here it seems to work.

Rough Boys Atco
Rough Boys Jensen

A Little Is Enough Atco
A Little Is Enough Jensen

I tried to level match - the Jensen was quite a bit louder.

I have to wonder if the target is any different or not. There's no RE designation, FWIW.

The gold is completely identical. Bought it, tested it, sold it.

Ted Jensen did a poor job with the Billy Joel remasters. The Stranger suffers from extreme peak limiting, Turnstiles uses a different version of New York State Of Mind (different saxophone performance), and they all sound harsh and bright.

Anyone listen to the clips?

lukpac wrote:Anyone listen to the clips?

I just did. (I actually have both the Atco and the Jensen remaster, but this saved me the trouble of running downstairs to grab them.)

For some time I've had difficulty deciding which version I like better. I'm still not sure. Based on listening to the clips just now, I lean slightly toward the Atco; I like the presentation of the vocals. However, I do wish it had some of the low end found on the Jensen version.

Neither is perfect, which is probably why I've held onto both. (Chinese Eyes is a different story; I have both versions of that as well, but clearly prefer the Atco. They're not miles apart, but I agree with Fang's comment that the remaster is unnecessarily tweaked.)