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1. What accounts for the discrepancy between total CD lengths of the various versions of Who's Next? Is it just different amounts of time between tracks, or something else?
2. So, there is a non-Hoffman, pre-remaster MCA version of Who's Next, isn't there? Is this a unique mastering, or is it identical to the pre-remaster Polydor?
3. How many remasterings of Who's Next have there been?

czeskleba wrote:1. What accounts for the discrepancy between total CD lengths of the various versions of Who's Next? Is it just different amounts of time between tracks, or something else?

AFAIK, almost all versions are around 43:26, plus or minus a few seconds. Only one (see below) is significantly different.

2. So, there is a non-Hoffman, pre-remaster MCA version of Who's Next, isn't there? Is this a unique mastering, or is it identical to the pre-remaster Polydor?

Yes. Runs something like 43:15. More hiss than the Hoffman and the channels are slightly narrowed. Unique mastering. The Polydor is the standard length, has even more hiss, and has fade-ups on several songs.

I would assume this MCA just runs a hair fast, but I don't think I've ever bothered to line it up with another version.

3. How many remasterings of Who's Next have there been?

Off the top of my head:

- Hoffman MCA (original, CRC, BMG, Canadian all slightly different)
- non-Hoffman MCA
- Polydor
- MCA gold
- 1995 remix/remaster
- MFSL remix/remaster
- DE

Thanks Luke. So basically, any MCA that runs at the right speed is presumably the Hoffman version. What are the slight differences? Loudness, or something else?

I believe there are some level differences, and some versions (such as the Canadian) blank out the hiss between tracks.

For the 10 millionth time, the Canadian CD is not a true Hoffman CD mastering. It was made by somebody at MCA from an analog copy tape that Steve prepared. This is according to Steve himself. Not only is it inferior sounding to Steve's true mastering, it also has the space between songs blacked out in a crude, unprofessional fashion. It's value is one of the biggest farces perpetrated by SHTV and it's members.

JWB wrote:For the 10 millionth time, the Canadian CD is not a true Hoffman CD mastering. It was made by somebody at MCA from an analog copy tape that Steve prepared. This is according to Steve himself. Not only is it inferior sounding to Steve's true mastering, it also has the space between songs blacked out in a crude, unprofessional fashion. It's value is one of the biggest farces perpetrated by SHTV and it's members.

That it was from an analog copy is a theory. I don't think Steve knows for sure what happened.

- original MCA: pretty loud, lots of clipped peaks
- CRC: seems to be identical to the original, except the entire thing is lower in level (including the clipped peaks)
- BMG: nearly identical to the original, but runs at a *slightly* different speed, as if it was somehow digitally resampled.
- Canadian: totally different transfer. No clipped peaks, whole thing is at a lower level. Hiss abruptly cuts off between some tracks. Small glitch in WGFA.

I generally listen to the original, but I suppose in some ways the Canadian is actually superior, since it doesn't have clipped peaks. I'm not sure anyone can tell the difference though.

JWB wrote:It's value is one of the biggest farces perpetrated by SHTV and it's members.

But at about $5 US, certainly by far one of the cheapest farces.

Ryan

Even though the two(the Canadian, and the original Hoffman mastering) don't sync up, I think there's more to this theory of an analog safety then that is mentioned. The timings and the speed of the two masterings, IMHO, are too close for that to be a complete explanation. I honestly think the digital master he created, was played back analog through another A/D converter at a lower level, for the Canadian CD, hence the closeness of the two, but not exactly the same.

LesPaul666 wrote:Even though the two(the Canadian, and the original Hoffman mastering) don't sync up, I think there's more to this theory of an analog safety then that is mentioned. The timings and the speed of the two masterings, IMHO, are too close for that to be a complete explanation. I honestly think the digital master he created, was played back analog through another A/D converter at a lower level, for the Canadian CD, hence the closeness of the two, but not exactly the same.

Nope. The original CD is clipped. The Canadian CD isn't. When I tried recording the original CD via the analog outs on my CD player, it was still clipped.

The "analog safety" theory still sounds fishy to me, but I don't have an alternate theory either...