A Quick One Box

Just what the name says.
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lukpac
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A Quick One Box

Postby lukpac » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:30 pm

Amazon actually has these for a decent price, so I got a copy. I haven't seen the My Generation box, but the packaging for this is amazing. A nice little box with exact reproduction sleeves of 7 LPs, 8 EPs, and 12 singles, some pictures of the Decca and Reaction labels, and a booklet with a bunch of notes in Japanese along with a producer's note by Astley.

The mastering isn't amazing, but it isn't horrible either. There's plenty of compression, although seemingly less so than the 2002 CD. I'm hearing some NR swirlies at the tail end of fades, but *much* less than on the 2002 CD. The EQ, especially on the stereo disc, is a bit on the thin side, although according to the liner notes there wasn't much EQ used, so it seems like this is probably basically the sound of the mixes, for better or worse.

Most of that is fairly minor, although there are 3 clear *problems* on the stereo disc. Batman and Bucket T both have an obvious metallic ringing or haze. Strange, since both sound more or less fine on the 2002 CD. Also, Disguises has some odd breakup at 2:08 that isn't present on any other copies I have. No idea what happened there.

An interesting note - the stereo mix of Barbara Ann is different from that on the 2002 CD and seems to be an original stereo mix. Dry, wider separation and more pinched sounding. No clue where that came from.

Man With Money doesn't have any of the studio noises before or after as on the 2002 CD.

Disc 1 (mono)
1. Run Run Run
2. Boris The Spider
3. I Need You
4. Whiskey Man
5. Heat Wave
6. Cobwebs and Strange
7. Don't Look Away
8. See My Way
9. So Sad About Us
10. A Quick One, While He's Away
11. Substitute
12. Circles
13. I'm A Boy
14. In The City
15. Batman
16. Bucket T
17. Barbara Ann
18. Disguises
19. Happy Jack
20. I've Been Away
21. Substitute (US single version)
22. I'm A Boy (alt version from the Ultimate Collection bonus CD)
23. Batman (instrumental; unreleased)
24. Happy Jack (acoustic version)
25. Happy Jack (The Singles mix/version)

Disc 2 (stereo)
1. Run Run Run
2. Boris The Spider
3. I Need You
4. Whiskey Man
5. Heat Wave
6. Cobwebs and Strange
7. Don't Look Away
8. See My Way (fake stereo)
9. So Sad About Us
10. A Quick One, While He's Away
11. I'm A Boy
12. In The City
13. Batman
14. Bucket T
15. Barbara Ann
16. Disguises
17. I've Been Away
18. Man With Money
19. My Generation - Land of Hope and Glory
20. I'm A Boy (MBBB version)

Not included are:

- Happy Jack (acoustic version; Ultimate Collection bonus CD version w/o cello)
- Run Run Run (2002 stereo remix)
- Boris The Spider (2002 stereo remix)
- I Need You (2002 stereo remix)
- Heat Wave (2002 stereo remix)
- Cobwebs and Strange (2002 stereo remix)
- So Sad About Us (2002 stereo remix)
- I'm A Boy (box set stereo remix)
- Barbara Ann (2002 stereo remix)
- Man With Money studio noises
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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JWB
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Re: A Quick One Box

Postby JWB » Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:46 am

I made my own deluxe edition literally days before they announced the official one. I would imagine that it beats the shit out of Astley's. Here's the tracklisting:

DISC 1: MONO
--------------
01.-10. Original Mono LP
11. Substitute
12. Circles
13. Diguises
14. Batman
15. Bucket T
16. Barbara Ann
17. I'm A Boy
18. In The City
19. Happy Jack
20. I've Been Away
21. Pictures Of Lily
22. Doctor Doctor
23. Happy Jack (Alternate Mix)
24. Pictures Of Lily (Alternate Mix)

DISC TWO: STEREO
-------------------
01-10. Original Stereo Mixes
11. I'm A Boy (Single Version)
12. In The City
13. Man With Money
14. I've Been Away
15. Disguises
16. Batman
17. Bucket T
18. Barbara Ann
19. I'm A Boy (Meaty Beaty Version)
20. My Generation/Land Of Hope And Glory

Chris M
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Re: A Quick One Box

Postby Chris M » Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:05 pm

lukpac wrote:Most of that is fairly minor, although there are 3 clear *problems* on the stereo disc. Batman and Bucket T both have an obvious metallic ringing or haze. Strange, since both sound more or less fine on the 2002 CD. Also, Disguises has some odd breakup at 2:08 that isn't present on any other copies I have. No idea what happened there.



Thanks for the review Luke. I was close to pulling the trigger on this but if Batman, Bucket T and Disguises are fucked up I may pass. Why does every single Who reissue have something fucked up? I get the feeling Astley never bothers to audition other versions.

Is the Batman instrumental the same take as the EP version? Is it a remix?
"I've had 40 years experience with hearing tape and vinyl. I was recording tapes before you were born" - Grant

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lukpac
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Re: A Quick One Box

Postby lukpac » Mon Dec 22, 2008 12:24 am

Chris M wrote:Thanks for the review Luke. I was close to pulling the trigger on this but if Batman, Bucket T and Disguises are fucked up I may pass. Why does every single Who reissue have something fucked up? I get the feeling Astley never bothers to audition other versions.

Is the Batman instrumental the same take as the EP version? Is it a remix?


Unless I'm totally being fooled, Batman is a totally different take from the EP version.

I guess it depends on how much of a completest you are. Those 3 tracks aside, the other offenses aren't too bad IMO, and there are two unique tracks (instrumental Batman and stereo Barbara Ann). And this is probably the best CD source for the stereo So Sad About Us and AQOWHA.

I'll probably attempt some EQ at some point, but this is honestly the first AQO CD that I've felt comfortable listening to as a whole, rather than mixing and matching from other sources.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Re: A Quick One Box

Postby Chris M » Mon Dec 22, 2008 12:53 am

lukpac wrote:
Chris M wrote:Thanks for the review Luke. I was close to pulling the trigger on this but if Batman, Bucket T and Disguises are fucked up I may pass. Why does every single Who reissue have something fucked up? I get the feeling Astley never bothers to audition other versions.

Is the Batman instrumental the same take as the EP version? Is it a remix?


Unless I'm totally being fooled, Batman is a totally different take from the EP version.

I guess it depends on how much of a completest you are. Those 3 tracks aside, the other offenses aren't too bad IMO, and there are two unique tracks (instrumental Batman and stereo Barbara Ann). And this is probably the best CD source for the stereo So Sad About Us and AQOWHA.

I'll probably attempt some EQ at some point, but this is honestly the first AQO CD that I've felt comfortable listening to as a whole, rather than mixing and matching from other sources.


Thanks. I'm not really a Who completest but a Batman alternate take and vintage stereo Barbara Ann is something that interests me. I love the Ready Steady Who EP. If only they would find My Generation/Rule Britannia.
"I've had 40 years experience with hearing tape and vinyl. I was recording tapes before you were born" - Grant

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Re: A Quick One Box

Postby Chris M » Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:55 pm

Ordered this for $30 from around Xmas from an Amazon Marketplace seller and it is apprently lost in the mail. I haven't seen any copies going for less than $120 in the past month. Any torrents out there of the set?
"I've had 40 years experience with hearing tape and vinyl. I was recording tapes before you were born" - Grant

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Re: A Quick One Box

Postby lukpac » Sat Jan 31, 2009 7:18 pm

I would keep checking Amazon to see if they get it back in stock. Originally it was in stock, then would be out for a day, then back in.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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JWB
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Re: A Quick One Box

Postby JWB » Fri Apr 24, 2009 11:06 pm

I finally got to hear this box, and MAN is it bad.

First of all, the EQ is awful. I know that Astley left it alone, but I think this was the wrong thing to do, especially since he slammed the volume levels, which only makes the sound more harsh and grating.

I don't think Astley added any compression, because if you restore the waveforms, they look almost exactly like previous versions. However, Astley did hard limit the shit out of everything, which isn't exactly the same as compressing it.

Batman and Bucket T are obviously fucked up. It sounds like they were downsampled improperly or something. Really, really bad. Astley says that he ran some of the remixes through some device to make them sound "older". Maybe this has something to do with it. Where is quality control?

The stereo tracks basicially sound just like the German LP, which is no surprise. However, the Japanese mini-LP "I'm A Boy" sounds better than both this box and the German LP. Figure that one out. Astley didn't.

The Classic LP sounds just as good as the mono tracks only it's not slammed (of course).

Only three tracks on this set are upgrades to previous versions:

- So Sad About Us [Stereo]
- Subsititute [Mono]
- Circles [Mono]

The rest is worthless, IMO.

And BTW...
What is up with the strange edit in the mono mix of "So Sad About Us"? I know it happens on every version, but I don't see how it could possibly be a deliberate edit. It sounds like the tape got damaged or something so they just cut a random chunk out of it.

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Re: A Quick One Box

Postby lukpac » Sat Apr 25, 2009 8:17 am

JWB wrote:Astley says that he ran some of the remixes through some device to make them sound "older". Maybe this has something to do with it. Where is quality control?


Where did he mention a "device"?

The stereo tracks basicially sound just like the German LP, which is no surprise. However, the Japanese mini-LP "I'm A Boy" sounds better than both this box and the German LP. Figure that one out. Astley didn't.


With some EQ I'd say I'm A Boy sounds better. But not without. And I haven't attempted to re-EQ the box.

Only three tracks on this set are upgrades to previous versions:

- So Sad About Us [Stereo]
- Subsititute [Mono]
- Circles [Mono]

The rest is worthless, IMO.


The title track in stereo is a bit better than the version on the 2002 CD, which was louder and had terrible NR at the end. And this is the first time we get the original stereo mix of Barbara Ann...
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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JWB
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Re: A Quick One Box

Postby JWB » Sun Apr 26, 2009 3:36 am

lukpac wrote:
JWB wrote:Astley says that he ran some of the remixes through some device to make them sound "older". Maybe this has something to do with it. Where is quality control?


Where did he mention a "device"?


Sorry. The device is a "Maselec 3 X band compressor" which was used "on some of the newer mixes to age them a little". I plead ignorance.

lukpac wrote:With some EQ I'd say I'm A Boy sounds better. But not without. And I haven't attempted to re-EQ the box.


Right. I was basically talking about them as "sources". Neither of them sounds very good in raw form but the mini-LP sounds a little bit closer to the source tape. Am I correct in assuming that the original mix tapes are missing?

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Re: A Quick One Box

Postby lukpac » Sun Apr 26, 2009 9:07 am

JWB wrote:Right. I was basically talking about them as "sources". Neither of them sounds very good in raw form but the mini-LP sounds a little bit closer to the source tape. Am I correct in assuming that the original mix tapes are missing?


I'm assuming the mini-LP uses a Japanese tape; AFAIK the box uses tapes from Germany. "[A] German tape that was better than the German production master for most of the LP", whatever that means. I'd guess the tapes used for the box were a generation or two better than the JPN CD.

As far as the original mix tapes go, good luck trying to make sense of that.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Re: A Quick One Box

Postby JWB » Sun Apr 26, 2009 11:55 am

lukpac wrote:I'd guess the tapes used for the box were a generation or two better than the JPN CD.


Not from the sound of it. The box sounds like equal or higher gen tapes. I could be wrong, but that's how it appears to me.

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Re: A Quick One Box

Postby lukpac » Sun Apr 26, 2009 6:32 pm

JWB wrote:Not from the sound of it. The box sounds like equal or higher gen tapes. I could be wrong, but that's how it appears to me.


What gives you that impression?
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Re: A Quick One Box

Postby JWB » Sun Apr 26, 2009 6:46 pm

lukpac wrote:
JWB wrote:Not from the sound of it. The box sounds like equal or higher gen tapes. I could be wrong, but that's how it appears to me.


What gives you that impression?


The clarity of the source material.

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Re: A Quick One Box

Postby lukpac » Sun Apr 26, 2009 9:41 pm

JWB wrote:The clarity of the source material.


Hmm. If anything, I'd say the box is significantly clearer. As-is, the JPN CD is pretty muddy/muffled. The box has the opposite problem.

Mind you, I only spent about 5 minutes playing around, but it seemed as if when I matched the EQ, there was a fair amount more hiss on the JPN CD. I had to significantly boost the treble on that CD, while the box needs a treble cut. Somebody with the ability to do an EQ profile between the two discs might come up with a more scientific result.

Of course, the JPN CD doesn't have the compression or NR that the box does, light as it may be.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD