lukpac wrote:Listen again. The source for the gold CD is a lot better (less hiss, more separation), it just doesn't have the extra EQ the silver CD does.
I remember you posting that SH said the ROTS version came from a copy tape...I made that comment to emphasize that it seems like the ROTS is actually the better one.
I did go back and listen, this time with headphones. It's difficult to say which source has less hiss since the EQ is so different. One would expect that the brighter of the two (ROTS) would have a bit more emphasized hiss. If it was a high quality copy that was used, I would expect that the difference in hiss (and tonality) would be minimal compared to the master tape.
Where it gets interesting is the stereo separation. IMO there's no question that the ROTS is more spacious sounding through speakers. Yet, through headphones, the opening guitar riff does seem more "hard right" on the gold CD.
If you think about it, the sense of spaciousness in stereo is caused by a certain amount of crosstalk. So, for proper spaciousness, nothing should ever be completely "hard right or left." A dual mono track would have the maximum amount of separation, but it's not stereo.
Listening closely to the opening guitar, I hear more left channel reverberation from the ROTS than the gold. If the EQ of the gold is obscuring this reverberation (which I think is the case), then the result could be a more "hard right" sound...but this isn't necessarily good from a stereo soundstage standpoint, and this is borne out by listening through speakers.
I think it's pretty safe to assume that the copy tape was high quality, which would lead me to think that any separation or plainly audible hiss differences are caused by mastering EQ and are not inherent in the tapes themselves.