Best Version of Steely Dan's Aja

[steelydave]

I noticed that too, and I wondered if maybe they rolled off the top end slightly in mixing or mastering that song for the LP so that it wouldn't suffer from inner groove distortion. It always seems like it's high-end transients (hi hats, sibilant vocals, etc) that are the most affected by IGD, so by de-emphasizing them, you de-emphasize the distortion?

Like @Plan9 I've listened to many different versions of this album (original LP, MoFi LP, Cisco LP, Nichols CD, Hoffman CD, box set, standalone remaster, etc.) and the one for me is the SACD. I think the Hoffman has a slightly warmer (and maybe more pleasant) tonality, but to me the SACD wins because it sounds just like the original LP, minus the drawbacks of vinyl. With the Hoffman disc I feel like I can hear the sound of circa-1984 analog to digital converters, whereas the SACD seems more viscerally transparent - there are occasional percussive transients and other bits of musical excitement that make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I listen on headphones in a way the CD versions never did.

I think with this album you're really spoiled for choice, and it's more a matter of personal preference than some increase in quality that can be objectively measured. Aside from the box set version, and the standalone remaster (which are both derived from Roger Nichols mid-80s digital transfers of the albums for CD) all the other versions sound really good and don't have any dynamic range compression.

 

[bigbillquad]

Hi. All

I have only the original LP.
I bought a CD a little while ago from Japan it came in a look a like LP cover but it`s a CD in side, I gave it a good listen but I do not listen in Stereo I listen through my SM or my Sansui QSD-1 unit.
I found the CD clean crisp and dynamic remember I have only the LP to compare with and it had a fantastic surround sound through my SM unit..
BBQ...

 

[Rhinojack]

I didn't read the article...much too long to keep my interest today...but this album is one of my all time favorites...because unlike others on here..I live for the hit songs....yes I'm shallow...and I'm not seeking the answer to life's many mysteries through songs....so now that a disclaimer is out of the way...I'll say a few things...this album was so well made(for it's time period)that any version of it is fine...to be able to define the ultimate version is merely nit picking...based on your own personal preferences....look at these numbers...whether it's a CD...SACD...Vinyl... or download...they are all good....dynamic range doesn't account for everything...but in this case it speaks volumes...I can remember how people thought I was wrong to spend $60 at the time for the SHM-SACD....and maybe they were right...but I've never regretted buying it...the only thing that I heard that was better was an upmix in surround...and it wasn't light years better...more along the lines of pleasingly different

I would disagree with anybody that claims that one version is so much better than the other that it could be considered the definitive version...

...And when I die and go to pure pop heaven
The angels will gather around
And ask me for my whole life story
And ask for that fabulous sound
But I know they're gonna stop me
As I start going through every line
And say please not the whole damn album
Nobody has that much time
Please... Just the hit single
You gotta love that number one. - Joe Jackson "Hit Single" - Laughter and Lust

 

[mongojr]

I had the MoFi Gold but someone stole it. I know this is a Universal release, but why aren't other studios following the lead of Rhino with the success of the Quadio series. If any band has Quad 8-Tracks released Steely Dan had to be one of them. I just wish that they wake up and start releasing all the Quad masters of everything! I avoided getting any SACD's since I purchased Countdown to Ecstacy from Japan and it had this processed echo effect.

 

[humprof]

This was probably posted somewhere on QQ when it first appeared last month--maybe by me (!)--but if so, then like so many other things, I've already forgotten it. Anyway, it's Scheiner & Schmitt, so it's worth a second read.

https://www.prosoundnetwork.com/pro...iance-report-the-recording-of-steely-dans-aja

 

[J. PUPSTER]

This is a great watch-

The Purdie Shuffle baby!

 

[humprof]

This is a great watch-

The Purdie Shuffle baby!

View attachment 57026

Available for free with Amazon Prime...

 

[steelydave]

I've probably watched that more times than any other music-related DVD in my entire collection - you wouldn't think a simple episode of the Classic Albums series could be as funny as it is informative. I think it's become kind of legendary amongst the "band geek" crowd too, Vulfpeck reference Bernard Purdie's "Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway...Frank Sinatra" dialogue (cadence and all) in one of their more popular songs, 1612:

 

[humprof]

I've probably watched that more times than any other music-related DVD in my entire collection - you wouldn't think a simple episode of the Classic Albums series could be as funny as it is informative. I think it's become kind of legendary amongst the "band geek" crowd too, Vulfpeck reference Bernard Purdie's "Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway...Frank Sinatra" dialogue (cadence and all) in one of their more popular songs, 1612:

Why'd you have to go putting yet another band on my radar? Like I don't have enough to listen to...

 

[watsontr]

This is a great watch-
The Purdie Shuffle baby!

The real pity is that there isn’t more of it. Something it shares with Can’t You Hear The Wind Howl? The two I watch more than any others

 

[humprof]

Rick Beato on "The Weirdest Pop Song Intro of All Time." (Even for Beato, this is a total geek-out.)

 

[4-earredwonder]

Rick Beato on "The Weirdest Pop Song Intro of All Time." (Even for Beato, this is a total geek-out.)

Love Beato's quip ... "Before Pro Tools ... there were PROS!"

Amazing dissection of a classic!

Thanks for sharing humprof

 

[newslane]

Rick Beato on "The Weirdest Pop Song Intro of All Time." (Even for Beato, this is a total geek-out.)

I really like this Rick Beato video. It shows how deep these compositions really are, and how little I actually know about them. Excellent!

 

[Electric Moo]

I had the Cisco LP but I gave it to a friend who's a big fan. It was still sealed so never listened to it.

Not sure which other copies I have, will have to check the matrix #'s.

Thx for the links!

 

[J. PUPSTER]

Rick Beato on "The Weirdest Pop Song Intro of All Time." (Even for Beato, this is a total geek-out.)

Rick was definitely geeking out, but I take umbrage that anything off that album is considered “Pop” WHAT!

Pretty sure L.C. played a big part in the main guitar parts on that song and likes to play it lower up on the neck…

 

[humprof]

I take umbrage that anything off that album is considered “Pop” WHAT!

Elitist! ("Josie" did spend five weeks in the Top 40, peaking at #26. And "Peg": 19 weeks, topping out at #11....)

 

[dr. simple]

Elitist! ("Josie" did spend five weeks in the Top 40, peaking at #26. And "Peg": 19 weeks, topping out at #11....)

Absolutely. They (those songs) were definitely popular in their day. "Deacon Blues" charted as well.

 

[marcb]

I have pretty much every LP and CD mentioned here. The original AB 1006 matrix LP cut by Bernie Grundman is the best (and I have at least 3 copies - which sound ever so subtly different, but still better than anything else).

 

[Electric Moo]

Rick was definitely geeking out, but I take umbrage that anything off that album is considered “Pop” WHAT!

Pretty sure L.C. played a big part in the main guitar parts on that song and likes to play it lower up on the neck…

That was good!

Nice amplifier he's got there, too. RIP Howard

 

[humprof]

Released 45 years ago--September 23, 1977. (That's 45 years and counting without a completed surround mix. . . .)

"A masterclass in the pursuit of perfection":
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/45-years-of-the-steely-dan-masterpiece-aja/