Definitely Maybe Creation pressings

[Pashca]

Hello everybody!

While cassualy browsing Discogs I came across three different UK versions of Creation's Definitely Maybe CD. By reading the different submissions I learnt that the difference is where the different releases were pressed.

- www.discogs.com/Oasis-Definitely-Maybe/release/383271 was pressed at CD PLANT MFG
- www.discogs.com/Oasis-Definitely-Maybe/release/5073915 was pressed at Damont Audio
- www.discogs.com/Oasis-Definitely-Maybe/release/6059796 was pressed at Nimbus 

I didn't even know that there were more than one pressing for the UK.

Now the questions: Does anybody have any extra information about this? Is it normal for labels to have the CDs/Vinyls pressed in different plants? Is there any difference audio-wise between these three?

Thanks for any help!

Cheers!

[davidjay]

Hi Pascha. My take on this is that whilst there may be some slight differences in sound quality between vinyl editions pressed at different plants, all those 1994 CDs should sound identical, as they are all derived from the same DAT master prepared by Owen Morris. (One exception to this is Reprise's original US CD releases of DM and MG, which I think used the same masters but shifted slightly down in level).

Some audiophiles claim to hear differences in sound quality between different pressings of the same CD master, but I struggle to see how that's possible; they should be digitally identical whether mastered at Damont, Nimbus or Sony DADC.

Some have argued that they hear subtle differences between CD pressings though, which they attribute to varying amounts of jitter introduced in the manufacturing process. If these differences do exist I would say they are likely tiny, and probably only audible in a close comparison on a high-end mastering setup. The artistic processing applied by the mastering engineer has a vastly greater influence on the sound quality.

Rambled a bit there but hope this may be of some help...

[Pashca]

Thank you very much davidjay for your answers! That was indeed helpful

[davidjay]

You're welcome, glad it was some help. Couple of videos on the topic which may be of interest.

Pre-mastering (usually referred to as just "mastering" - the last creative processing applied to the audio before it's sent off to the pressing plant). In this video Mazen Murad masters a dance track at Metropolis, where several Oasis albums and reissues were mastered.





Mastering at the pressing plant - this gives an overview of the CD manufacturing process, with Michael Jackson's 1995 album History as the example. This clip shows what happened after Bernie Grundman pre-mastered the album.

[Pashca]

davidjay I really enjoyed those videos, that was enlightening. What I enjoyed the most was the looks of the people and the visual effects on the Michael Jackson's one though haha.

[davidjay]

Feb 3, 2016 12:20:58 GMT 9.5 Pashca said:

davidjay I really enjoyed those videos, that was enlightening. What I enjoyed the most was the looks of the people and the visual effects on the Michael Jackson's one though haha.

Heh, I know what you mean - weirdly some of the fashions on display in that one make it look like it was shot about a decade earlier than it actually was. Very 80s

[davidjay]

Detailed video with Jonathan Wyner mastering a track, step by step. Worth listening on headphones if any are to hand.


Greg Calbi, who mastered Chasing Yesterday

[schorman]

It's worth noting that all of the DM and WTSMG singles have alternate pressings as well. They are more visibly different though, because the Damont discs all have that mirrored finish on the outer, unused portion of the disc.