Yes - "Going for the one" on Audio Fidelity Gold CD (SACD).

[J. D. Mack]

Amazon U.S. just dropped the price of this to $20.83.

J. D.

[Supersonic Scientist]

I love the reverb. GFTO is a lush album. Turn Of The Century sounds glorious. I bet dollars to donuts if you actually heard a dry mix you guys would be horrified- it would sound exactly like Tormato. BTW, good luck getting the reverb off the pipe organ. It's the room. The album has a strange sonic character but I've grown so used to it that apart from a minor eq tweak I wouldn't want it to change.

+1 to that Brother.

[Romerovm]

It's not a great sounding CD, but it is the best version out there, IMO. You might try A/Bing it with another version - I suspect you'll better be able to appreciate its virtues.

Yep, I think I would appreciate it more if I did that. I need a reminder on how awful the previous versions were.

[Boaz]

Got the cd today.
It sounds great - better then all previous versions (and I have most of them...).

One strange thing - during the quite part in "Awaken" there seem to strange sounds that i never heard before - they sound out of place. very strange.

[ssully]

Well, I just played this reissue for the first time. I am sorry to disagree with most here, but I think is a very poor sounding disc. It is "muffled", lacks punch, bass, and dynamics are not there as on other AF CDs. Am I missing something?

Objectively, the AF version is quite 'dynamic' (peak vs average level) compared to most modern CD masterings.

But it's still an iffy recording. Some parts have always been worse than others. The vocals are recorded harshly, the guitar is often playing in a cave. 'Parallels' in particular is a mess in those regards.

Compared to the Rhino version, there's less overall level on the AF, less treble ('muffled'), and some scoops and peaks in the bass. Clearly this is what Hoffman/Gray or whoever, thought sounded better. YMMV. To me, it's still GftO and it still needs a remix overhaul to significantly improve it.

[webbcity]

To me the AF version sounds miles better than any other CD release of this...I'm very pleased with it. At some point I will have to compare it to my vinyl copy...that always sounded the best to me, but I have a feeling the AF beats it.

[Skullhead]

The unknown factor is whether or not the individual tracks were recorded properly... if not, there is not much you can do realistically. It's possible it's just a mixing issue... we can only hope, but trying to save it with Pro Tools is not going to pass my ears... as anyone who has a proper set up for listening to music with a critical ear will not be fooled.

[wilcox660]

Does this include the Dutch tracks & the Bahamas tracls?

[Fracktured]

The unknown factor is whether or not the individual tracks were recorded properly... if not, there is not much you can do realistically. It's possible it's just a mixing issue... we can only hope, but trying to save it with Pro Tools is not going to pass my ears... as anyone who has a proper set up for listening to music with a critical ear will not be fooled.

If memory serves me, this was the first album Yes produced themselves entirely. I don't think they knew exactly what they were doing at the time.

[wilcox660]

In fact, Yes weren't even sure they recorded the album!

[ssully]

Objectively, the AF version is quite 'dynamic' (peak vs average level) compared to most modern CD masterings.

But it's still an iffy recording. Some parts have always been worse than others. The vocals are recorded harshly, the guitar is often playing in a cave. 'Parallels' in particular is a mess in those regards.

Compared to the Rhino version, there's less overall level on the AF, less treble ('muffled'), and some scoops and peaks in the bass. Clearly this is what Hoffman/Gray or whoever, thought sounded better. YMMV. To me, it's still GftO and it still needs a remix overhaul to significantly improve it.

And let me add, now that I've ripped the DSD layer, it's actually flawed compared to the CD layer. There's some instances of clipping on 'Awaken' in the SACD layer that don't exist on the CD. Could be someone isn't quite expert at SACD mastering...

[JeffCarney]

And let me add, now that I've ripped the DSD layer, it's actually flawed compared to the CD layer. There's some instances of clipping on 'Awaken' in the SACD layer that don't exist on the CD. Could be someone isn't quite expert at SACD mastering...

Is it me or does Audio Fidelity hold some kind of record in these matters? Seems like errors, glitches, unusual edits, questionable sources, etc. are almost a part of their MO.

I found the GFTO SACD was pretty good, but if memory serves -- when I did some actual comparing -- the disc is actually a bit brighter than the original Atlantic CD or the US vinyl. When asked how he "fixed" the album, Hoffman convinced his clowns that the reason his version was "better" was that he didn't add the treble boost which all previous versions had. An explanation which simply doesn't check out.

Not surprising, of course. This is the guy who basically has his forum convinced that every album he has ever mastered was only ever handled by incompetents before he came to the rescue.

[Rael]

Is it me or does Audio Fidelity hold some kind of record in these matters? Seems like errors, glitches, unusual edits, questionable sources, etc. are almost a part of their MO.

I found the GFTO SACD was pretty good, but if memory serves -- when I did some actual comparing -- the disc is actually a bit brighter than the original Atlantic CD or the US vinyl. When asked how he "fixed" the album, Hoffman convinced his clowns that the reason his version was "better" was that he didn't add the treble boost which all previous versions had. An explanation which simply doesn't check out.

Not surprising, of course. This is the guy who basically has his forum convinced that every album he has ever mastered was only ever handled by incompetents before he came to the rescue.

Kind of off topic, but Hoffman was getting a bit miffed when the Japanese SACD of Santana's "Lotus" was getting more attention than the AF, especially when a couple of posts in the thread talked about selling the AF and keeping the Japanese SACD. I have no opinion as I don't own either version of the album. Anyway, he jumped in just to make a couple asinine remarks even going so far to dismiss the album:


No idea why anyone likes this concert. The quad is like fake quad, with just echo in the back. This entire album is an overcompressed, meandering, joyless snoozefest. You couldn't pay me to listen to a longer version. The original release is too long if you ask me. Sounds like a Santana tribute band. Bored me mastering it, bores me to even think about it!

[JeffCarney]

Kind of off topic, but Hoffman was getting a bit miffed when the Japanese SACD of Santana's "Lotus" was getting more attention than the AF, especially when a couple of posts in the thread talked about selling the AF and keeping the Japanese SACD. I have no opinion as I don't own either version of the album. Anyway, he jumped in just to make a couple asinine remarks even going so far to dismiss the album:


No idea why anyone likes this concert. The quad is like fake quad, with just echo in the back. This entire album is an overcompressed, meandering, joyless snoozefest. You couldn't pay me to listen to a longer version. The original release is too long if you ask me. Sounds like a Santana tribute band. Bored me mastering it, bores me to even think about it!

From what I gathered there over the years, I think Hoffman's musical comfort zone is fairly narrow. Lotus probably makes no sense to him.

What's funny about that little diatribe is that it is so evident he has no real respect for people who, let's face it ... pay his bills. In a perfect world, AF would get some returns with people including printouts of that rant as a reason for their change of heart.

[Fracktured]

Kind of off topic, but Hoffman was getting a bit miffed when the Japanese SACD of Santana's "Lotus" was getting more attention than the AF, especially when a couple of posts in the thread talked about selling the AF and keeping the Japanese SACD. I have no opinion as I don't own either version of the album. Anyway, he jumped in just to make a couple asinine remarks even going so far to dismiss the album:


No idea why anyone likes this concert. The quad is like fake quad, with just echo in the back. This entire album is an overcompressed, meandering, joyless snoozefest. You couldn't pay me to listen to a longer version. The original release is too long if you ask me. Sounds like a Santana tribute band. Bored me mastering it, bores me to even think about it!

WOW is the only response I can come up with

[ssully]

I can come up with another: 'Steve Hoffman is a twat"

[jkelman]

It's not going to be 5.1... Audio Fidelity and Hoffman don't do surround remixes.

Plus I don't believe the original multitracks could be found, otherwise there'd be a Steven Wilson edition in the offing, and I believe, with Topographic Oceans, that he's remixed everything that could be found....

I could be wrong...and who knows? They could show up in the future (never say never!!), but for now, it's remastering only.