Thought I'd pass along some interesting info I found on the Hoffman site. I just read most of a recent thread there about the different versions of Who's Next on CD. Every so often somebody there starts a new thread about this album on CD, and the whole topic gets rehashed all over again. It's probably been discussed on Hoffman more than any other recording. Turns out Who's Next has a somewhat strange and interesting history on CD. I'll spare you all the details, which you can find over there if you want, but the closest they come to a conclusion is that the best sounding version ever is the original MCA CD, which Hoffman mastered from the original master tapes. There are pre-remastered MCA versions that were NOT Hoffman versions, though, and identifying the right one can be tricky.

However, the current Canadian budget (non-remastered) version is Hoffman's mastering (there are small differences from the US Hoffman version, you probably don't want to know the details), and is actually Steve Hoffman's personal favorite. It goes for about $10 on Amazon.ca and other Canadian online music sites (and, I assume, in Canadian retail stores). The Deluxe version, which claims to be the first one mastered from the original tapes (but apparently isn't the first, according to SH), is highly regarded by many, and of course has tons of extras (2 CDs total).

I think we had a thread on this a while back, but I thought I'd throw this out there anyway. I'm curious about the Canadian version, and for $10 I think I'll order it and compare it to what I have, which is the Deluxe version and an old MCA disc which I'm pretty sure isn't the "good" one.

The problem with "Who's Next" threads on these boards is that they invariably turn into either Townshend-bashing or Hoffman-bashing--Townshend for supposedly being a greedy bastard for concocting two different deluxe editions, and Hoffman for, well, being Steve Hoffman

The latest "hot" version of Who's Next is the just released japanese version in SHM-SACD.

Yes. This is the one to get. No one's redbook remastering (not even Hoffman's) can compare to actual hi-rez:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003EW4KB6/?tag=imwan-20

I'm sure the SACD is great sounding hi-rez, but I'll have to nix this one for the same reason I nixed KISS's Destroyer: Price. This is $65. Too rich for my blood. I'd love to hear hi-rez versions of these albums, as they are among my favorites of all-time, but I can't go spending that kind of money on a single CD.

The Canadian (Hoffman) sounds great, as does the deluxe edition. You can't go wrong either way -- it's just a matter of do you need all the bonus stuff?

Yes, the SHM-SACD does get some love towards the end of the discussion. Being a recent Japanese-only release, I don't think a lot of people have heard it. Very positive comments about the sound.

But Linda, if you're suggesting that high-res always trumps redbook CDs, I don't think I buy that completely. An SACD or DVD-A still has to be handled competently to sound good. It's not hard to imagine a poorly-mastered SACD that sounds worse than a great redbook CD. I have yet to hear one, but then I've only heard a handful high-res discs. The high-res has a big advantage and SHOULD sound better than any redbook CD, agreed. But I don't know that that's always the case. And I've heard some redbook CDs that sound simply amazing.

I just thought it was really interesting that a $10 Canadian budget version was being touted as having the best sound.

I'm suggesting that the Japanese SACD of Who's Next is the best-sounding version available.

I have the remaster with bonus tracks that came out in 1995, which as I recall is not well loved in audiophile circles. I can't see upgrading it, though, as I almost never play any Who albums post-Sell Out, with Quadrophenia being the exception. I loved Who's Next when I first heard it as a teenager, but that was before years of hearing the key tracks overexposed on classic rock radio, in shopping centers, and even as TV show themes. Maybe I'll be ready to revisit this album some time in the future but that time hasn't come just yet.

Sorry, I feel like I'm thread crapping a bit here. My apologies. Carry on...

Yes, I got that. No argument there. But what you also said was no redbook mastering can compare to hi-res, period. I'm just saying I don't think that's necessarily true in all cases.

Okay, I'll rephrase. No one's redbook remastering of Who's Next, including Hoffman's, can compare to this SACD. The only room for improvement would be to do a hi-rez surround mix as well. (All of the Japanese SHM-SACDs to date have been plain stereo.)

So...which gold CD version of "Who's Next" is better--the 1995 MCA 9-track version, or the 1999 MFSL version?

I had the 1995 MCA disc and my recollection is that it sounded pretty awful.

The MFSL features mostly remixes done in 1996, so comparing that to other versions is apples and oranges.

The '99 MFSL was never held in high regard.

My biggest problem with the Who is I've kind of played their music to death. I have several versions of "Who's Next" stashed away here, including a couple of vinyl copies and even an 8-track, but it's been years since I've given any of them a start-to-finish critical listen. Lord knows there was a time when I would have obsessively done so...which is how I came to play their music to death in the first place.

These days, it's as though I collect their CD's more as artifacts than for the music on the discs. I did order the deluxe "The Who Sell Out" when it was still only available as an import, but have not played anything from it in well over a year. More recent Who purchases have included the 2-disc internet-only "Blues To The Bush", one of those experiments with CD-R technology that, ten years ago, might have been the future of music, but wasn't. Still, the discs represent a chapter in the history of the band, circa 2000, and evoke a bygone era in the music industry much as an old 78 might. But I haven't played those discs more than once or twice; my only reccollection is of Daltrey doing some fairly embarassing scat singing during a blues version of "My Generation".

The Who recordings that continue to amaze me are the Moon-era live recordings.

I just picked up the 40th Anniversary Live At Leeds and am really enjoying it. I especially love Pete's little jazz riffing on Young Man Blues. The Hull material sounds good as well. Hadn't heard it before. I remember being magnetically drawn to the cover when I first bought the album when it was brand new. I had no intention of going this route but I was equally magnetically drawn to the thick box when it was on display at the the B&N (10% off and 10% member discount helped too.)

Is the name "Jon Astley" mentioned anywhere, even in tiny print, on the packaging?

Yes. The SHM-SACD is from an Astley DSD Master.

Wait - there are 2 different Deluxe Editions???

As a Who freak myself, please fill me in! What are they??? I never heard of this! What are the differences?

There aren't two different Deluxe Editions. There is a newly-mastered SACD SHM version which was released in Japan this year... perhaps AMW is considering that to be a new "deluxe edition"? According to Jon Astley he mastered it flat with no added EQ and I believe no added compression, the two things he's most often slagged for.

To the best of my knowledge, Who's Next has been mastered for CD seven times:

1. Original 80's Polydor CD (this mastering also appears on some later US MCA pressings)
2. Original 80's MCA (mastered by Hoffman)
3. 1995 MCA gold CD (mastered by Glenn Meadows)
4. 1995 partial remix CD with bonus tracks (mastered by Andy McPherson and Jon Astley)
5. 1999 MFSL partial remix with bonus tracks (I think mastered by Shawn Britton)
6. 2003 Deluxe Edition (mastered by Astley)
7. 2010 SHM SACD (mastered by Astley)

edit: corrected version 4 release date to 1995

The two deluxe editions would be the 16-track edition released in 1995, and the two-disc, 29-track version released in 2003. I believe that all 16 tracks from the former show up on the latter.

FWIW, the 1995 CD was not called a "deluxe edition", a term which is generally reserved for two-disc expanded CD sets. Two tracks from the 1995 reissue are not on the 2003 Deluxe Edition: I Don't Even Know Myself (1971 studio version) and Too Much of Anything (1971 studio version with alternate lead vocal). Also, five tracks on the 1995 release (Baba O'Riley, My Wife, Love Ain't for Keeping, Goin' Mobile, and Behind Blue Eyes) are remixes, whereas the 2003 Deluxe Edition features original mixes of all the tracks.

Where is it written down that set has to have two discs to be called "deluxe"? ICE routinely referred to any expanded reissue as such.