Article: The Best Version Of… Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On

[tmtomh]

I love this kind of analysis, and really appreciate the time and effort put into it.

 

I haven't heard the 2012 HD mastering, but I've heard pretty much all the others. I would agree with the author's analysis in that the MoFi SACD is definitely the best of the ones I've heard: rich and detailed, precise without sounding clinical.

 

At the same time, my 2nd favorite is the '94 Lurssen mastering. It just sounds right to me, and far preferable to most of the other masterings, including the 2CD Deluxe Edition, which I did not care for at all.

 

This is all subjective of course, but the one area where I would disagree with the article's author is that he dismisses the Lurssen out of hand simply based on DR readings. I am no fan of squashed masterings, to be sure, but the Lurssen is not a Loudness War mastering. The other masterings he dismisses, he does based on the actual sonic profile (too much high end, not enough bass), which makes more sense to me.

 

The Lurssen is very obviously not as refined as the MoFi, but it is warm and lush without (IMHO) being wooly or muffled in the least. YMMV of course, and none of this is to diminish the value of this article - these kinds of shoot-outs are great!