Gold disk VS regular disk?

My comment about direct comparisons I think is pretty important. Take two aluminum CD's, one that was released at the dawn of the CD age and then the remastered version. I have a couple of these. The remastered ones are so much superior to the regular ones--yet they are both silver. Also, compare JVC XRCD to the same CD mass produced. The JVC is still on aluminum--but again--far superior to the mass produced one. Therefore, a gold CD that is both gold and remastered (or mastered/engineered) differently from the aluminum version leaves one with the question of -- is it better because it's gold or is it better because it's remastered. I agree that nearly all gold discs sound much better than their aluminum counterparts, but I don't have any basis to make the claim that this is solely because of the gold content. The only way I could do this is to find a CD that has the same mastering on both the gold and aluminum versions--I don't know of any--but if anyone else does I would like to make the comparison. I hope that clarifies my previousl post.

Try Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" it was remastered and released in gold and aluminum at the same time.

Jadem6--thanks!! I love that album. I have about 3 copies of that piece, but I don't have it on CD at all. Which label released both the gold and aluminum at the same time? Was this the version when they corrected the speed on the second side of the LP?

abstract7: yes, i agree with your assessment that most remastered cd's are superior to those released "in the dawn" of the digital age. i, nonetheless, believe that some remasters are as bright and edgy as their predecessors. xrcd's are uniformly well done. i cannot say the same for mfsl or dcc disks, irrespective of their being silver or gold. i also think that many of the very early discs that were practically unplayable on early electronics sound much better on new equipment, particularly dacs that employ up or up and over sampling. (and, no, i don't wish to start another battle over these sampling/processing methods). -kelly

I think MFSL explains the gold thing in their product literature. If I remember correctly, they don't say that it sounds better than aluminum...I think they claim that gold is better for surface consistency and longevity.