Compared with how bad some early digital discs sounded, my dad made a pretty good choice. The original release sounded nice, especially compared with some of the other CD atrocities Columbia was spewing at the time. Sony started correcting the flaws of many of these earlier releases during the tenth anniversary of the CD in 1992. The introduction of their Super Bit Mapping process for converting 20-bit digital samples into 16-bit CDs was accompanied by a set of limited-edition Mastersound releases of many classic titles. While the mastering quality of those discs varied, one in particular stood out as the best of the series. The SBM Mastersound Child is Father to the Man was an essential purchase. Yes, there was some improvement in sonics, making an already decent recording sound even better. But the real clincher was that an extra six tracks from the band's demo session, before John Simon was involved as producer. One of these songs, an instrumental titled "Refugee From Yuhupitz," was cut from the album and never made public before.

The Sony release was so great all around that when I heard Mobile Fidelity was remastering the title with their new GAIN 2 technology, I knew they had some serious competition already on the market (albeit out of print).

Overture

• SBM: This song is a bit noisy throughout. And there's a somewhat hard emphasis to the string section I found a bit objectionable.
• MoFi: There's an amazing clarity to the tinkling bells during the opening. The string section sounds perfect on this version, and the noise is almost non-existent. This one is the gem of the MoFi remastering in my opinion -- you'd never guess this was a 1968 recording from the way it sounds.

I'll Love You More Than You'll Ever Know

• SBM: The bass is surprisingly strong here. The overall quality is marred a bit by a noisy haze that rides over everything.
• MoFi: The noise is a little less bothersome, but far from gone. The bottom end is a bit cleaner and deeper, and there's better resolution on the high-frequency percussion parts.

My Days Are Numbered

• SBM: Harsh all around, and the brass instruments and the vocals are a bit tough to take. This is probably the worst track on the disc.
• MoFi: The vocals are still somewhat rough, but the instruments are fine.

The Modern Adventures of Plato, Diogenes, and Freud

This is about the longest song title I know of.

• SBM: No serious complaints here, but the overall resolution is a bit low.
• MoFi: There's more body to Al Kooper's vocal, and better separation of the string instruments from one another in space.

The SBM Mastersound packaging is as good as I've seen for a CD. The liner notes fold out to a 3" x 3" array that reproduces the original LP artwork in full size. One addition is a brief note from Al Kooper about the historical circumstances under which the bonus demo tracks were recorded. Mobile Fidelity's booklet doesn't have the same quality of artwork inside, but it does include all the lyrics instead.

I like being able to end these reviews with clear recommendations, but there's little of that to be found here. The original CD release of Child I mentioned briefly at the beginning is no slouch, and causal fans who spin this title infrequently shouldn't feel too much pressure to upgrade. Die-hard audiophiles definitely want the Mobile Fidelity version, as it improves everything about the sound of the disc at least a bit, while giving substantial differences on some tracks. Fans whose preferences lean toward music rather than sound should get a copy of the Sony SBM version in order to get the bonus material. While out of print, some copies were still available from The Elusive Disc the last time I checked. People stuck in the middle like me who want the best sound quality and the most material should feel obligated to empty their wallets to get both releases. But do note that I recommend using a better CD player than the Magnavox CDB-650 no matter which version you choose to listen to.