Grateful Dead Workingman's Dead FINALLY available on HD Tracks

[Jud]

First, I think I came off a little strong in my reply so my apology.

 

None needed. If all comments here were dispassionate, it would be a dull place.

 

I also have owned and known these albums since their original release dates either as vinyl, CD or the DVD Audio. As I mentioned in my post I did not have these volume matched. I tried listening a little further balancing the sound the best I could and my initial impression of a little more punch and detail remains. I am not trying to convince everyone that there is a night and day difference between this and the original CD release which is what I have but I would claim they are both significantly better than the HDCD remasters which I felt were crunched.

 

Anyways I feel this was worth my money, not all 24/96 downloads from HD Tracks have been.

 

A good data point. After this and other favorable comments, I'm considering the download again.

 

My general rule of thumb is if I have an audiophile mastering from certain companies and people I have come to trust I don't even bother with the hi res download. If I have an original CD release version that I like (as in this case) I might consider it for a very favorite album. And, if I have remasters which typically are not my favorites (as only a general statement) I probably will investigate the hi res download.

 

My thinking is similar, but I'm very cautious of remasters that have been altered to compete in the loudness wars. And even owning a very good version, I may consider a download if there's a possibility it's better yet (e.g., though I have the excellent DCC gold CD, I think I will get the download of Pet Sounds).

[KDinsmore]

What kind of boat is that? Do you race it?

It is a toss up between this and American Beauty on my favorite studio album. Here is my boat.

[KDinsmore]

Oh yeah...........I downloaded this and it is flippin killer! Sound stage and imaging are superb.

[underscorer]

I just took a look at "Black Peter." Looks like the frequencies top off around 46kHz. "Uncle John's Band" tops just shy of 47kHz.

 

I can confirm the compression:

 

foobar2000 1.1.15 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1

log date: 2012-09-19 21:14:46

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Analyzed: Grateful Dead / Workingman's Dead (HDTracks) (24/96)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

DR Peak RMS Duration Track

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR9 -0.10 dB -10.91 dB 4:45 01-Uncle John's Band

DR9 -0.10 dB -11.55 dB 5:15 02-High Time

DR9 -0.10 dB -10.48 dB 3:16 03-Dire Wolf

DR8 -0.10 dB -10.26 dB 4:22 04-New Speedway Boogie

DR8 -0.10 dB -10.23 dB 3:20 05-Cumberland Blues

DR9 -0.10 dB -11.73 dB 5:44 06-Black Peter

DR9 -0.10 dB -10.57 dB 4:58 07-Easy Wind

DR9 -0.10 dB -11.06 dB 4:27 08-Casey Jones

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Number of tracks: 8

Official DR value: DR9

 

Samplerate: 96000 Hz

Channels: 2

Bits per sample: 24

Bitrate: 3048 kbps

Codec: FLAC

================================================================================

[underscorer]

Hope I did these all right! These three are for "New Speedway Boogie."

 

Photo Album - Imgur

[jerico]

Hope I did these all right! These three are for "New Speedway Boogie."

 

Photo Album - Imgur

 

That graph looks the same as the one I just snapped - looks good to me, frequency wise.

 

BUT, and this is a big one, this sounds VERY different from my 2 vinyl copies of this album (one original, one new release from last year). Not in a "digital vs analog" way - they just sound like different mixes or something. Maybe I'm going nuts, but Uncle John's on vinyl doesn't have the reverby-sounding lead guitar on my vinyl copies - it doesn't really sound reverby at all, actually - more like a dry acoustic guitar. Anyone else notice this?

 

Caveat - I'm trying out a new playback setup (MPD on Linux) so it could be there's something funky going on with the 24/96 playback - but I've never noticed anything weird on HD stuff before.

[wgscott]

Oh yeah...........I downloaded this and it is flippin killer! Sound stage and imaging are superb.

 

Mickey Hart knows what he is doing.

[jerry_rig]

TBUT, and this is a big one, this sounds VERY different from my 2 vinyl copies of this album (one original, one new release from last year). Not in a "digital vs analog" way - they just sound like different mixes or something. Maybe I'm going nuts, but Uncle John's on vinyl doesn't have the reverby-sounding lead guitar on my vinyl copies - it doesn't really sound reverby at all, actually - more like a dry acoustic guitar. Anyone else notice this?

 

I have the DVD-A version and noticed this some time ago. Also, the bass piano notes during the middle section of Black Peter.

 

Wait until you hear the DVD-A mix of American Beauty. The difference in mixes is even more pronounced, with certain songs (e.g., Sugar Magnolia and Candy Man) having extended endings. And the harmonies just pop throughout.

[wgscott]

Now if only we could get a high res version of Alabama Getaway.

[Jud]

I have the DVD-A version and noticed this some time ago. Also, the bass piano notes during the middle section of Black Peter.

 

Wait until you hear the DVD-A mix of American Beauty. The difference in mixes is even more pronounced, with certain songs (e.g., Sugar Magnolia and Candy Man) having extended endings. And the harmonies just pop throughout.

 

So are the DVD-A (stereo) versions 24/48, 24/96...?

[jerico]

I have the DVD-A version and noticed this some time ago. Also, the bass piano notes during the middle section of Black Peter.

 

Wait until you hear the DVD-A mix of American Beauty. The difference in mixes is even more pronounced, with certain songs (e.g., Sugar Magnolia and Candy Man) having extended endings. And the harmonies just pop throughout.

 

So maybe I'm not nuts! Well, not entirely anyway...

 

I don't really care for this version though - it doesn't have that earthy sound I am so familiar with in my other versions. I may hunt down a regular old CD copy.

 

@Bill - having a nice morning chuckle over thoughts of uber-HD Alabama Getaway...!

[KDinsmore]

Compressed, and by quite a bit. I won't be buying it on the dynamic range plots alone.

 

So which Dark Side of the Moon issue would you be buying basing your pick by DR level? From the DR Database

 

DR Database

[mwheelerk]

I just saw a flash ad in the banner at the top of the HD Tracks home page talking about Workingman's being available and "coming soon American Beauty"

[JazzDoc]

So are the DVD-A (stereo) versions 24/48, 24/96...?

 

They are 24/96. I own the discs and ripped them for plyback through my DAC using DVD Audio Explorer

[JazzDoc]

I just saw a flash ad in the banner at the top of the HD Tracks home page talking about Workingman's being available and "coming soon American Beauty"

 

The DVD-A of 'American Beauty' is really good IMHO

[Alice Wonder]

I bought the download and also have the CD. The download sounds pretty good to me ... There's even a pronounced snort at the beginning of "Casey Jones". Cracks me up ... I guess someone had a cold that day.

 

I seem to remember hearing that on my CD copy bought back in the 90s.

[Jud]

They are 24/96. I own the discs and ripped them for plyback through my DAC using DVD Audio Explorer

 

Thanks for the info!

 

Are you (or anyone else with the DVD-A rips) able to use Foobar or some other software to tell me what it says re dynamic range of the ripped files? Just figuring that if the rip and the download are virtually the same, the download is easier, but on the other hand if the DVD-A rip has greater dynamic range I'll go with that.

[chrisnick]

And Brokedown Palace beginning with Jerry singing a capella! Does anyone know the history here? Who remixed these?

[chrisnick]

I have the DVD-A version and noticed this some time ago. Also, the bass piano notes during the middle section of Black Peter.

 

Wait until you hear the DVD-A mix of American Beauty. The difference in mixes is even more pronounced, with certain songs (e.g., Sugar Magnolia and Candy Man) having extended endings. And the harmonies just pop throughout.

 

And Brokedown Palace beginning with Jerry a capella!

[ted_b]

And Brokedown Palace beginning with Jerry singing a capella! Does anyone know the history here? Who remixed these?

 

As I said last page, Mickey Hart did. The 5.1 are more like the classic redbook (still different enough) and the stereo remixes are often startlingly new. I love it.

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f13-audiophile-downloads/grateful-dead-workingmans-dead-finally-available-hd-tracks-13387/#post178424

[wgscott]

This is really good. The remix sounds better than the original. This is my number one example of how these things can be done right. It is thhe Dead's best studio album, and now it is even better.

 

It is about $2 less expensive on Livediwnloads.com than HDtricks. FWIW.

[wgscott]

I just can't do this one, based on the compression. Too much chance (sorry, guys) that what sounds "good" is simply louder.

 

Did you get it yet? I promise you will like it.

[chrisnick]

As I said last page, Mickey Hart did. The 5.1 are more like the classic redbook (still different enough) and the stereo remixes are often startlingly new. I love it.

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f13-audiophile-downloads/grateful-dead-workingmans-dead-finally-available-hd-tracks-13387/#post178424

 

I agree. The differences are interesting, and it's alot of fun to hear this record fresh and differently.

 

Has anyone heard the original mix of Aoxomoxoa? I wish they would release that. I have it on vinyl. VERY much different than the final mix. I think Phil remixed it in 1971 and it was reissued?

 

I think Aoxomoxoa would probably be the last candidate for a studio album that deserves reissue in HD. Would love to see that.