New Led Zeppelin Remasters WTF

[billfromNC]

Ok, today I bought Led Zeppelin II Remastered from Walmart for a good price I thought? I have to say some of these tracks sound like Sh*t , I hear a lot of clipping (distortion) ? Wtf... thiis was the second album I ever bought as a kid when it first came out, the first was Led zeppelin I. So I think I know what the album sounded like. I have to say my 8 track recording of the album sounded better them some of these tracks... There are a few that sound fairly good, but overall not good. I have been updating my music lately and ripping cd to 44/16 flac, and they sound pretty good. Bought The Dark Side of the Moon the other day an it sounds good... Im reluctant to buy Led Zeppelin IV now! I would like a good recourding of Led Zeppelin II, does anyone know where I can get this? Hd Tracks? etc: Thanks!

[wwaldmanfan]

There have been a number of "remasters" of classic rock albums over the years. Some are good, some are not. Many suffer from dynamic range compression and volume overmodulation. One must pay attention to the release date of the particular reissue. The Steve Hoffman Music Forums are a good place to garner opinions on various releases.

The 2014 Zeppelin remasters, available in both redbook and hi-res formats sound good, IMO. They are available on HDtracks and PonoMusic.

[billfromNC]

Yeah, the cd I'm referring to is the 2014 remaster, but your saying the Hd Tracks copies sound a lot better?

 

 

There have been a number of "remasters" of classic rock albums over the years. Some are good, some are not. Many suffer from dynamic range compression and volume overmodulation. One must pay attention to the release date of the particular reissue. The Steve Hoffman Music Forums are a good place to garner opinions on various releases.

The 2014 Zeppelin remasters, available in both redbook and hi-res formats sound good, IMO. They are available on HDtracks and PonoMusic.

[firedog]

Just checked my hi-res version of LZ IV. Sounds good to me. I haven't heard the CD so I can't compare.

 

Maybe you can borrow a track from the hi-rez to see if it sounds distorted like what your hear on the CD. Or have someone else try your CD to see if it sounds distorted to them.

 

Maybe you just got a bum CD.

 

I've bought all the 2014 LZ remasters in hi-res. I like them all. Some more than others. I'm not a LZ fanatic/expert, though, so take my opinion FWIW.

[billfromNC]

Thanks for your help Firedog.

 

 

 

Just checked my hi-res version of LZ IV. Sounds good to me. I haven't heard the CD so I can't compare.

 

Maybe you can borrow a track from the hi-rez to see if it sounds distorted like what your hear on the CD. Or have someone else try your CD to see if it sounds distorted to them.

 

Maybe you just got a bum CD.

 

I've bought all the 2014 LZ remasters in hi-res. I like them all. Some more than others. I'm not a LZ fanatic/expert, though, so take my opinion FWIW.

[ALRAINBOW]

I will not buy anything on HD tracks period. There is just too much cd being sold as hi Rez on there website. Not saying there is not some good stuff but they just lie way too much for me to spend my money there . Acoustic audio is better to me . And of course there is a few really good sites but they do not have main stream music .

Al

[beetlemania]

I will not buy anything on HD tracks period. There is just too much cd being sold as hi Rez on there website.

 

Yes, there has been more than one example of this. But I haven't heard of any problems over the past couple of years. I bought "Brothers in Arms" the day it was released, ignorant that it was among the very first 16/44 recordings! HDT refunded my money the next day - and let me keep the faux-res files - without me even complaining. I've bought many dozens of titles now and they all appear to be genuine hi-res.

[Allan F]

I bought "Brothers in Arms" the day it was released, ignorant that it was among the very first 16/44 recordings! HDT refunded my money the next day - and let me keep the faux-res files - without me even complaining. I've bought many dozens of titles now and they all appear to be genuine hi-res.

 

While the Redbook version of "Brothers in Arms" is very good, IMO the SACD version is noticeably better. Glad to hear that HDTracks did the right thing. They have improved their scrutiny of what is provided to them by the record labels.

[Mystic]

Ok, today I bought Led Zeppelin II Remastered from Walmart for a good price I thought? I have to say some of these tracks sound like Sh*t , I hear a lot of clipping (distortion) ? Wtf... thiis was the second album I ever bought as a kid when it first came out, the first was Led zeppelin I. So I think I know what the album sounded like. I have to say my 8 track recording of the album sounded better them some of these tracks... There are a few that sound fairly good, but overall not good. I have been updating my music lately and ripping cd to 44/16 flac, and they sound pretty good. Bought The Dark Side of the Moon the other day an it sounds good... Im reluctant to buy Led Zeppelin IV now! I would like a good recourding of Led Zeppelin II, does anyone know where I can get this? Hd Tracks? etc: Thanks!

 

I've bought the deluxe cd versions of all of them so far and personally no complaints on any of them, in fact I really remember enjoying II a lot and thinking they did a great job on it.

[SteveS1]

I've been amazed at the love for some of these. I personally don't think these remasters or any previous ones are a patch on Barry Diament's work on the original CDs (bar IV which was Joe Sidore) at Atlantic. They have a more natural balance and weight. These newer ones just sound a bit pumped and brightened to my ears. YMMV etc.

 

I'm listening to Barry's Zep ll right now you can really crank it without pain. Great sounding disc.

[firedog]

I don't have Barry's originals (except for III on vinyl), so I can't really compare. I have some of the earlier CD remasters (Paige).

 

I just listen to these on their own, and they sound good to me. Quiet backgrounds, and you can hear a lot of detail.

 

I tend to like well done digital and don't care if it sounds like vinyl or not - even though I like the sound of vinyl. I care that the digital remasters don't have that annoying "digital" sound, aren't super volume compressed, and seem to have a reasonable mix. So when I play these I'm pretty happy with what I hear.

 

I do sometimes compare different masterings of music I like, but try not to do it too much. I find it takes away from being able to enjoy the music - I start to concentrate on the "sound" instead of enjoying the music. Generally I'll pick one version of an album that I like most and listen to that one almost every time.

 

I've been amazed at the love for some of these. I personally don't think these remasters or any previous ones are a patch on Barry Diament's work on the original CDs (bar IV which was Joe Sidore) at Atlantic. They have a more natural balance and weight. These newer ones just sound a bit pumped and brightened to my ears. YMMV etc.

 

I'm listening to Barry's Zep ll right now you can really crank it without pain. Great sounding disc.

[bdiament]

I don't have Barry's originals (except for III on vinyl)...

 

Hi firedog,

 

I didn't master any Zep vinyl. I just did the original CD releases for their catalog, with the exception of "IV" (which had already been released from a master created by Joe Sidore at Warner Brothers in L.A., by the time Atlantic got into digital).

 

You might find out who did your vinyl on III by looking in the lead-out groove, just outside the label area. An "At/GP or GP@At" would be George Piros, one of my mastering heros.

 

Best regards,

Barry

Soundkeeper Recordings

http://www.soundkeeperrecordings.wordpress.com

Barry Diament Audio

[SteveS1]

Hi Barry,

 

Thanks for contributing to this. As mentioned I've always liked these discs and I have many others of yours.

 

When you hear these, they give the impression of letting what was on the tapes speak for itself without highlighting any particular aspect or distracting the listener. Is this a misleading impression and did they need much work to sound like they didn't (if you know what I mean)?

 

Subsequent attempts in the digital catalogue haven't been shockers (well apart from the appalling 'Mothership') but always end up sounding tweaked to my ears. The latest ones given that 'clarity' or 'detail' effect that seems popular in some quarters.

 

I recommend the Moby Dick on your CD Zep 1 as a great speaker work out.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

[bdiament]

Hi Barry,

 

Thanks for contributing to this. As mentioned I've always liked these discs and I have many others of yours.

 

When you hear these, they give the impression of letting what was on the tapes speak for itself without highlighting any particular aspect or distracting the listener. Is this a misleading impression and did they need much work to sound like they didn't (if you know what I mean)?

 

Subsequent attempts in the digital catalogue haven't been shockers (well apart from the appalling 'Mothership') but always end up sounding tweaked to my ears. The latest ones given that 'clarity' or 'detail' effect that seems popular in some quarters.

 

I recommend the Moby Dick on your CD Zep 1 as a great speaker work out.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

Hi Steve,

 

I used to bring my own cables to work at Atlantic and bypass most of the signal path, using only what was absolutely necessary. When I applied EQ, only the EQ was inserted in between the analog tape machine and the A-D converters. Monitoring was always from the output of the A-D-A conversion (but I could also listen directly to the analog machine for comparisons).

 

I used some gentle EQ on the Zeps but other than that, what is on those CDs is the sound of the tapes Atlantic had. Of course the sound would also be influenced by the Sony 1630 converters. The 1630 we had was equipped with the Apogee retrofit filters, which made some nice improvements over the stock 1630.

 

Some of those were flat copies of the masters and a few (later ones) were from EQ'd tapes made during vinyl mastering. I was always told the original masters were lost. (This makes me wonder why it wasn't in the news when they were found -- if indeed they were. I know the 1990 remasterings claimed to be from originals but heard from the tape librarian at Atlantic that he delivered the same tapes I was given. As I wasn't there, I don't know for sure. Hopefully, they *did* find them and the tapes are still in good shape after all these years.)

 

If I was to do them again today, I think the approach would be exactly the same but I'd probably use a little more EQ than I did back then--in my opinion, the mixes can use a little more help. Of course the tools are better today also. I think that properly used, EQ can act like lighting on a film set, drawing one's attention toward certain aspects of the scene and/or away from others. In other words, the result should not sound "EQd" but instead it should bring out what is in the mixes themselves. And as always, I would not compress the dynamics at all.

 

Best regards,

Barry

Soundkeeper Recordings

http://www.soundkeeperrecordings.wordpress.colm

Barry Diament Audio

[mkrzych]

Guys, any thoughts on the recent new remasters - Coda, Presence, HotH etc. Looking at the DR Database I am not so optimistic: Album list - Dynamic Range Database At lest Presence looks the best from them. Do you recommend any particular remaster of the Zepp's?

[firedog]

I downloaded the standard version of Presence, for which I got a result of DR 10.

 

I like the remaster - it has what I'm looking for in these remasters of old stuff: a good, clean clear sound that gives a bit of a window into the music.

 

Is it great or revelatory? Nope.

 

I like it better than the 2005 CD Remaster that has DR of 13. I also prefer it to my vinyl rip that sounds a bit muddy in comparison. Usually I prefer the higher DR versions of albums. I don't think the VC on the new download is to the level that it is bothersome.

 

I'm sure if you look around the Net you'll find some people that think the remaster sucks. But that's my opinion, FWIW.