Led Zeppelin: Original CDs vs Remasters

Maybe it was an honest typo.

The T and the P are only...what...5 keys apart?

 

Compression during mastering produces the illusion of greater detail at the expense of dynamic range and natural lifelike sound. Nothing wrong with preferring either.

Mothership was sourced from the same digital tape as the remasters. The only difference was copious amount of compression during mastering and the EQ'd used on Mothership. FWIW I think the remasters are far far better than Mothership, but not the originals.

As for the Mothershi* comment - get a sense of humor!

 

Missing cough, reversed channels, the originals were not always "right"

 

Some people like that original "old" 80s CD sound, and sometimes that is the best one, but I think most of the Zep sound better from a later date.

 

They should transfer the original analogue master tapes to 24bit/96khz or 24bit/192khz and master them from those transfers and then release them all in high resolution on Blu-ray. Even then some people will still proberly moan about them. You can never satisfy everybody.

 

I like both versions of each. None of them are 'bad'. They aren't hard to obtain and they aren't expensive either. Win/win for everyone

But I like the originals a tad more because they are some of the earliest cd's I bought and still have.

 

My copy of the original PG does have the cough. IRC, the non-cough versions were the Japan pressings. And only some batches of the originals had reversed channels. Not all of them did.

 

That was my point, they were not all perfect. I have corrected copies and do enjoy them FWIW.

 

They can transfer the analog tapes to 24/96 or 24/192 'til the cows come home, but that isn't going to prevent compressing the life out of them.

 

Listening to some recent AF gold cds, I gotta say Hoffmanate`em all for Audio Fidelity,warts and all.

I picked case by case.

 

Some of the remasters also have reversed channels.
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=137051

 

Case by case.

 

I thought compression wasn't so much of an issue with high resolution Blu-ray audio? I maybe wrong... I don't know.

 

He's talking about dynamic compression.

 

So does high resolution music on Blu-ray have the same problem as CD's do with regards to dynamic compression to make music sound louder?

 

I think so. DVD-As certainly do. Until some rules can be put in place and enforced, hyper-compression will exist as long as digital mediums exist.

 

It certainly could happen. The few releases I have heard so far don't have this problem:

Tom Petty - Mojo
Tom Petty - Damn the Torpedos
Neil Young - Archives Vol. 1
Neil Young - Le Noise

 

It's case by case for me. I've got original records. I've got original CDs. I've got remastered CDs. They all sound pretty good on my stereo. Some of the records sound better than the CDs and vice-versa. I go with whichever is within easy reach!

 

I would love to hear the Led Zeppelin albums in 24/96 high resolution on Blu-ray, but I'm not holding out much hope.

 

The original IV sounds very muddy and hissy to me. The remaster of IV has more detail and less hiss.

 

I-32XD/ Original Vinyl
II-GP Vinyl / Double RL Vinyl / 32XD
III-US Diament Mastering / Original Vinyl / Classic 200g Vinyl
IV-Original Vinyl / Swiss CD / Japan 20P2 " Symbols "
Houses Of The Holy - Original Vinyl / Target CD WG
Physical Graffiti-Remastered CD w/cough
Presence-Original Vinyl / Diament Mastered US CD
In Through The Out Door - Original Vinyl
Coda - Remastered CD

 

I only have the remasters for IV, Physical Graffiti and ITTOD, and prefer the original CD's.

 

The Japanese vinyl replica CD's are even slightly louder than the standard remastered versions.

 

This is interesting, I assumed the 1990 remasters/complete box set was the same mastering used on mothership/japanese mini lp CDs.... But they're not?

I'll do some more reading.

 

The first batch of Japanese mini-LP's feature the mastering of the Complete Studio Recordings box set or the individual remastered albums on single CD's. Later Japanese mini-LP's have slightly boosted levels.

If you like the remasters (I think they are quite good for some of the albums, but mostly prefer the originals), I think the first batch of Japanese mini-LP's are the most desirable version. Nice thick cardboard and not further boosted levels, combined with good manufacturing quality. I have the complete set and am happy I have them.