Grateful Dead on CD

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Prog_Wizard, Jul 21, 2014.

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  1. Prog_Wizard

    Prog_Wizard Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    Thanks for all the help and info guys.
    Managed to dig out the original CDs of American Beauty and Wake Of The Flood yesterday evening and do a little comparison. Nothing to heavy, just a quick listen to a couple of tracks from each. The most notable difference is probably that the Rhinos are more bass heavy EQ wise...and the originals seem to have more reverb going on. Plenty of detail in both though.
     
  2. saundr00

    saundr00 Bobby

    Sorry OP for derailing the thread...

    It is pretty much agreed that the filter switching was hardware only and used during encoding only. It was never implemented for playback in hardware, nor would a software decoder decode it.
     
  3. saundr00

    saundr00 Bobby

    I'll try to check mine tonight. I'm pretty sure peak extension was used for all archival releases until the 1977 box.
     
  4. tone ded freb

    tone ded freb Senior Member

    Location:
    Arizona Snowbowl
    Thanks. I recall checking a few a while ago and not seeing any peak extension indicated in Foobar but I didn't check them all, I just assumed that none used it based on my small sample. If any of them use it, I would want to check them each one-by-one so I could use Foobar to convert to 24-bit flac for computer playback.
     
  5. saundr00

    saundr00 Bobby

    This is pretty weird. Vols. 5, 6, 8, and 10 use peak extension. The other ones ( :) ) do not.
     
  6. tone ded freb

    tone ded freb Senior Member

    Location:
    Arizona Snowbowl
    Thanks for checking. I'll have to redo those few. :thumbsup:
     
  7. fluffskul

    fluffskul Would rather be at a concert

    Location:
    albany, ny
    Its too bad Grateful Dead CDs can't be discussed without getting into the tired and inevitable conversation of what one does and doesn't hear with HDCD decoding.

    As far as the first album goes, once you hear the mono, you'll never want to go back to stereo. And that's LP only for now. Though the Rhino CD is worth it just for the "Death Don't Have Mercy" jam bonus track.

    The second and third album, there are different stereo mixes. And I'm not familiar enough with each to discuss these albums intelligently. But I believe Anthem is only available in its original mix on LP, thus making another purchase necessary for the completist regardless of which CD you chose.

    American Beauty & Workingman's Dead sound absolutely awesome on their original CD. I just recently grabbed the Rhino of these, and haven't compared. While I will some day, its not a priority to me because these are both supposedly upcoming on MFSL SACD. So I suspect we haven't heard the definitive digital version yet.
     
  8. Laservampire

    Laservampire Down with this sort of thing

    It's actually Aoxomoxoa that is only available in the original '69 mix on the reissue vinyl. All CDs use the (IMHO superior) 1972 remix.

    Anthem on CD has always been the original '68 mix.

    Also, it's worth noting that the remaster of the 1st album is a remix, and the old Warner CD is the original stereo mix.
     
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  9. Jlbrach

    Jlbrach Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC
    I think the box is outstanding....i wish all boxsets were as well done and sounded as good...are they perfect?Of course not but they are better than 90% of boxes i have
     
  10. fluffskul

    fluffskul Would rather be at a concert

    Location:
    albany, ny
    i knew i was going to get that backwards.
     
  11. Logan S

    Logan S Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Re: Live/Dead, it should be noted that the old Warner CD uses NR, which is mentioned in the booklet. Most of the songs still sound pretty good and have hiss most of the time, but there are a few bits at beginnings and ends of songs that sound a little weird. Still, it's the only way to obtain the original 1969 stereo mix on CD, and it's currently my go-to version.
     
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  12. tlake6659

    tlake6659 Senior Member

    Location:
    NJ
    I know that the first album remaster has extended takes on some of the songs, but are you sure it is a remix?

    Also of note is the the HDTracks download of Anthem uses the remix. I believe this is the first time the remix for Anthem was released digitally.
     
  13. Laservampire

    Laservampire Down with this sort of thing

    Very sure, they tried to mix it similarly, but there are some parts where the reverb doesn't match (dry on one mix, reverbed on the other) and the instrument placement is occasionally different.

    Also, on the remixed Viola Lee Blues a tape warble starts to creep in partway through, it's very noticeable on sustained notes.

    Cool to know! I've always wanted to hear the Anthem remix, I love that album.
     
  14. Crispy Rob

    Crispy Rob Cat Juggler

    Location:
    Oakland, CA
    I wish I had paid more attention and had known about the remixes on the CD versions of the first album and Live/Dead before discarding my original CDs back when I bought the Golden Road box. This is a forum is a great place to learn about regrettable decisions I made many years ago when upgrading and replacing earlier masters (I'm talking to you, The Song Remains the Same, among many others). I do have both the stereo vinyl and the RSD mono vinyl of the first album, though. I have the MFSL of Live/Dead on vinyl, which I understand is also the remix (or perhaps yet another, different remix?) and my earlier vinyl copy of Live/Dead, which was a mid-80s reissue with the original mix, disappeared many years ago when I loaned it out and never got it back.

    I still have not heard the original mix of Aoxomoxoa, would love to hear it someday. I have the Anthem remix on vinyl (also mid-80s reissue) and it is VERY different from the original mix. I did an a/b several months ago, and overall strongly preferred the original mix, but the remix is buried deeper into my memory banks. The one aspect where I think the remix is stronger is the emphasis on the chiming sounds in the early portions of New Potato Caboose, but YMMV.

    Back to the original question, as others have pointed out, the GD catalog in general has usually been mastered well with good sound quality in mind, and both the Golden Roads and Beyond Description boxes (and the individual releases of discs with the same mastering, obviously) sound fantastic to my ears.
     
    GerryO likes this.
  15. Laservampire

    Laservampire Down with this sort of thing

    Listening to the Anthem remix now, it's a bit of a crappy mix. Really disjointed sounding, much like the original mix of Aoxomoxoa.
     
  16. notesofachord

    notesofachord Riding down the river in an old canoe

    Location:
    Mojave Desert
    It's pretty fascinating. There is weird stuff going on in the sound-field all the time. Here's "Mountains of the Moon" with the eerie female "choir" vocals:
     
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  17. notesofachord

    notesofachord Riding down the river in an old canoe

    Location:
    Mojave Desert
    The original version of "What's Become of the Baby" is basically the studio version of "Feedback" with distorto voice Jerry reciting a weird Robert Hunter poem. It's a very interesting piece of avant-psych, IMO, whereas the remix, which is just Jerry's vocal isolated and treated with filtering, is quite boring.



    Waves of violet go crashing and laughing
    Rainbow winged singing birds fly round the sun
    Sunbells rain down in a liquid profusion
    Mermaids on porpoises draw up the dawn

    What's become of the baby
    This cold December morning?

    Songbirds
    frozen in their flight
    drifting to the earth
    remnants of forgotten dreaming
    Calling...
    answer comes there none
    Go to sleep you child
    Dream of never ending always

    Panes of crystal
    Eyes sparkle like waterfalls
    lighting the polished ice caverns of Khan
    But where in the looking-glass fields of illusion
    wandered the child who was perfect as dawn?

    What's become of the Baby
    this cold December morning?

    Racing
    rhythms of the sun
    all the world revolves
    captured in the eye of Odin
    Allah
    Pray where are you now?
    All Mohammed's men
    blinded by the sparkling water

    Scheherazade gathering stories to tell
    from primal gold fantasy petals that fall
    But where is the child
    who played with the sun chimes
    and chased the cloud sheep
    to the regions of rhyme?

    Stranded
    cries the south wind
    Lost in the regions of lead
    Shackled by chains of illusion
    Delusions of living and dead
     
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  18. tlake6659

    tlake6659 Senior Member

    Location:
    NJ
    I also believe that the remaster of Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses) is also remixed.
     
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  19. pbuzby

    pbuzby Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, US
    One bit I noticed recently. "Dupree's Diamond Blues" has a different lead vocal in the remix. It may be an alternate take from the original sessions, but since Jerry sings much more confidently in the remix version than the original it makes me wonder if it is a new vocal from 1971.
     
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  20. Crispy Rob

    Crispy Rob Cat Juggler

    Location:
    Oakland, CA
    The original mix of Anthem seems to have a much wider soundstage.
     
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  21. Crispy Rob

    Crispy Rob Cat Juggler

    Location:
    Oakland, CA
    Thank you, I did not know that either.
    ,
     
  22. puffyrock2

    puffyrock2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Louisiana
    I always thought the same thing. The remix of this song is a total waste of 8 minutes. The original version is pretty interesting and has a very creepy mood to it.
     
  23. Prog_Wizard

    Prog_Wizard Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    Wow, I stopped getting notifications for this thread. Thought it was dead in the water. Interesting stuff from everyone. Picked up the American Beauty vinyl today. Sounds lovely !
     
  24. Ray29

    Ray29 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    The studio albums are great and I think even better in the remastered form. But the live releases that keep coming and coming are really where it's at. The daves picks 11 of a November 72 Kansas show will be out in a couple days. What a powerhouse they were in that single drummer era of 72-74. I keep getting blown away by these performances. Just purchased the dicks picks 28 from February 73. Can't believe how much they grew as a band in a few short months.
     
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