Finally! Iron Maiden BLACK VINYL reissues coming in September...

Whoa. Can that be right? That is a huge huge difference. I havent heard it, but Id say that would sound as dull as dishwater!

 

I doesn't sound as dull as it looks. The typical treble frequencies (cymbals etc.) you usually notice are not more than 10 kHz, and up to around there, it is "only" a 2 dB difference. Don't look at the area where it dives down beyond -3 dB, that is not what you typically hear in a recording.

 

What would the purpose be for rolling off the highs like this during the mastering process?

 

Someone thought it was too bright. Kind of remarkable how they've gone from one extreme for the same music. Someone thought the CD needed to be brightened and now many years later someone thought this LP reissue needed the highs rolled a little.

 

Some people (not me) think these were not mastered at all because the promo ads, etc. did not say 'remastered'. If that's true, this is how the 'original analogue master tapes' sound...or, sound after 30 plus years of sitting around. I really don't know what to think but, I know what I hear.

 

I have been following this thread without much to add being I have all of the Maiden remasters on CD (which I find now to be extremely disliked) because of compression. I was hoping to grab some vinyls after a friend gave me near mint originals of "Killers" and "Powerslave" but gosh darn, NEW vinyl's of ANY sort seem to be a risky proposition these days, especially when you take into account the cost. I love vinyl but I'm sticking to the used bins.

 

A hell of a lot of air and ambience certainly lives up there!

 

If you have an EQ and turn up the treble all the way, it really improves it. The vinyl is dead-silent, heavy-weight 180 gram, black, and beautiful. The separation during most of the record is great. It just doesn't have that 'smack you in your face' dynamics that the originals have.

 

How could we possibly know if the master tapes sound like this? We know absolutely nothing of what went on here.

 

For what these cost you shouldn't *have* to do so much tweaking just to make them sound right, IMO.

 

These are cheap in comparison to many reissues actually. I for one prefer the less treble. I don't have a problem with the roll off. It is pretty typical of a recording that hasn't been smiley faced.

 

They may not have rolled them off but if they did it would be so you you could fit more info on the record or the engineer thought there was too much treble on the recording.

 

I agree with you. However, the LPs themselves sound good and the packaging is very well done. I say let's see how the next batch turns out before judging all of the reissues. For example, Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets reissues were not good (the 45 RPM ones were OKAY, again if the volume was up). However, the rest of the box set 45 RPM Metallica reissues sound incredible (in my opinion). Better than some of the original LPs.

 

I have fundamental issues with applying EQ to playback. Never have,never will. I tune the room and speakers within, and want to hear it as is. Yes, Im obsessive and a bit weird

 

But the problem is some people don't have to add EQ. I don't and they still sound fine to my ears. So it is just a matter of opinion/taste.

 

I would wait on buying Killers from Amazon. I have received 2 copies with a skip at the end of Innocent Exile. What a pain. At least Amazon's customer service is excellent.

 

Absolutely. 2 dB at 10 kHz is barely detectable. However, the drop gets more significative after 15-16 kHz, but remember that above 17-18 kHz a good portion of the signal may actually be noise (especially with analog recordings), most of the time.
The master tapes may have lost some HF in 32 years.

Thanks for posting the graph!!! This is what I wanted to see. Can you please make more, from S/T and Killers?

 

Barely audible? Not to me. 2db boost at 10db is easily noticeable here.

 

Very interesting. would like to see comparison of the S/T and Killers to. I think S/T sounds really good actually.
Of the first three that one is the keeper!

 

The original records are not Smiley Faced neither are the original Cd's!!! I Just want to state that fact and it is how they should sound, every 'remaster' released by the Maiden camp have just sounded wrong as it seems these new records do, they need to listen to there fans regarding sound quality !!

 

I'm a fan (been one since Powerslave) and I feel these new ones sound good and most originals are too bright. I never said the originals are smiley faced. They don't have enough bass to have that classification. I can understand people thinking these dont have enough treble but I'm not one of them.
Some may say every remaster/reissue may sound "wrong" but some of that may be just the fact that your used to the sound of the originals. Just an opinion of course and that is all.

 

Yes ofcourse the cd-remasters sound wrong, take something that initiatly had DR14 and slam them to DR7 will sure make them sound BAD!

 

This isn't always true. Not saying this isn't the case on these but some albums (if remastered properly) can sound better with less dynamics. It is a very hard thing to accomplish correctly though.

 

All singles and vinyls have arrived

 

You are not weird, quite a few of us never use the tone controls or any type of EQ. I personally never do, but with this TNOTB reissue, I feel myself reaching for that treble control.