Frank Zappa - Entire Catalogue Remastered and Reissued (part4)

Have bought it via amazon.co.uk some weeks ago, so I think there is no chance for replacing it...

 

OK, I just did, and I may understand the issue better now, thanks. ...Notwithstanding which I must say that I still DON'T hear that tape warble or glitch (not on that sample, not on the remastered CD, nor on the original LP)... It won't keep me awake at night though.

 

I see no problem in getting new pressing from Amazon.co.uk if the disc has glitch, they have usually provided new pressing themselves or I have gotten one from the record-company.

Is it possible for someone that has access to post samples from JG-disc (US) that does not have the glitch and one that has it (EU)? Would be curious to listen how they differ and if the glitch is really big thing.

Currently I have the 2012 EU pressing (which I bought from Amazon.co.uk sometime ago) but havent yet had time to listen to it in full and carefully.
If nobody cant post the links here, I might get the Ryko'95 disc from local library so I can listen to it then too, no problem.

 

See post #101 and #103.

 

Ok, good thanks for the links.

 

All right, this is my analysis on the difference between the US/EU pressings of the 2012 UMe remasters (courtesy of dlokazip and liv3evil, who kindly uploaded the samples).

My Guitar: Bit identical.

Bwana Dik: The first samples (up to #13417) are bit identical. But after that, the result is slightly different:

sample#: US (L) US (R) EU (L) EU (L)
13418: -17071,-15018 -17072,-15018
13419: -18026,-14845 -18027,-14845
13420: -18311,-15141 -18312,-15141
13421: -17887,-15960 -17888,-15960
13422: -17152,-16957 -17153,-16958
13423: -16227,-17364 -16227,-17365
13424: -15409,-16930 -15409,-16931
13434: -16865,-14010 -16866,-14010
13435: -17678,-14540 -17679,-14540
... etc.

It suggests that in some sections of the EU pressing, each sample of the left channel subtracts 1. Notwithstanding, it's highly unlikely that this kind of tiny difference can be perceived by human ears.

Watermelon:
This is an excerpt from the flac of the US pressing that dlokazip uploaded:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/4rhjpa
And this is an excerpt from my EU pressing:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/tg4n5g

For each file, I chose the same section after the big noise. Both files are the same length (4.219 seconds = 186073 samples). Therefore, they are supposed to be the same - but they aren't. In fact, their waveforms are clearly different (especially for the first second or so).

 

It's really very tiny and undetectable for the "normal" ear. Nothing to worry about, IMO. Opposed to the Watermelon issue …

 

This is an animated GIF of the the above-mentioned waveforms of the two versions of Watermelon:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/4u3nz7

My tentative conclusion is that this "flawed" EU version of JG is differently remastered for some reasons. Maybe the EU division of UMe applied some additional remastering. Or maybe the ZFT first delivered the defective remaster to UMe and later replaced it with the corrected version (which unfortunately didn't manage to reach the CD pressing plants in EU).

 

This is both very fascinating and totally bizarre...but hey, it keeps variation logs in biznes. I'll try to throw up a summary of this situation later tonight.

 

I am so sorry to change the subject, but how do I get the original mix of Hot Rats on CD? Thanks.

 

You probably cannot as the original mix is restricted to the original LP. The new Hot Rats CD release is the closest you can get to it as it replicates the LP content. The Ryko CD contains a nice mix but one that is completely different to the original LP and also has an extended "Gumbo Variations". So completists need all three -an original LP, the Ryko version and the new one.

 

"Normal" people would say, the new CD is the original mix .

Th.

 

Thanks guys!!!

 

Also, from the comments I have read or heard, the 2012 issue is the best digital version of the album and only original LP is better.

Those who own different pressings of the albums, do you reckon same opinions as here:


The uploader gives good ratings to many 2012 pressings...

 

Right ...I mean (haven't heard that new CD yet), notwithstanding Gail Zappa's own wording about it (ahem), ain't the new CD supposed to be the same mix as the Bernie Grundman-cut LP from 2007, which was the original mix? ...Of course a different mastering than the original Bizarre LP's but the SAME mix?...

[>confused again<]

 

The 2012 Hot Rats CD is the original mix, as featured on the original LP and 2008 Classic Records LP reissue.

All other CDs contain the 1987 FZ/Bob Stone remix.

You need both!

(IMHO the 2012 CD sounds better than the original LP, of which I have a hi-res needledrop from a mint 1st pressing. But of course your mileage may vary.)

 

If you want to listen to it without anything that can happen during mastering, then you would have to listen to the original mastertape. I would presume a high-res digital transfer from original mastertapes without any tweezage would very much respresent 1:1 what is on the mastertape (even if it ends up on a standard CD). More than the vinyl record, because of the greater limitations of the vinyl format (dynamic range, frequency response, etc.). (Please no discussion about digital vs. analog and CD vs. vinyl record again – I know that for many people anything sounds good, as long as it is analog and ends up on a vinyl record.)

I don't know how much BG-treatment is found on this CD. I haven't heard the vinyl reissue from 2008 and therefore couldn't compare it to any old vinyl issue. I don't know how close any of these versions come to the original master. And I will most likely never know. ;-)

Th.

 

He fails to mention that "Lumpy Money" has the '84 remix of "Money." And is it just me or this guy really stoned?

 

Is there a full list of differently remastered or remixed titles among the Zappa CD reissues. That is, which titles do not come from the same digital sources as the Rykodisc versions.

(Between the long thread and not-always-working search function, I am having trouble finding this information in the thread! Thanks.)

 

The UMe 2012 REMASTERED Titles:

Absolutely Free
Burnt Weeny Sandwich
Weasels Ripped My Flesh
Chunga’s Revenge
Fillmore East, June 1971
Just Another Band From L.A.
Waka / Jawaka
The Grand Wazoo
Over-nite Sensation
Apostrophe(‘)
One Size Fits All
Bongo Fury
Zoot Allures
Studio Tan
Sleep Dirt
Sheik Yerbouti
Joe’s Garage Acts 1, 2 & 3
Tinseltown Rebellion
Shut Up ‘N Play Yer Guitar
You Are What You Is
Them or Us

 

Thanks! Separate from that list, for the completest, I am aware of two:

Hot Rats (original mix; not on CD before)
Mothermania (comp with different mixes than album versions; not on CD before)

 

On a side note, could there be a problem with the original US (blue Bizarre) LP? I had a copy and it skipped and jumped in quite a few places on tracks 1 and 3 of side one. For that reason, I recently I bought another copy. Guess what, same problem! I have hundreds of LP's and they all play fine on my system.

 

A couple of other essential original MIXes from that list (for the 1st time, basically, in America) are "Sleep Dirt", "Sheik Yerbouti", "Fillmore East, June 1971" and "Weasels Ripped My Flesh".

 

Here below is something I posted a few months ago. Outside that single, peculiar experience, I have never encountered a SINGLE "skippy" copy of all the Bizarre/Reprise titles pressed in the USA (and you can believe me that I went through a few of those...):

>>Nowadays, the technology for counterfeiting albums and covers and labels must have made leaps and bounds...

About a year ago, I returned to a local store a NM+ copy of "Hot Rats", supposedly an original blue label Bizarre, but inside a slick, quasi-laminated cover (perfect print). It skipped all over (with nothing in sight in the grooves!)... However, it STILL sounded pretty good!...

Store manager didn't say a word, gave me an exchange credit, then a little later put the record back in the rack with same price sticker on... <<