Led Zeppelin 2014 remasters -- the complaints thread

Hmmm I'd previously heard the drop outs on my LP (Optimal Pressing) and CD, and just assumed the tapes had deteriorated.

Just checked the Hi-Res download and the MFIT, and those dropouts are not present. Was additional work done on the Hi-Res and the MFIT? Strange, because I thought a common source was used across all formats for these remasters. Based on the above, one could start a conspiracy theory that the LPs (or at least Coda) are sourced from CD resolution digital masters. Very strange.

 

Only one complaint - "Going to California" fades early again. Not as early as 1990 but it still ruins the song. what's the point?

Otherwise I love the remastering job - it sounds great in the car, which is where Zeppelin matters the most for me. (my car radio is not listed in my profile, sorry)

Ok, two complaints - aside from rhe 1969 concert, I found the companion CDs to be a waste of time. I could fit the best bits on a single CD and never hear the rest again.

 

This is not a fair criticism (since apparently the material doesn't exist any longer), but I'm still disappointed in the Led Zeppelin 1 bonus disc. I had high hopes for it. Thought we could get studio versions of 'As Long As I Have You', 'The Train Kept a Rollin'', the first rehearsal, etc, etc. Instead, what we did get was a slight upgrade to a show that had already circulated in collector circles. Been there, done that. Why not the 'New Yardbirds' show that was supposedly recorded on the 1968 Scandinavian tour?

Again though, I know it's not fair and that Jimmy can't release what (I assume) he doesn't have. Just disappointing is all. On the bright side, The Coda deluxe was quite good!

 

I don't have the vinyl but that could easily be confirmed by someone recording the vinyl to 96 or 192khz and checking the frequencies. That is odd to only have it on the CD and LP. Would love to see a graph from the LP.

 

Uhhhh, a negative image of the album is lazy.... that's all I got, I was a happy purchaser.

 

All I can say is its a sorry state of affairs when modern Vinyl remasters can't even match the sound quality of the original issues, never mind improve on them! To me its an indication of many things in society these days. People aren't interested in producing a true quality product, money and profits comes above all else. The mastering engineers were better back in the day, as can be heard on vintage vinyl. Your not telling me they couldn't have replicated as closely as possible the EQ/sound quality of the originals even though the tapes are obviously not as fresh as they were in the 70's.

 

Personally I thought the debut's companion disc was the only one that was really worthwhile and would bear repeated listens in the future. I wish the rest of the bonus discs had followed the same format (i.e. live material) instead of just giving us a bunch of "negligibly-different-from-the-album-version" demos.

 

while i certainly would have welcomed more "difference" in the bonus studio material (you really have to be playing CLOSE attention to recognize much of it as different than the masters themselves), i still find it preferable to more live stuff. the companion discs were bonuses, offered at a VERY reasonable price, in addition to (imho) lovingly remastered reissues of the catalogue. i would have felt cheated if it'd been replaced with live versions of zep's greatest hits on a tour-by-tour basis.

let that be a separate set of releases

smitquest

 

For Live Zep, I still fully enjoy How The West Was Won. I wish I also enjoyed the mastering.

 

Sorry, I'm a bit confused by your post. You concede that tapes can be deteriorated (leading to poor quality) but believe the sound quality can be accurately replicated?

 

Well, the Zep 1 companion disc is a vintage 1969 concert recording in acceptable quality. So, it isn't horrible or anything and is certainly worthwhile. The problem for me was a combination of I was hoping for bigger and better things combined with I had already heard it several times.

As for the other companion discs, I agree with the general consensus that Zep 3 is good and Coda is great. The rest 'meh'.

 

Drop outs are not present on the MFIT or 24/96 versions. They are present on both the CD and the Vinyl formats.

Makes you wonder.....why?

 

I think you may be (but hope you are not) on to something here.

 

Regarding the dropouts (glitches?) in Ozone Baby, here's what they sound like (samples are FLAC ~15 s in duration):

1. 2015 HD download - no glitch/dropout audible (having said that, was the dropout at ~11 s fixed?)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/or9gesb2z7y6dur/Ozone Baby 2015 HD download.flac?dl=0

2. 2015 LP - glitch heard at ~2.5 s and dropout at ~11.5 s (raw vinyl rip other than normalization to bring volume up to similar level as HD & CD)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/e6yb384xuth7e7a/Ozone Baby 2015 LP.flac?dl=0

3. 2015 CD - glitch heard at ~2 s and dropout at ~11 s
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ui4glz93lrezc5s/Ozone Baby 2015 CD.flac?dl=0

The first artifact sounds like a glitch, and the second like a traditional tape dropout/deterioration. I forgot to do the MFiT sample, but it sounds like 1. above (i.e. no obvious glitch/dropout).

 

I am still scratching my head why the CD and the vinyl share the same glitch and if this is "evidence" that the LP was taken from the cd source

 

Was hoping Custard Pie would sound good when I got the Davis PG. Guess it's just not meant to be.

 

Sounds best on the Classic Records vinyl.

 

Has anybody noticed how bad these sound on the radio? I realize fm rock radio is broadcast hot to begin with and not a good measure, but man, it used to be a treat when they came on the radio. Now it's like a train wreck. I heard The Ocean the other day and Heartbreaker today and they were just a real mess.

 

How do you know what mastering and format you were hearing?

 

I'm rather familiar with all the previous versions. And how they sounded on the radio.

 

I'm noticing quite a few 2014/2015 remastered cd's showing up in used book stores and record shops. I came across an LZ I for $5.99 earlier today.

 

Happens all the time. And believe or not, we arent the ones they were remastered for. None of the former I like, but thats the way it is.

 

That's an indication of the times in which we live. People buy CDs then rip them then sell the physical copies. Back in the earl;y 2000's I saw a lot of the original LZ CDs in the used bins. Now I rarely see them and mostly the Marino remasters.

 

Two things:

1. No back cover album art for the 2-cd Deluxe versions. Instead we got completely pointless 'negative' shots of the front cover art instead. Did Jimmy figure he already spoiled us enough with the bonus discs?

2. No extra die-cut on the back of the sleeve of Physical Graffiti like the original cover used to have, rendering some of the insert pics unusable for some 'interchanging sleeves'-fun.

 

Yeah, it seems like JP may very well not have rumored studio outtakes from LZ1, nor a listenable rehearsal tape. One imagines if a New Yardbirds live tape existed in good sound, JP would have released it - again it could be another rumored item that actually does not exist. It would have been ideal had there been something rare and uncovered, and that is likely one of the reasons why the live Paris tape is disappointing to some, but there simply may not be much in the vaults.