Led Zeppelin 2014 Vinyl Remasters Zoso, Houses of the Holy, etc.

Just found your earlier post. You mention that The Ocean sounds terrible. Are you hearing the same thing I am, distortion in the left channel, on that song only? It's pretty bad, not subtle at all, and it's only on the vinyl, not the cd.

 

I agree with your assessment. I was never interested in the bonus material deluxe sets because that kind of thing does not interest me with any release, not just LZ.

Finding good condition copies of Led Zeppelin pressings were/are difficult to find on a good day. I never thought they would ever be able to completely match the best cutting of these records so I was not all that disappointed. However, I am glad that some new copies are in stock for those that want the experience in purchasing new vinyl. I personally rate these reissues as an 8 to a 8.5 out of 10 in comparison to some of the best previously issued pressings.

 

8 to 8.5 out of 10..not bad.
I do think that one should take into account better and quieter vinyl too. I am amazed by all members over here owning quiet old Atlantics...they did not grow on trees you know.

 

Are you using a micro line stylus tip? I had the same problems with a Beatles SPLHCB when those reissues first came out. I switched to an elliptical stylus and the problems went away. Just a possibility?

 

After several frustrated rounds with IV I thought my slightly hyperacusis ears had gone wild and made me not fit for enjoying this classic any more. Then I pulled out my only alternative from the shelves, a German 80s pressing, and compared them. Being more muddy, the 80s press sounded (to my ears) warmer and more joyful. I wondered why I got this feeling, and I found an example; at the beginning of WTLB there were a lot more bass on the 80s press than on the 2014. The 2014 had instead clearer harp and drums. Of coarse the drums are important for this song, but without the bass it doesnt swing. The 80s press make med wanna dance hearing this intro, the 2014 makes me wanna sit down. With this pressing WTLB is not the sexy beast it used to be, at least not for me. Maybe its just my ears, or that my TT etc is not able to get the joy out of the new pressing, but I really tried to like this version and I love the I-III 2014 remasters. What about early 70s pressings, I guess they have more bass and are clearer at the same time? (Or maybe 80s pressings are better than their reputation.)

 

I'm sick of having mediocre pressings and too broke to shell out hundreds for the holy grail. I'm glad they're releasing the albums all over again. I, for one, enjoy the new releases.

 

indeed.

elliptical.

man both of these releases sound really nice to me too. up until The Ocean. i thought something must be wrong with my setup at first, but i can't get it to go away. reminds me of the infamous smashing pumpkins release with "zero" sounding downright nasty at the end of the disc.

 

I"m surprised the discussion here is so light, compared to the first 3 reissues. Anyway, I received and spinned the regular LP reissues of IV and HOTH today as well as doing some quick comparisons with my go-to copies and I'm a bit let down.

IV - Compared new reissue to an early 1841 Atlantic PORKY/PECKO DUCK copy. This one's pretty close. The reissue is not shabby and is tonally close to the original. However, the original has more air around the mix and the reissue seems more congested, and sometimes shrill and grainy. There also seems to be an extreme top-end EQ boost on the reissue that isn't particularly pleasing, as well as some mild sibilance. Still, to have a clean-player of this classic is a big deal and one can't help but appreciate the super quiet backgrounds of the acoustic tracks -- and to listen to a Stairway To Heaven never touched by anyone's else's stylus is pretty great.

HOTH - Compared new reissue to the Classic 180g. Granted the Classic is stiff competition but it beats the reissue in every way for me. There a forwardness to the reissue that is not appealing, like it's trying too hard, whereas the Classic sounds more refined yet more detailed and open all at the same time. Here too there seems to be an excessive top-end boost and too much compression. Worst of all is the horrific distortion during The Ocean that others have mentioned. It is god-awful, one of the most offensive things I've heard on a new piece of vinyl in some time. Absolutely unlistenable.

For someone just wanting quiet copies, these are certainly worthwhile and listenable (well, except for The Ocean) but the warm fuzzies that the I, II and III reissues brought aren't really here IMO. Let's hope things improve for PG and Presence.

 

Surely "The Ocean" isn't supposed to sound like this, is it? There must be something wrong...

 

They pretty much got the original vinyl releases right back in the late 60's and 70's.
Anything less in terms of sound quality is a failure.
Would have cost stuff all to do all analogue mastering for the vinyl - they really just don't care.
Anything Page has his hand in in terms of remastering is a backward step sound wise.

 

There must be. It sounds normal on the cd version.

 

Oh God, so "The Ocean" sounds like it's hosed on everyone's vinyl copies? The lacquer must be jacked. We need to start putting pressure on them to do a replacement program for this.

 

They've all been fine or better than fine except for HotH.

 

It seems like this thread has less steam than the original first three releases. I'm hoping to compare the reissue IV with UK Plum Porky, Classic Records and an MO Porky this weekend with some friends if the stars align. I've already compared the three mentioned and the UK Plum sounds much better than every US pressing I've heard, and I think I have three or four of them. The Classic rarely gets mentioned on this board, and it's also quite good... but different.

 

IMO you can leave the Classic out of the running as far as HotH> I compared that to a mint US RL and the Classic lost hard.....so I would just go new reissue VS USA RL pressing and leave the Classic out of it. its not that great IMO

 

Ouch! How did a problematic pressing of HOTH even make it out of the gate? Is basic quality control that much of a lost art in this day and age?

 

Well, all I can say now is that I'm glad that I haven't yet "pulled the trigger" on obtaining a copy of this new pressing. I will wait until someone informs me that there has been a corrected replacement pressing made available. It's just absolutely mind boggling to think that these types of problems in vinyl production (especially for a project of this high of a profile) persist.

 

Yup, my copy has the left channel distortion on The Ocean as well. Almost sounds like clipping on the guitar track. What a bummer. To me these albums hold such an important place in music to see them mishandled like this is just terrible. A stark contrast to the Beatles Mono's, which sounded like they were treated with the care they deserved. I guess my copy's going back. I'll stick with my VG+ RL.

 

Glad you like them, however, I cannot share your enthusiasm.

 

can somebody please post a sample of The Ocean from their copy of HOTH, so we can hear the distortion?
EU version: pressed at Optimal Media GmbH
US/CAN version: pressed at Pallas (P.USA)???

 

Not sure what the problem is that people are hearing on The Ocean. Is it throughout the track, or just during the first solo? If the latter, that's the legendary crackle, which has always been there.

Apart from this, mine sounds fine. (I have a BD [= Optimal?] pressing.)

 

I've been away from home all week and my SD Box Sets arrived just after I left on Monday. Last night I tried to grab the auto-rip of HOTH from Amazon UK so that I could take a listen in my hotel room. As others have stated, I discovered that the companion disc is not yet available for auto-rip. I wrote to Amazon and received a prompt reply as follows;

"I'm sorry to hear that the disc 2 of the 'Houses Of The Holy' is missing.
Normally, in this situation, I'd create a replacement order for the item right away, to be sent to you as soon as possible at no additional charge.
Unfortunately, at the moment, "Houses Of The Holy" is this product is not currently offered by Amazon.co.uk because a customer recently told us that the item he or she received was not as described and that's why, we can't send a replacement before the completion of the investigation."

I had to smile after some of the -ve reactions we've seen about the companion discs and wonder if the he/she complained because they couldn't hear the difference on certain tracks when compared to the original album Perhaps an allegation of Jimmy breaching the trades description act?!?!?

A curious situation...........

 

I have noise on The Ocean but mainly confined to the start of the track - put it down to a plating / pressing issue that likely affects all copies. I am surprised anybody expects these to equal the Classic Records reissues but I would say the added compression and bass makes them closer to early UK pressings which may have been a reference. I also did not find these bright. In fact less top end than Classic as well as loss of spaciousness. IV actually sounds pretty muddy compared to the other titles which I'm sure is the recording. They do sort of artificially try to make certain instruments stand out in places which is typical of digital remasters. In any case I don't find them obviously digital sounding.

If you don't have a Classic Records version or early pressing in EX condition to compare directly I doubt these will disappoint. Of course the question remains as to why they didn't do these all analogue - likely convenience in producing alongside digital media and the incorrect belief that hi-res is as good as analogue. In the end these are pretty good sounding and better than most reissued vinyl. The success of the Beatles Mono project should in future prompt engineers to consider giving priority to all analogue remastering.

 

Paul, do you have the EU Optimal pressings?

 

+1
I'm intetrested too.