Rush - new 2015 vinyl and hi-res reissues thread.

I certainly hope it's the last time I need to think about buying them!!!

 

CARESS OF STEEL (24/192) 2015
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Analyzed: Rush / Caress Of Steel
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DR Peak RMS Duration Track
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DR12 -1.58 dB -15.08 dB 4:42 01-Bastille Day
DR11 -0.81 dB -15.63 dB 3:43 02-I Think I'm Going Bald
DR13 -2.12 dB -17.93 dB 4:15 03-Lakeside Park
DR13 0.00 dB -16.34 dB 12:33 04-The Necromancer
DR13 0.00 dB -17.02 dB 20:11 05-The Fountain Of Lamneth
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Number of tracks: 5
Official DR value: DR12

Samplerate: 192000 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 24
Bitrate: 4659 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================


CARESS OF STEEL (24/196) 2013
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Analyzed: Rush / Caress Of Steel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR7 -0.10 dB -8.95 dB 4:42 01-Bastille Day
DR8 -0.10 dB -9.41 dB 3:43 02-I Think I'm Going Bald
DR9 -0.10 dB -11.59 dB 4:12 03-Lakeside Park
DR7 -0.09 dB -10.28 dB 12:37 04-The Necromancer
DR7 0.00 dB -11.04 dB 20:06 05-The Fountain Of Lamneth
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks: 5
Official DR value: DR8

Samplerate: 96000 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 24
Bitrate: 3002 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================

 

Uh oh, the numbers look bad, time to change your mind about Caress of Steel!

 

Cos 2013 is not bad at all, but listening through headphones is oppressive .The instruments sound more aggressive .
Cos 2015 is quieter , the instruments are less stuck , the "sound space" to breathe .

For example, here is the graph of the song " Neucromancer " from the following words :
"Stealthily attacking- By-Tor slays his foe
The men are free to run now - From labyrinths below"



In Cos 2013, the voice and the bass are compressed together.
In Cos 2015, the voice and the bass are well separated .

 

Ha, that's a no-no mentioning that here.

 

Ok, I heard only Bastille Day from the 2015 CoS digital remaster. The sound quality is much better than Fly By Night and everything is nice and centered. This is the first Rush (in this series) that has no 'bass-boost'.

I pitted it against my original Canadian Anthem CD (which has always been considered the best CoS of the digital formats) and the 2015 wins hands down.

I also pitted it against an older US Pressing needledrop, from a few years back. Remarkably they are almost the same. At first I could not tell the difference, but the needledrop has the edge because I can crank it a little higher without fatigue. The 2015 isn't LOUD it's just a little sharper sounding than the original vinyl.

 

Or lack of bass-cut.

 

I think anyone who's been around the forum and/or a Rush fan already knew that the '97 and subsequent remasters (with the exception of the latest 2015 remaster) of COS are squashed...no news there. The real news is that the new remaster appears to finally have been done right (or as close to "right" as we are going to get).

 

That's great news for me, I have an old US pressing of CoS so maybe I won't splurge for this. I need to save my money for the AFTK and Hemispheres remasters coming later this year anyway that I only have the '97 CDs of.

 

Haven't read through the entire thread but are all of these 2015 HD-Tracks 24/192's remastered?

 

I concur. As I posted earlier I have an original GK and had purchased the 2015 reissue. I returned my 2015 reissue ONLY because it suffered infill problems.

 

Yep, but make sure to avoid the 2013 24/96 files as they're the compressed Sector remasters.

 

The 24/96 tracks in the 2015 release are really the older 2013 Sector tracks?

 

No, the new 24/96 downloads should have the same sound quality as the other 2015 editions. Just avoid anything with a 2013 date and you're good to go. Sorry if my post confused you.

 

From what I have read - not heard - three cheers for Rush for getting these new masters right. I can't wait for A Farewell To Kings.

 

^^^ absolutely! We can only hope other bands will follow.

And yes FTK and HEMI are going to rock....

 

Listened to 192/24 Caress of Steel at work through my Dragonfly to UE 900 earbuds; it sounds fantastic and is EXTREMELY crankable.

I did some light A/B'ing with the Sector 1 version for the first couple of minutes of Bastille Day. I echo the comments that the 2015 is big lush midrange, while the Sector brings the crunch in a not bad way IMO. There is room in my flash drive (and heart) for both, and am glad to have different versions. I loved how Sector CoS sounded on my home stereo, but I expect it will be awhile until the family clears out for me to crank Alex's epic "Necromancer" solos, 2015 vintage. This will be a fun A/B session!

Can't wait for the vinyl to arrive next week. These are the days...

 

Listened to 192/24 Caress of Steel at work through my Dragonfly to UE 900 earbuds; it sounds fantastic and is EXTREMELY crankable.

I did some light A/B'ing with the Sector 1 version for the first couple of minutes of Bastille Day. I echo the comments that the 2015 is big lush midrange, while the Sector brings the crunch in a not bad way IMO. There is room in my flash drive (and heart) for both, and am glad to have different versions. I loved how Sector CoS sounded on my home stereo, but I expect it will be awhile until the family clears out for me to crank Alex's epic "Necromancer" shred. This will be a fun A/B session!

Can't wait for the vinyl to arrive next week. These are the days...

 

Gutted! ProStudioMasters and HDTracks aren't available outside of the US. Looking elsewhere I suppose.

After looking at options for either 192 or 96, I'll take that stab and go for the 192.

 

When you take the stab, why not also down convert it to 24/96 and see if you can tell a difference. If you can't, then you'll save money in the future...by only purchasing the 24/96.

 

Yes, I suppose, as even Steven Wilson has 24/96 versions of his remixes but I'd still like to have the top notch files especially for future technological purposes, upgrading equipment etc.

 

I usually go for 24/96 even when 24/192 is available, but with the Rush 70's catalog I won't take any chances. And since these remasters really feel like the final versions of this material I think its worth the extra few bucks for the 192. But of course later on they will release the DSD-transfers and the discussion will begin... Anyone heard any news about those? I think DSD was mentioned when this whole reissue thing was announced.

 

So do I, I figure that middle age means I can't hear the difference anymore.

 

Just get yourself a free PayPal account and you'll be able to buy from HDTracks. I'm in Canada and have had no problem buying from them now for several years.

 

If you live in Europe, you might try www.highresaudio.com.

To buy from ProStudio Masters, you just need a credit card with a US billing address, as far as I know.

However, here's a big cheer for the music industry for making it hard for their customers to buy their product. Guess they'll be whining again at the end of the year about not making enough dough. And of course it's gonna be everybody else's fault but theirs.