The Complete Doors Studio Albums at HDTracks!

Where did hi-res of the post-Morrison albums come from? For years they've been saying they didn't have the masters. I have always greatly enjoyed those two records and I'm glad they're recognised as a worthwhile part of the catalogue at long last. Some great playing from all 3 surviving Doors in there.

I love how those two albums have been swept under the rug for ages, but now they are "an undeniable masterpiece... a seminal classic... a must-have for any collection." That's hilarious. Oh well, better late than never.

 

Thank you. $84.98 isn't bad for the complete set.

 

I said the same thing!!

 

I bit the bullet and bought the complete set. The sound is good, but I'm not sure if it's any better than the previous DVD-A set or any of the CDs or vinyl rips I've collected. The value of this set totally depends on what you already own. I think I can safely say that the Doors catalog is the one I've bought the most times and in multiple formats. It is nice to have the final two albums available and recognized as part of the catalog, because there are some good songs on them.

I do wish HD Tracks could provide liner notes or artwork.

 

Any chance of a more detailed review of Other Voices and Full Circle?

I've got the Howling Wolf issue of these and I'm not crazy about the sound. More significantly, there are odd lurches in the tempo, most noticeable on Ships w/ Sails. From my very non-technical perspective, I'd say that the vinyl they ripped was slightly warped and they've used pitch correction to fix up the fluctuations, with the unpleasant result that while the pitch is consistent, the tempo goes up and down. Either that or Densmore was on something strong during the sessions.

I've all but decided to get these but for $18 each, I want to be sure it's worth it. I'd appreciate any info you can provide.

 

They are much better than the bootlegs circulating and are as close the the master tape as we're likely to get. Solid, balanced sound. I deleted the bootleg files I had before I could do a full comparison. I don't know of any high-quality vinyl rips, so this is probably the best they will sound.

 

Anybody have a really high end system capable of discerning the difference between the high res files and the redbook files? Is it worth it? Is the soundstage vastly improved?

 

Thank you. Good enough for me. It's not that the sound of the Howling Wolf release I have is bad. It's just the weird tempo lurches that make some of it unlistenable. Any improvement on that will be worth it.

 

So then which masters are the Hi-Res files made from?

 

I have never purchased from HDTracks before, but I'm really tempted to go for this set. I was waiting for the SACDs, but this might be just as good and cheaper after all. However, the lack of info about source makes me wary.

 

HDTracks rarely reveal the source, though to be fair, the labels usually don't tell them, nor do they provide artwork or digital booklets.

 

Finally got a chance to hear Full Circle and it sounds terrific. In some ways, I prefer it to Other Voices as Ray's singing is much better but the songs themselves are pretty far from what a Doors song is expected to sound like. I can hear Morrison singing many of the tracks on Other Voices, but few of the ones on Full Circle. I'm sure Jim's version of "The Mosquito" would have been sublime.

Two of rock's great "what if...?" albums.

 

Well what did you expect?
One is a "seminal classic" and the other is an "undeniable masterpiece" after all.

 

I used a 20% coupon code (wyred20) to get the whole set for $80. I was going to hold off on the HDTracks set since I've pre-ordered the AP box and planned on needle dropping it, but for 80 bucks I'm happy to bite.

 

The sound on these is very legit. In fact, perhaps the best the original Doors mixes have sounded yet! (Not withstanding Hoffman's recent work, of course ). There's an interesting version of "Light My Fire" on here as well: it appears to be the original mix AND at the corrected speed.

Also, the mixes aren't digitally compressed whatsoever. I don't know why some people on the web are saying this. Pull up the songs in any sound-editing program, and you'll find no clipping. This is the real deal. VERY dynamic.

I just wish there was a uncensored version of "Break On Through" using the original mix besides the 1999 CD version. Compared to other masterings, the CD sounds loud and extra murky-it has quite a low-fidelity sound to it. While the 40th anniversary remix of this particular song is harsh on the cymbals, and lacks bass.

On the other hand, the 2012 HDTracks version sounds fabulous. Best I've heard this song sound yet. But it's censored ... I'm tempted to splice in Jim's vocals myself. I even found an a capella vocal track for the job.

 

The orginal release was the censored version. That's the one most people know and love. The uncensored version is more akin to a rarity/alternate version.

 

Anytime I hear the uncensored version I get pulled out of the song. I just don't like it.

I agree that the entire set sounds very good.

 

The best way to hear the debut is the remix with proper respect for all of Jim's sung vocals and the keyboard wizardry performed by Ray Manzarek. If you dig Manzarek more than some hired gun bass player, pick up the remix. There is a lot of power, bass wise, on the original mixes. More Manzarek, however, cannot be beat. The Doors sound is more dependent upon Ray than any session player provided. The remix demonstrates that to a high degree.

 

These 24bit versions sound amazing. So far I've listened to the first 2 albums. Interestingly on the doors s/t some of the fadeouts are slightly longer, for instance you can hear a bit of talking at the end of 20th century fox that isn't present on any other version (including the dcc). Comparing the s/t album in 24bit vs the dcc (my previous favorite master of the s/t) the dcc still has a little more "oomph" in the bass, but feels a little muddier as a result. Listening to the 24bit, you can hear a lot more separation, even the punch ins, tape cuts and errors are more noticeable. So the s/t dcc is still a great listening experience and probably sounds a little more like the original vinyl, darker, murkier, and the 24bit s/t really is like listening to the actual master, there's just a level of detail and separation there that I've never heard before (for instance "I looked at you" feels quite different as the guitars are more pronounced and vibrant) It's a tad more "clean" so it does lose a little of that darker edge that the dcc has (so I'll probably still listen to the dcc once in a while). It will be interesting to see if the new sacds in jan have the same extended fadeouts, indicating that this is all from the same new batch of mastering.

As far as strange days goes, to my ears the 24bit version blows every previous mastered version out of the water (including my previous favorite the dcc) Although always intended to be a more "bright" sound, I always found this album in particular felt like the bottom end was really shelfed. The 24bit version just has a much more "rounded" sound, especially in the low end. Also, the clarity jump is even more significant on this mastering than the s/t..again revealing some interesting "quirks" with the recording. (The title track for instance has kind of a weird intermittent kick bass drum sound, there on other masters like the dcc but there was more buried and less separated- here it sticks out like a sore thumb. Also there's some feedback on wtmo that is more pronounced here. However the 24bit really reveals how intricate the album was, using many different techniques to try to emulate the sound and layering of sgt. Pepper. This is really the first time I've heard this album in that light.

 

I'm very aware of that, but I'd have to disagree that the uncensored version is inauthentic. Sounds more weird hearing the obvious tape splices: "She gets h-", with the audible "h" sounds.

Of course, I understand there's a sense of nostalgia for those who grew up hearing the censored, but let's face it-the only reason Jim gave in to the censorship was because it was slated to be their first single, and "SHE GETS HIGH!" would have gotten in the way of their initial fame. The 'higher' in "Light My Fire", on the other hand, was written and sung in a way where they could explain it off.

I wouldn't necessarily agree with this, either. The original mix of "Break On Through" does a much better job of letting Ray's keyboard bass shine through than the 40th anniversary mix. The only problem with it is the censorship. "Soul Kitchen" also benefits from the isolated bass/drums during one of the verses. And "Back Door Man" NEEDS dat bass. And while they do have a somewhat murk behind them, neither of them suffer from any big fidelity issues.

On the other hand, tracks like "Light My Fire" and "The End" are VASTLY superior in their 40th anniversary incarnations. Much clearer, lifted out of the realm of low fidelity. There's a major difference in quality and clarity, and no bass issues either. And of course, "The End" needs all its lyrics.

For their debut album, it's really a track-by-track basis IMO. I'm currently in the process of constructing my own "go-to" version, using tracks from both mixes. And I'm sure there's a reason behind why the fidelity on the original mix suffers on certain tracks more than others.

Good thing their later albums don't really suffer from this issue. The remixes are vastly inferior for all their other albums, though fun alternates if you're into that sort of thing.

 

Yeah, Morrison Hotel remix is pretty bad. That original mix had something about it that the new one with modern reverb or whatever can't compete with.

 

Hey, where's An American Prayer? Love that album! I know, I'm in the minority . . .

 

I just bought the 24/96 version of The Doors self titled album off HDTracks and Morrison's voice is to the left of center soundstage on the songs. Is this correct? It's bugging me.

 

Pardon my ignorance in this matter, but is there a technical reason that these albums aren't available in the higher sample rate: 192? I certainly want to purchase the first two albums, but if anyone suspects that the 192/24 versions might be coming later, I might wait.

 

Anyone?