forgive me for asking but, as far as mastering is concerned, what is the difference between this: http://ponomusic.force.com/ccrz__CCPage?pageKey=product&oId=of:835e040c98ec4b7eb13a027f3f01a3a6&type=Album&artistId=of:61ba882be21341288dd15a0bbd3746a1 and this: https://www.hdtracks.com/van-halen-the-collection
The Pono set is the previous set of remasters; the HDTracks set are new transfers done and just released in 2015. The HDTracks 24/192 version is the best sounding; the HDTracks 24/96 version has dynamic compression applied.
Anyone listen to the self titled or 1984 2015 remasters? The packaging looks exactly like the pre-2000 releases. Curious how Chris Bellman did on these.
This is my brief A/B/C for 1984 on vinyl: My 80's copy which says "under license to Columbia house" sounds pretty solid. Everything is nice and balanced from top to bottom and Dave's vocals are clearly audible throughout, I can listen to it and not feel as though I am missing anything. I will never part with it. My 2010 "pressed with more care than ever" copy while indeed well pressed has some unusual problems. When I first put it on I remember thinking, "Wow, the synth effects sound incredible, almost three dimensional, this is gonna be awesome..." and then the music kicked in with "I get up..." and it was kind of downhill. The guitar clarity was perfect but Alex's cymbals, particularly his high-hat were out of control. Almost to the point that it feels as if someone is crashing two cymbals together in your face, effectively drowning out much of what it is beneath. It just sounds very awkward. The other issue is that Dave's vocals are pushed relatively to the back throughout. For his talky "little bit hot tonight" and "classed dismissed!" parts it's fine but many of the verses and choruses get severely drowned out by both Alex's deadly high-hat and the music itself. It's just sounds wrong. Ok, enter the 2015 re-re-issue/re-remix. While visibly pressed in the same manner at the 2010, the contents thankfully sound much different. It starts out with the same 3D synth effects (it is indeed awesome, like floating balloons) but once "I get up..." kicks in, Alex's killer high-hat has been neutered (in a good way) to the point that it's very comparable to the original vinyl. From there on it's very enjoyable and depth/clarity are absolutely stellar, it just feels right. The only issue is the audio dropouts, the first one I heard was the music dropping out beneath Dave's vocals on side 1, the second is a brief full on drop of sound on side 2 that is admittedly a bit jarring. But overall it's a great presentation, probably the best I've heard. I have the original CD, the HDCD remaster and so on but the original vinyl and the 2015 are going to be my go to copies. Do I think Warner should fix the dropouts? Absolutely, but then what new issue(s) would they introduce? Holy Mike Anthony I don't even want to think about it. It's Van Halen and as much as I want it to be perfect that's just never going to be. Skip the 2010 and live with the 2015, it's hella good.
^^I have an OP 1984 that plays dead quiet. Cost me all of $4 I think. I wasn't tempted to get the 2010 and I'll probably pass on the 2015 too. Those other 2010s on vinyl sounded great tho... Especially the S/T which was identical to the DCC master and will probably never be topped.
Agreed on the other 2010's...I am looking forward to getting Fair Warning and Diver Down with the 2015 round of vinyl. I really like my original FW a lot, it's very visceral but still feel like I need to do more research to find a good copy of DD because my current one just doesn't cut it.
I was taking a look at the tokyo booklet...all songs by Van Halen /Roth...., they mention MA as a contributor only on I'll wait and i believe they put his contribution in red letters...hilarious. BTW that tokyo digipack is just cheap, quality material just lame, tomorrow they are gonna give us plain paper.
A nice Record Store Day addition would have been a Van Halen 7" with Me Wise Magic/Can't Get This Stuff No More. This would have been good timing for it, too.
Good info. Are the 2015 vinyls source similar to the 2015 cd's as well? Or is that a separate remastering?
For those who have purchased the 192/24 set from HD Tracks: Check the bit rate on these songs. I just noticed some of these have very low bit rates for hi-res files: "Dance The Night Away" - 806 kbps "Jump (live in Tokyo)" - 143 kbps (really?) "Sinner's Swing!" - 1134 kbps "Little Dreamer" - 1398 kbps "Ice Cream Man", the track after "Little Dreamer" has a bit rate of 24,269 kbps. What is going on here?
There are certain tracks where HD Tracks indicate they are only 44/24. I saw that on their site when the 2015 remasters came out. I just scanned the site for the info but couldn't find it but I don't think I imagined it.
Here was the note from the Collection.... Notes: Tracks 61 & 62 are 44khz/16bit encoded files. Tracks 63-87 are 96khz/24bit encoded files
Yes I was full aware of that. However, I am talking about bit rate not sample rate. A standard 44.1/16 CD has a bit rate of 1411 kbps. No file in this set should have a bit rate below that. And the live version of "Jump" is at a ridiculous 143 kbps. There is an error somewhere.
Hey Art- I have the same odd bit rates on some of my Blue Note hi rez tracks and asked about it here. I was told to convert it to a different file type and if the bit rates were correct on the new file then it's a case of the bit rate being displayed incorrectly in iTunes. Not sure how true this is but when I did the conversions the files were late correct size .
Thanks. I went to the file folder and compared file sizes and the lower bit rate files were just as large as the others. I then noticed that within that window the bit rates were displayed and were different than what iTunes was showing. Turned out that iTunes was simply displaying the bit rate inaccurately. Thanks for the help, y'all.
I believe it is this one from 2009 http://www.amazon.com/Van-Halen-180...id=1431107944&sr=1-1&keywords=van halen vinyl and here from Elusive Disc... http://www.elusivedisc.com/Van-Halen-Van-Halen-180g-LP/productinfo/WBLP95525/
After closer inspection turns out that's the one I have. I see KG/SH in the deadwax. Didn't think it was because I don't see Rhino mentioned anywhere.
confusing. so the hdtracks 24/192 are the single best digital versions to date or no? thats all i wanna know...... and are the new 24/96 the same or do they ACTUALLY SOUND different?
