Led Zeppelin I-IV 2014 remasters considered the best?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Plissken99, Dec 5, 2014.

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  1. David del Toro

    David del Toro Forum Resident

    Still holding out hope for an audiophile label to take a digital crack at the Zeppelin catalog, like Mofi or maybe a flat transfer SACDs like the Stones did with their 70s catalog.
     
    abzach likes this.
  2. CowboyBill

    CowboyBill Forum Resident

    Location:
    Utah
    Me too, but the Diament CD's do the job well if I don't feel like busting out an OG LP. I can crank those discs loud!!
     
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  3. David del Toro

    David del Toro Forum Resident

    I think the reason so many people don't give the Diaments a chance is because you reply have to crank them to appreciate them. At first glance they might seem little less 'in your face' like the Davis discs.
     
  4. CowboyBill

    CowboyBill Forum Resident

    Location:
    Utah
    I don't mind turning them up though, the remasters hurt my ears, The Diaments allow me to actually hear the instruments. Sounds like the originals. I'm sure in ten years they'll re-release these in a Super Duper Deluxe Box. "Hear them the way the originally sounded!" "Oh, and here's a couple more isolated track songs that we call different mixes!" :D
     
    Erik Tracy likes this.
  5. tmtomh

    tmtomh Forum Resident

    Who are all these alleged people who don’t give the Diaments a chance?
     
  6. Dr. Funk

    Dr. Funk Vintage Dust

    Location:
    Fort Worth TX
    They must be on other forums. :shrug:
     
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  7. mdm08033

    mdm08033 Senior Member

    I listen to all my original Zeppelin CD. Frequently. But I’ll admit to archiving all the Davis remasters that I borrowed from my public library just to hear the Companion Discs.
     
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  8. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Archiving? :)
     
  9. mdm08033

    mdm08033 Senior Member

    Don’t worry, I returned the CDs to the library.
     
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  10. David del Toro

    David del Toro Forum Resident

    There were plenty of people who passed them off as coming from high gen tapes and generally sounding inferior to the remasters. Jimmy Page included.
     
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  11. Flaming Torch

    Flaming Torch Forum Resident

    I have the small cd sized book on Led Zep albums by Dave Lewis (it is a good read) and he too states the early cds ie. prior to the Marino remasters are poor.
    Fortunately I kept all mine so I have all 3 versions of the 9 albums on cd. I believe it goes Diament, Marino then Davis in terms of mastering engineers.
     
  12. David del Toro

    David del Toro Forum Resident

    I don't know how to quote a post from another thread but Barry Diament himself has gone on record and said with the exception of the last two albums and Zoso all of his CDs were sourced from flat transfer dubs from the master tapes.
     
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  13. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    He said he thought that was the case, but he wasn't sure.

    Other evidence points to at least some of the tapes having been masters.
     
  14. tmtomh

    tmtomh Forum Resident

    I believe it’s album-by-album in terms of the mastering (or at least the sonic result).
     
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  15. DiabloG

    DiabloG City Pop, Rock, and anything 80s til I die

    Location:
    United States
    I know Houses was the big one in terms of this finding, but what were the other Diaments where the masters might have been used? I'm just curious because I haven't caught up with some of the more recent Zep CD discussions.
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2018
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  16. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Nothing definitive that I'm aware of one way or another at this point, just recollections of those who had access to the tapes.

    I still need to look into Physical Graffiti. Other comparisons have suggested that the Diament and the Davis share a source, while the Marino used a different source.
     
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  17. johnny q

    johnny q Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bergen County, NJ
    That I believe - is the correct answer. Recall the 80s, when there was no internet. You reached a consensus on how something sounded via magazines or a worker in a record store. The Zep cd's were typically maligned back then, including (as you noted) Jimmy Page himself. Plant even jumped on the band wagon in a printed interview (I want to say it was Kerrang circa 1988.) He said something along the lines of "Graffiti was hot, but "symbols" not so good and In Through The Out Door was abominable."

    I recall getting them home and saying to myself - these really don't sound that bad!

    Like many of you - "best digital version" is a case by case basis. Sometimes 80s, sometimes Marino and sometimes Davis.
     
  18. Opeth

    Opeth Forum Resident

    Location:
    NH
    I go back and forth myself, the newest Davis versions have most clarity but lose some feel and vibe or something.
    Zep 1 I like the marino cd the best.. Zep 3 i like the diament best... Zep 2 I can't make up my mind I just listen to a different mastering every time and still cannot come to a conclusion. Including RL needle drops.

    In the end I don't care that much it's nice to have choices and compare IMO
     
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  19. David del Toro

    David del Toro Forum Resident

    There are some pretty great needledrops out there, especially of the 45 rpm box set.
     
    Opeth likes this.
  20. David del Toro

    David del Toro Forum Resident

    Probably a better question a different thread but does anybody have an opinion on the Dr. Ebbets vinyl rips of the first four LPs?
     
  21. David del Toro

    David del Toro Forum Resident

    [​IMG]
    In an ideal world...
     
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  22. tmtomh

    tmtomh Forum Resident

    My view is that the Ebbets rips have long since been surpassed by others, notably (but not only) pbthal's.


    Yes, that would be epic. Of all the Zep albums, IV is the one whose mastering I'm most dissatisfied with - never have found a version that I really love.
     
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  23. Lownote30

    Lownote30 Bass Clef Addict

    Location:
    Nashville, TN, USA
    You haven't heard my rips of various Zep vinyl (Classic Records, Zep II - RL, Houses - RL, etc.). Those are the only way I listen to Zeppelin in the digital realm.
     
    Myke likes this.
  24. tmtomh

    tmtomh Forum Resident

    If you'd be interested in sharing samples, I'm all ears. But I've got plenty of great vinyl Zep rips, including the II RL, the Houses Porky (which I prefer to the Houses RL), the Classic 45rpm Presence, and many others. And I've heard, and have, excellent rips of Zep IV, including the Classic, Classic 45rpm, original US Monarch, and original UK Porky. Some of them are very good. But for me, there still isn't one single mastering or rip of Zep IV that's a clear go-to for me. For all the other Zep albums I have one (or in a few cases two) mastering that's my favorite and that I feel totally content with.

    I'm sure it's probably just my personal taste, and I'm pretty sure it's also to do with niggles I have with the original mixing and engineering of the various tracks. For example, I've found that if think a mastering or rip just nails the clarity in Black Dog and Stairway, I'm often disappointed in the level of bass impact in Levee; and vice versa. Someday I'll cobble together my own patchwork version of the album from various rips and masterings.
     
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  25. HotelYorba101

    HotelYorba101 Senior Member

    Location:
    California
    Yeah honestly it is hard to find a "definitive" issuing of the albums with each song being at the best that it has ever sounded.

    For me though, at least with a combination of the best of the Diament CDs and the best of the Davis remasters, they provide a consistent and unified listening experience that I am satisfied with overall!
     
    xj32 and tmtomh like this.
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