Joe’s Garage, Zoot Allures, Apostrophe, Shiek Yerbouti and Chungas Revenge all in hi-Rez. I’d love to learn a bit more about the transfers before I plunk another $25 on Apostrophe. Anyone have any info?
The big kicker is does the first track include the “Charles Ives” segment. If not its probably the same mix/master used for the 2012 UME issues. I can already see from the time of the cut thats what it probably is.
These are likely derived from the 2012 DSD transfers, surely? Maybe Joe Travers (@Vaultmeister) will chime in?
Anyone now in at what format the master tapes were transfered for the 2012:s? The CD booklets for the albums that were remastered suggest it was done in DSD, not hi-res PCM ("DSD signal path:"). If so it would have been even nicer with a DSD release of the albums. But maybe the files were converted to hi-res PCM before the remastering work began and these are simply the 2012 remasters but not dithered and downsampled to redbook format. A bit expensive, but I'll buy and try at least one of them this weekend. Is Universal still involved in the publishing? If so I really hope the hi-res files are not "watermarked".
FYI the same titles are available at ProStudioMasters for a slightly deeper discount (25% instead of $20). These titles already sound very good on the 2012 CDs. I'll probably wait until they have some I don't already own. (Who am I kidding, I'll probably buy Apostrophe over the weekend.)
There is also Weasels ripped my flesh. And the albums are also on Qobuz in 24/192 !!! (streaming and downloading) And you've got Digital Booklets with them. It is written the original analog Master Tapes were used. (It is the 2012 versions).
I bought Weasels and Joe's in 24/192. It's definitely the 2012 remasters in hi-res. I don't expect a night and day difference between the CD and hi-res, but will listen on these over the weekend. And knowing myself I'll probably buy the rest of the catalog (again) as well.
Haven't listened to the whole album but from checking a few tracks it seem that Sheik Yerbouti sounds just like the 2012 CD.
Listening now on Amazon....they've been weirdly spotty--like they're in the process of updating--some songs are UHD, some are CD....which is frustrating because I wanted to listen to Joe's Garage end to end....instead I"ve just been clicking through the "hits" on all the albums, which seem to have gotten uploaded first? Seems like they're fairly loud masters. I sold all my Rykos in the 90s....so, I don't know what I have here to compare....I was into him heavily for a brief time as a teen. Nice to revisit. I've enjoyed Dweezil's ZPZ....what a band!
You might be right. It's certainly fuller than I remember the Rykos being. But, you know--aural memory being closer to 20 seconds than 20 years, so....
I bit the bullet and purchased the lot. I’ve only sampled ... Great Googly Moogly! These sound fuller, more detailed and sharper (not louder) ... than I expected. I’d say they are the Ume renderings. But I am beyond impressed by “apostrophe (‘)” thus far.
Just onto “Weasels Ripped ... “ now. Yes, these seem to me to be as rich and aurally flavorful as the Ume releases.
Yeah, the 24/192 of Joe's Garage sounds very much like the 2012 CD EQ wise but I like it quite a bit more. Running both the 2012 CD and hi-res through Foobar's DR meter shows the hi-res to have a bit more dynamic range, while the Weasels 2012 CD and hi-res are almost completely the same. In both cases the hi-res sounds better on my system, Joe's Garage so much better that I will probably have to buy the albums they release in this series all over again. But then Frank Zappa is my favorite artist of all time and I've always wished for the 2012 remasters to be released in hi-res, so.