They're quite redundant if they're 2003 remasters imo. As for the Diaments, the Bon era cds were mastered from copy tapes so I use Jensen remasters of those mostly, but Brian era albums are absolutely great.
Damn they aren't that hard to find! Disappointing news about the 24 bit downloads. I was hoping for much more.
It’s not very surprising that these new hi-res versions aren’t good. The giveaway for me is that the entire catalog showed up on the same day. EVERYTHING (not just studio albums. Even box sets & compilations!). I wouldn’t doubt that these are just upsampled 16/44 files. Plus, (if that is the case) they aren’t the best 16/44 mastering available for the albums. There are some people that complain that the Tom Petty camp/estate do a different mastering (better!) for hi-res than for normal CD’s. I would gladly re-buy the entire AC/DC catalog if that were the case here.
It's just a logical guess. Actually they may be worse if going purely by dB's/peak levels Hi-Rez DL's had a pretty descent start at the beginning with a ton of promise. It's slowly gone to hell in the last few years. (at least where my favorites are concerned)
To me the compression isn't even the main problem, the sound is off in general. I'm listening to this hi res release of Powerage. I can barely hear the snare drum, the cymbals are somewhere in the distance and those that are in front sound like high pitched hiss, the bass drum doesn't exist at all. The bass sounds thin, has no depth of sound to it at all. The guitars have absolutely no punch or bite to them. Bon's vocal is completely flat and devoid of emotion, the growl and power it has is completely gone. It all sounds boring and lifeless, it's like they put AC/DC into an old folks home.
I just listened to a bit of Back in Black, Highway to Hell, and High Voltage, on Qobuz - I agree that they don't sound very good. There is some added high frequency EQ that makes the vocals very unnatural. There's little depth to the presentation, as well. I don't have the Marino discs with me (and haven't listened to them on this system) but I don't recall them sounding this "off."
just saw that on another site foobar2000 1.1.10 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1 log date: 2020-07-17 21:15:53 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Analyzed: AC/DC / Back In Black -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR Peak RMS Duration Track -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR7 -0.50 dB -8.92 dB 5:13 ?-Hells Bells DR7 -0.50 dB -8.93 dB 5:18 ?-Shoot to Thrill DR7 -0.50 dB -8.88 dB 3:36 ?-What Do You Do for Money Honey DR7 -0.50 dB -8.49 dB 3:32 ?-Givin the Dog a Bone DR7 -0.50 dB -8.80 dB 4:16 ?-Let Me Put My Love Into You DR8 -0.50 dB -9.90 dB 4:16 ?-Back In Black DR8 -0.50 dB -9.72 dB 3:30 ?-You Shook Me All Night Long DR7 -0.50 dB -8.91 dB 3:59 ?-Have a Drink on Me DR7 -0.50 dB -8.77 dB 4:06 ?-Shake a Leg DR8 -0.50 dB -9.94 dB 4:16 ?-Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Number of tracks: 10 Official DR value: DR7 Samplerate: 96000 Hz Channels: 2 Bits per sample: 24 Bitrate: 3223 kbps Codec: FLAC
Those interviews are taken from the Back In Black dual disc set which was released about 15 years ago. Obviously not everybody will have seen them but just to clarify they are nothing new.
foobar2000 1.5.5 / Замер динамического диапазона (DR) 1.1.1 Дата отчёта: 2020-07-18 02:11:13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Анализ: AC/DC / Highway To Hell -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR Пики RMS Продолжительность трека -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR6 -0.70 дБ -9.05 дБ 3:28 01-Highway to Hell DR7 -0.70 дБ -8.28 дБ 3:24 02-Girls Got Rhythm DR6 -0.70 дБ -9.09 дБ 5:10 03-Walk All Over You DR6 -0.70 дБ -8.14 дБ 4:27 04-Touch Too Much DR6 -0.70 дБ -8.86 дБ 3:56 05-Beating Around the Bush DR6 -0.70 дБ -8.53 дБ 3:23 06-Shot Down in Flames DR7 -0.70 дБ -8.87 дБ 2:35 07-Get It Hot DR6 -0.70 дБ -8.37 дБ 4:37 08-If You Want Blood (You've Got It) DR7 -0.70 дБ -9.10 дБ 4:17 09-Love Hungry Man DR7 -0.70 дБ -9.33 дБ 6:18 10-Night Prowler -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Количество треков: 10 Реальные значения DR: DR6 Частота: 96000 Гц Каналов: 2 Разрядность: 24 Битрейт: 3307 кбит/с Кодек: FLAC ===============================================================================
Are the 1994 remasters well regarded? I like the fact they have the original extended Aussie versions of a lot of the early Bon songs (bar High Voltage and Rocker’s cold endings).
Hm, as far as I know it's a mixed bag. Ted Jensen, the guy who did the remasters, said he didn't use a lot of processing and the master tapes were in good condition Personally, I think they are the best for Bon's era and not really needed for Brian's since the Diaments sound great (I wouldn't go for Bon era Diaments because those cds weren't mastered from the original master tapes). The original Bon era Alberts are usually regarded as best, but I think that they suffer from the primitive 80s DACs being used, I'm always under the impression like the sound is kinda crackling. I think the remasters cleaned the sound up, the guitars have more bite in them and are brought into the front more while not drowning out Bon's vocal, the drums have more punch in them as well. It ultimately comes down to preference, if you prefer the dirtier sound go for the Alberts, if you want something that's a bit cleaner but retains the punch and enhances it in certain places, go for the remasters.
Sounds like you rate them so? I know they are light years better than what followed in 03. They only went as far as Flick Of The Switch didn’t they? I have the original Fly On The Wall and Blow Up Your Video - I think they sound desperate, but I’m not replacing them with the 03’s!
I would personally recommend them, someone else here might tell you the opposite though. They are a lot better than 2003, even though they are kinda loud, but they're not compressed to death. I think they ended with Razor's Edge, but for some reason I was never able to find the remaster of Blow Up Your Video so I don't know about that one. But again, I don't think you should concern yourself with Brian era remasters because the originals are great, with the exception maaaaybe of Flick of the Switch which sounds a bit flat and lifeless to me, but I think that's just how that album was recorded. To me, Brian era remasters sound good, but they're not crucial to have.
You are correct. The 1994 remasters only went up to FOTS. The later albums were reissued at the same time but they were not remastered. The original CD's of FOTW and BUYV are as accurate a representation of how those album sound as you are going to find. EQ wise the 1994 remaster of FOTS is a significant improvement over the first Atlantic CD. Which sounds to be possibly taken from a higher generation source by comparison.
Thanks for sharing your perspective. I had kind of forgotten about the 1994 remasters. As mentioned in a previous post, I wanted to get the Albert CD for Dirty Deeds because I had heard it was the only CD version that had good mastering, but it's super expensive. I couldn't remember what the issue with the Diament was, but I guess it was the use of copy tapes. Looks like the 1994 also has the full-length versions of certain tracks, while the Diament has shortened versions. Too bad the 1994 doesn't use the original track list, but it sounds like it might be the best overall compromise that's affordable.
Were the '94 Jensen/Marino discs sourced from the original master tapes or just better sources than what Barry had access to when he did those albums?
Well, all 94 remasters say 'digitally remastered by Jensen/Marino from original master tapes' on the back. Here's for example Highway to hell. Ted Jensen also confirmed it here on the forum. The ask Ted Jensen a question thread On the other hand, Barry himself said he had copy tapes for Bon's albums.
I have seen the notes in the Essential Barry Diament Mastering thread. So you would recommend the '94 remasters for the Bon albums over the original Atco/Atlantic CDs
I personally would, some people wouldn't. I mean don't get me wrong, the Bon Diaments all sound decent, but to my ears the 94s are the best digital AC/DC. I'm just a dude with a computer and a set of mid tier Audio Technica headphones.
