John- what are a few classic rock CDs that you do consider "close to hi-fi"? Does "hi-fi" sound always, well, sound the same? I would certainly use a track or 2 from each I, II, III or HofH in a rock oriented demo of my system. Along with, say, 32XD Fleetwood Mac-S/T or Neil Young-Harvest....DCC Parallel Lines or Dreamboat Annie, MFSL Crime of the Century.....Steely Dan comes to mind, etc.... Each of those has a different sound to them. I suppose one can prefer the clean, crisp sound of Steely Dan, but does it qualify as "hi-fi"? And if so, does that mean that certain cuts from LZ-II do not?
Hi Bryan, and welcome. You are reading a lot. That's great, but you should listen for yourself. We all don't agree here. As suggested earlier in this thread, check out the original Houses of the Holy. Crank it up. You'll probably like what you hear. If not, stick with the remasters. I used to prefer the remasters until I did direct comparisons. Your mileage may vary.
I agree totally. Generally a very muddy sound. In respect to III, IV, Houses of the Holy, and Physical Graffiti, I blame the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio that recorded them. The Rolling Stones Mobile Studio is also to blame for quite a few muddy Rolling Stones and Deep Purple albums.
Hi-fish sounding albums from a similarish time frame....1968-1979 "In The Wake Of Poseidon", "Islands", "The Great Deceiver" King Crimson "Made In Japan" Deep Purple "Hendrix In The West" Jimi Hendrix "Stand Up" Jethro Tull "Dark Side Of The Moon" Pink Floyd "Aja" Steely Dan "The Yes Album" Yes "Harvest" and "After The Gold Rush" Neil Young "Lotus" Santana
I just remembered that there are copies of Led Zeppelin IV (mastered by Joe Sidore) with reversed channels and copies with the correct channels. I can't remember which side the guitar at the beginning of "Starway To Heaven" should be on. Anyone? And, Soonerfan, don't forget about Robert Plant's first solo album. A great companion to "In Through The Out Door". Both were big hits when they were released. I remember them well.
Interesting. From III, for example, how do u consider 'Bron-Y-Aur Stomp' to be "muddy"!!?? And from HofH, for example, how can 'Over the Hills and Far Away' be labeled "muddy"?? These are just 2 examples out of many. I would certainly play these and other tracks for a rock fan who hadn't heard them on a high end system!!
I went back and forth on this for years but I think I finally landed on my LZ mastering preferences: 80's for the first five albums - the one cavaet to that is that I like the sound of the LZ IV remaster, but can't tolerate the early fades. Physical Graffiti is a tie - I like both, for different reasons. The 80's has more of an "in the room" sound, at least for the "new" songs (In My Time of Dying, Trampled, Custard Pie, etc...). The remaster has a crunchier, harder sound, which I think suits the music well since this is, after all, hard rock. For Presence and In Through the out Door I prefer the Marino/Page For Coda - I actually couldn't hear much of a difference between the two once I adjusted the levels.
Updating the info for Led Zeppelin I Does anyone else have an early vinyl pressing from the UK or Japan, etc. to check? Looking at the vinyl below it almost seems the right channel is correct and the left is reversed. How was it determined which one is the correct version? "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" Source / Guitar intro channel Vinyl (US original?) - 8216 - Right (Side 1 matrix: ST-A- 681461-A) [dkmonroe] Vinyl (US original?) - 8216 - Left (Side 1 matrix: ST-A- 681461-B) [ledsox] Vinyl (US reissue) - 19126 - Right (Side 1 matrix: ST-A-681461-H) [ledsox & dkmonroe] Vinyl - Classic Records - Right [ledsox] CD - Diament - Right CD - Marino/Page: CD - 4 disc set (crop) - Right CD- 10 cd set - Left CD - Early days - Left CD - 3 cd promo - Left CD- Mothership - Left SHM-CD - (can someone check to see if it its the same as the "remaster"/10 cd set?) It might be interesting to check a track from side 2 and see where it falls for all of these releases. I don't have a copy with me at the moment and can't think of a song with a prominent instrument at the beginning of the song which can be used to easily determine the channel. Anyone? [Song title from side 2]: Source / [instrument] intro channel Vinyl (US original?) - 8216 - Vinyl (US reissue) - 19126 - Vinyl - Classic Records - CD - Diament - CD - Marino/Page: CD - 4 disc set (crop) (or the 2 disc "Led Zeppelin [Box Set 2]" which contains the songs not included in the "crop" box) - CD- 10 cd set - CD - Early days - CD - 3 cd promo- CD- Mothership - SHM-CD -
Communications Breakdown - The intro riff is panned somewhat to the left on Crop Circles and Barry's...it is panned right on Mothership. Brian
Thanks, Brian. I'll leave it to others to fill in the blanks. Communication Breakdown (intro riff) Source / Guitar intro channel Vinyl (US original?) - 8216 - ? (Side 2 matrix: ) Vinyl (US reissue) - 19126 - ? (Side 2 matrix: ) Vinyl - Classic Records - ? (Side 2 matrix: ) CD - Diament - Left Marino/Page: CD - 4 disc set (crop) - Left CD- 10 cd set - ? CD - Early days - ? CD - 3 cd promo - ? CD- Mothership - Right SHM-CD - ? ------------------------------------------- Any other vinyl pressings out there? "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" Source / Guitar intro channel Vinyl (US original?) - 8216 - Right (Side 1 matrix: ST-A- 681461-A) [dkmonroe] Vinyl (US original?) - 8216 - Left- (Side 1 matrix: ST-A- 681461-B) [ledsox] Vinyl (US reissue) - 19126 - Right (Side 1 matrix: ST-A- 681461-H) [ledsox & dkmonroe] Vinyl - Classic Records - Right (Side 1 matrix: ?) [ledsox] CD - Diament - Right Marino/Page: CD - 4 disc set (crop) - Right CD- 10 cd set - Left CD - Early days - Left CD - 3 cd promo - Left CD- Mothership - Left SHM-CD - ?
I compared the Marino remaster of Physical Graffiti to the original CD (in my case 55XD Japan pressing, but I've compared this to the original US fatboy case version and they are the same), and to the Classic vinyl. I adjusted volumes using the trim levels on my preamplifier, and switched back and forth quickly using the remote. I tested two tracks - "Houses of the Holy" and "Trampled Under Foot". The original CD sounds very close to the Classic vinyl, and both sound great. At times I had a hard time distinguishing the two. The Marino remastered CD, on the other hand, sounded very different, and there was no problem distinguishing it from the others. It has a very different sonic signature. There is more top end, which gives the guitars a somewhat harsh, grating sound - it was not pleasant. The drums sound good, with the cymbals ringing a little clearer and the snare having much more snap. The problem is that it doesn't really sound like John Bonham - it's almost as if Bob Clearmountain, circa Tattoo You, had remastered the album. Overall, in close comparisons, the sound is hard and a bit harsh. My conclusion, based on these two tracks, is that the original CD is very close to the Classic Records vinyl, so unless you want to spend a couple hundred dollars, you should track down the original CD. It is really a great mastering. Most early Zep US CD's are, I believe, the same masterings as those from Japan, and are widely available at very cheap prices. I have not done comparisons with other discs, but I suppose I could.
Actually, it's not that simple for the pre-Marino cds. RE-1 designations only apply to SRC pressings. I have a JVC pressing (no RE-1 in the matrix, of course) and it has the cough. I'm not even sure if an RE-1 in the matrix is definitive for SRC pressings. If that has been determined in a previous thread, I missed it.
I have the Barry masterings, the SHMs, the Crop Circles and Mothership. If I want to listen loud, I go for the Diaments. The Mothership bass is a little weak but if you want to listen at a low volume they serve their purpose. Even at low volume, there is a lot of detail. When I can't decide on any of the above, I go to my original UK pressings or RL for II.
For reasons unrelated to this discussion, I recently compared The Wanton Song on the Classic Vinyl, a late 70's vinyl copy, and the Crop Circles CD. I thought the bass on the Classic vinyl was significantly more prominent than that on my original vinyl or the Crop Circles version. Brian
I just compared "The Wanton Song" to the 55XD CD and I agree. The bass is boosted - it doesn't sounds that bad, just a little odd, like it's going to capsize the whole track. It's a little strange because I also compared the track right before it - "Night Flight" - and the bass seems about the same. Perhaps the point to note here is that one can't just compare a couple tracks and come to a conclusion about particular masterings.
Thanks, Dale. Is it "Classic Vinyl"? I'll make the change. Communication Breakdown (intro riff) Source / Guitar intro channel Vinyl (US original?) - 8216 - ? (Side 2 matrix: ) Vinyl (US reissue) - 19126 - ? (Side 2 matrix: ) Vinyl - Classic Vinyl - Left (Side 2 matrix: ) CD - Diament - Left Marino/Page: CD - 4 disc set (crop) - Left CD- 10 cd set - ? CD - Early days - ? CD - 3 cd promo - ? CD- Mothership - Right SHM-CD - ? ------------------------------------------- Any other vinyl pressings out there? "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" Source / Guitar intro channel Vinyl (US original?) - 8216 - Right (Side 1 matrix: ST-A- 681461-A) [dkmonroe] Vinyl (US original?) - 8216 - Left- (Side 1 matrix: ST-A- 681461-B) [ledsox] Vinyl (US reissue) - 19126 - Right (Side 1 matrix: ST-A- 681461-H) [ledsox & dkmonroe] Vinyl - Classic Vinyl - Right (Side 1 matrix: ?) [ledsox] CD - Diament - Right Marino/Page: CD - 4 disc set (crop) - Right CD- 10 cd set - Left CD - Early days - Left CD - 3 cd promo - Left CD- Mothership - Left SHM-CD - ?
Somewhere I posted some findings about LZI on vinyl... Found it... posted 5 1/2 years ago (I'm beginning to feel very old): http://stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=602091&postcount=59 Also, there's this thread: http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=6757
Darcy the UK Plum of ZepI has the intro to BIGLY in the Right Channel I don't have the deadwax info but here is a pic of the label
