Black Sabbath Sabotage 2021 digital

We will have to agree to disagree there Claus I do agree with you on a lot of your mastering choices usually though

I might have to check out the Rory ones though, I think I mainly have the intercord releases and some 2018 HD tracks ones… don’t know who did the HD tracks… was it Pearce?

 

I had yet to listen to the first disc of the box, being of course Sabotage itself. Rather than firing up my main system in the wake of hearing some not-so-good reports about this disc, I lazily just grabbed my vintage Sony D-EJ011 CD Walkman, tuned to sonic taste on Sound 2, with my AKG K-702 headphones. I was absolutely shocked at how good this disc sounded, with Geezer in particular brought into a clarity I had not heard on my vinyl or other digital versions. In fact, I'd just listened closely to a pressing of Sabotage a couple of weeks before the box was released. I have no idea what processing this little player was matching up with this mastering, but it just works. This was quite the pleasant surprise!

 

Sometimes, equipment can make all the difference!

 

So, soundwise is there a consensus about the new remasters? I’ve tried to scroll down and gather that information, but it was kinda tricky. What do you think about each title so far? Are they any better than the 2009 remasters, which I really like?

 

No!

 

IMO the Vol. 4 and Technical Ecstasy remasters sound weird, very harsh and really terrible. Sabotage is better but significantly worse than the 2009 and the original WB CD. I didn't like Heaven and hell or Mob Rules either, but I don't remember why exactly.

 

Absolutely not.

 

Thanks for all the info. I just revisited Heaven And Earth yesterday, which I bought about fifteen years ago, and am wondering what the best available version of this Asbury '75 show actually is, next to the master reel transfer itself?
I'm not asking for a trade or anything like that, as I get the rules here, but it's a fantastic show I'd love to get in optimal quality. Thanks for any additional info on it.

 

Of the people I know who don't like unnecessary compression or overly harsh-sounding masterings, most prefer either the JWB remaster or the untooled transfer. Feel free to PM me if you have further questions. Heaven and Earth is the lossy-sourced bootleg the official release has been sourced from, but the official disc has been further EQed.