Thanks for the answer. The Columbia Legacy remasters from 98-02 differ from the remasters available in the Columbia Masters boxset? The 98-02 stoped at "I Am", so the remaining albums from the Culumbia Masters boxset are brand new remasters only available there? I'm looking for the best, warmth, closest to vinyl sound on a digital media. The remasters are really better than the original CDs? The MFSL, Audio Fidelity and Mastersound editions available should be the best options too, right? One more thing: any tips on the best "Average White Band" masterings? Cheers.
I bought the Columbia Masters box, it is excellent but ended up adding the Wilder remasters with bonus tracks later on, they extremely cheap via Amazon third party sellers. So I am doubled up on some releases.
Things are much simpler than that: most people here just loves the Beatles and hates everybody who doesn't consider them the greatest band in the universe. Oh, and you can't say **** about them. If you like them, but just don't love them, you should keep your mouth shut.
Defective mastering aside, do you still thonk the Mark Wilder remasters sound better than the original CDs?
The remasters are very good. I would go for the 98-02 cds. The extra trax are essential. Especially spirit & i am.
Looking through Discogs i found these japanese ARC remasters from 2004, all of them with bonus tracks: http://www.discogs.com/Earth-Wind-Fire-I-Am/release/1752531. Do you guys know how they sound and if they differ from the Mark Wilder masterings?
I do indeed! I determined it by doing an A/B comparison of my original vinyl albums to their Mark Wilder CD counterparts. They are damn close, sonically, with the CDs being just a bit cleaner with tad more weight. The only reason for me to hang on the to the vinyl is for the nostalgia. The original Columbia CDs have been long gone from my collection. I never want to see them again! Even the original Columbia "I Am" CD had a nasty defect on the first interlude after "In The Stone". The only CD that Wilder didn't do, to my knowledge, are the ones after 1979's "I Am".
I own a 2006 rerelease of Raise! from this 2004 DSD mastering session and it sounds compressed, bright and boomy. Not a nice listen. Also see the online DR database. I can't tell you if the original 2004 releases are less compressed, though.
I actually like the 2004 remasters (i agree somewhat on the brightness part), but have little doubt that Wilders remasters sound better...
I found some case photos of these 2004 japanese DSD remasterings and it seems they're the same as the 98-02 remasterings. On the back it says "Mastered by Mark Wilder at Sony Music Studios", so Mark did them too. Don't know if the 2006 japanese releases are different or if the Blu-Specs are different too.
Friday Music just released I Am on 180 gram clear audiophile vinyl and You and I is in its entirety on there as well.
I just got the AWB white album on vinyl yesterday. It's 180 grams and audiophile quality and sounds perfect to me!
Some folks say "Friday Music" and "audiophile vinyl" is a contradiction...maybe worth seeking a view on this specific release. The CBS originals of I Am and their other albums are good sounding and quite common/inexpensive.
My understanding is the CBS/Sony Japan (Sony Music) reissues after I Am are the continuation of the remaster series. I have Head to the Sky (before) and Electric Universe (after). Both sound very good.
Don't know, but both CDs' inner liner notes state Bernie Grundman mastering, but I would suspect that is from the LP liner notes. These are part of the MHCP 40x series CDs released in Japan by Sony Music. Sony Music did a nice job with these, amazing some of them were not available in the USA! I got them in Tokyo on a biz trip.
Is there only one mastering out there of the fabulous "The Need Of Love" cd? How come no one ever talks about that album?
Well I disagree about that. It definitely for me was an improvement on my original pressing. Of course that's only because my original has been played a lot. The few (4) "audiophile pressings" I have, have for sure lived up to their title. That's just me of course.
