Pink Floyd Discovery Box is here...

O.K. I am more interested in the mastering than extra content. Of course it's great to have both, but mastering is most important to me.

 

The current EU issues (well, "current" for the next two weeks) are identical to what is in the ObtW box set. Despite what the packaging says, ASoS, Meddle, WYWH, and Animals are the same unremastered EMI versions that have always been available in Europe. The only time the Sax remasters of these titles were sold in Europe was the Shine On box. Also, the current DSotM in the EU is the 2003 Guthrie master, while that is only on the SACD in the states (otherwise, it's the Sax disc here).

The one nice thing about this 2011 world-wide re-release of the catalog is that all the albums will be "standardized" in all territories. Of course, that will give us less to talk about, here.

 

My sentiment exactly. Why not RELICS II?

 

Yes and for budgetary reasons I'm considering this idea for some other deluxe boxes too (u2, nirvana, Hendrix)

 

No way! Now folks from all over the world can start to hunt down the various "un-remastered" versions of the catalog.

 

I kind of want both but I already have great masterings on these. I do want the WYWH on sacd so that is probably my biggest priority.

 

I'm tempted by the WYWH SACD, but the Immersion box already having the 5.1 mix and the quad mix...I doubt I'll be able to discern any difference, since I don't have what I call " dog's ears," as so many here seem to.

 

Ok, so how about informing us what is incorrect

 

Well, claiming that the contents in the Oh By the Way box were all current remasters for starters. Also, the way it's worded makes it sound like the masters in that box are from 2007, which is also not true in all but two(?) cases.

 

Where does he say that? What he does say is that the Discovery set sounds like the OBTW set and that the OBTW set is an improvement over the original 1980's CD's. What do you mean by "current remasters"? That the OBTW set was a 2007 remastering? Because that set sounds like all the remastered versions that have been available since 1994-1996.

Now of course they'll be those who will say that the 35DP4 beats the Remaster or that such and such pressing of Meddle beats the 94 remaster. However taken as a whole the US Capitol or Columbia mid to late eighties CD's are a significant step down from the remasters.

As far as comparing the Discovery box to the OBTW set, I can't comment since I have not heard them but if there was a difference I'm confident that Jeff would have heard it. Tone is a general music/audio publication comparable to other such magazines. It is not a fan site where you will find an album by album breakdown listing each track idiosyncrasy.

 

Is amazon starting to ship these things? I pre ordered the discovery box and the immersions sets the first day and got the discovery box at $147 or so and the immersion boxes were $101.

I am beginning to question the discovery box due to my funds right now, but I don't know if we will see it go for less anytime soon, Pink Floyd items tend not to go on too big of sales (yes I know about the Oh By the Way set on amazon but the was an anomily.)

Since I am a big fan I know I will get the immersion set of anything that comes out and the experience if that is the only deluxe version. So the box just becomes less and less important, although I do like the thought of having the complete studio albums in a nice set. Of course, I am in for any album if the sound is improved but I have many versions of each album (including the so called grails) so they would have to be real good.

Are the boxes themselves heavy duty? I saw the posted issues about the Immersion having those tabs in the bottom of the box (yuck) and that the cardboard stock on the discovery discs are not as heavy as the OBTW box, but what about the outter box?

 

And there's the inaccuracy. Four of the CDs from the ObtW set are the 80's CDs. Not every disc in that set is a 90's remaster. It's a mix of 80's Cds, 90's remasters, and more recent Guthrie remasters.

 

My local record store (that shall remain nameless) had someone trade in the box and now they have all the individual discs "used", and cheap. Someone came in and wiped out Piper and the post-DSOTM albums, so I have the chance to snag any of the 1968-73 stuff if I jump to it.

Since no one has really reviewed the new remasters, I am hesitant. I already have the Sony mastered DSOTM, the 1992 Sax DSOTM, the MFSL Meddle, the Sony mastered SOS (3rd Japanese issue), and reasonable consensus versions of the rest. Do I actually need to spend the cash, or should I just hang tight for a few weeks until people with better setups than I have chime in? I was considering SOS, Ummagumma, or Meddle, but then I paused and said, "but there's nothing wrong with the ones I have".

Any advice from non-obsessives?

 

I'm waiting for a consensus from more of the "golden ears" here before I jump on any of the new issues. Also, there's always Christmas, so I may not have to even pay for a few if I drop the right hints.

I've spent a small fortune in the last year hunting down as many different versions of the currently available CDs I could get my hands on, and after many a shoot-out, I'm pretty happy with what I have now.

 

We did listen to the "new" remasters. I've spent about 30 hours going back and forth with these and the OBTW set. While we didn't do a molecule by molecule account in our review, I have to say (again) that I was straining to hear anything at all between the OBTW and the Discovery box.

If you want them to have them, buy them. But if you want them to hear something dramatically different than the OBTW set you already own, I think you will be disappointed.

And I am definitely a non obsessive about this. I'm sure when a handful of people buy the Discovery box, they will dig up minutiae that I did not, but I still think these are not much if at all different.

I agree with our editor and Tommy Tunes that what I wish they would have done for PF fans is to release some previously unheard stuff that hasn't seen the light of day.

 

This crazed Floyd fan happens to agree with you.

 

This is really an excellent point - a lot of this is about taste. When I was comparing the variations in the DSOM, I know Tom really likes the -2 German LP, but on my system, I preferred the UHQR. I heard enough consistently good stuff that I don't know if there is a definitive version of any of this.

Some may depend on your ears, room, system and personal preference.

That's what makes this fun.

 

I'd like to hear this just once before I die. I am SO curious.

 

In your review you seemed to indicate the DVD is close to the finest vinyl editions. Did you really mean the DVD or were you actually referring to the Blu-Ray? I'd been of the understanding that the DVD would be comparatively lossy to the 24 bit / 96 khz audio on the Blu-Ray disc.

 

Still no waveforms, EAC peak logs....? Slackers....

Seriously though, I'm chomping at the bit to hear more feedback from those that have this already. Are they really new remasters? Or just re-packaged?

 

Someone posted a waveform of "Echoes" on a previous page. Didn't look too compressed, but certainly louder than the one I've got.

These are all new remasters by James Guthrie, with the exception of the Ummagumma live disc — that uses Doug Sax's 1994 master. It will be nice to FINALLY have all the Floyd studio albums in one box without the crazy rag-tag variations in mastering that plagued Oh, By the Way.

I'm holding off on getting it until we see if 24-bit downloads will be available; but CDimports.com just shipped my Dark Side Immersion box! Can't wait

 

Why didn't Guthrie remaster the live Ummagumma disc, anyone know?

 

Stop chomping and read the thread and reviews so far. They are REALLY new remasters.

 

I recall reading somewhere that the first-generation master tapes had gone missing, and consequently Sax had to use safety copies for his remaster. Apparently the situation has not changed, which is disappointing. Talk about a wall of hiss — that disc is one of the worst offenders! I do hope Guthrie managed to improve on the studio disc of Ummagumma, it was always a problem for me to sit through (because of the digital mastering, not just for the sheer bizarro freakiness it presents).

 

Sorry if I'm late to the game, but is everything in the Discovery box newly remastered? Obviously DSOTM, WYWH and Wall are, but is Piper newer than the recent 3 disc edition of that?