Rush - new 2015 vinyl and hi-res reissues thread. (Part 2)

I *believe* the last one that slipped through without watermaking is Moving Pictures or maybe Exit Stage Left.

 

Have any of the 2015 Mercury albums been confirmed as unwatermarked anywhere? Supposedly, the 2015 Sean Magee master of 2112 was used for the 40th anniversary CD in 2016, but it appears to have been futzed with. It may also, strangely, be watermarked like the downloads. My ears can't decide for certain.

The 2015 Sean Magee masters of the Atlantic albums were/are only available via download cards included with the vinyl releases. The 2015 Mercury albums are widely available, but subject to Universal's execrable audible watermark.

 

Yes, on 7digital, and I think Highresaudio, possibly the early ones on Qobuz but I don't remember for sure.

Yes the 2016 CD version was compressed and treble boosted.

 

counterparts AF does sound great, recommended. not sure on availability anymore. I've been looking for the 2015 vinyl of counterparts. seems its gone everywhere.

 

Correct in the UK/EU. I believe that the Mercury albums were also 200g in the US...

 

Maybe when first released but what is on the shelves now Mercury pressings is 180g.

 

I’d rather all the albums have been 120-140g “normal weight” LP’s. All 180g (or worse, 200g) accomplishes is a greater chance for nonfill and other pressing defects and playback problems due to incorrect VTA. There is no real advantage except for cosmetic and that’s even debatable—I think 180g pressings looks and feel silly.

 

Add to the fact that the extra weight of them increases shipping costs as well.

 

I am reading this thread and keep hearing “watermarked”. What exactly does that mean?

I have most of the original LP’s from caress of steel thru grace under pressure that I purchased as a teenager in the early 80’s. I recently purchased the recent Hemispheres picture LP more for looks than anything else. Though it actually sounds as good as my red vinyl original Canadian pressing. Any improvements or must have from these 2015 reissue’s?

 

So people are saying the 2015 Rush hi-res are watermarked? Proof?

 

Put the word watermark in the search and read all about it. Plenty of info in this very thread.

 

Power windows is the only obvious one though ? I have not heard the hi res that's watermarked. I have heard a lot of the other hi res and I can't hear it on any of them.

 

I believe that is the McGee remaster.

No slouch but I prefer the 03 West German Atomic. It’s meatier and has more slam.

 

There are curious issues with the hi-res Power Windows which I won’t get into now. It is one of my favorite albums. But overall, sonically speaking, I think the McGee is the best of the bunch. If you are concerned about the purported “watermarking” issues your next best bet is the Japanese 35.8P

 

The Canadian Anthem of Hemispheres on CD is pretty tight too... it's also very close to the 2015 remaster.

 

I’ve read it all, far from a consensus, big stretch to conclude that all the 2015 Mercury hi-res are watermarked.

 

For hemispheres, my old 80s US Mercury definitely sounds better than the latest hi rez off Amazon music. I don't know what exactly it is though.

In fact, all my old 80s Rush Mercury CDs sound great. Caress Of Steel, 2112, and A Fairwell To Kings in particular all sound awesome. Very pleasant and natural. Highly crankable with none of the harshness of many modern remasters.

 

Have you heard it all? If so, and if you don't personally hear the watermark, then it doesn't really matter to you, does it? For my own part, I own the 2015 Fly By Night hi-res via the download card that came with the Blu-ray, and I can hear the watermark warbling away. The samples I've heard from other albums are suspect.

 

You sure that 24/96 download is the 2015 Magee? I can tell you the 24/96 on the Blu-Ray disc itself is not.

 

For the sound I would say AFZ for Counterparts, Hemispheres. MOFI for 2112 and Moving Pictures.

For Snakes and Arrows asking you guys, since the latter one is mastered much louder than the albums before Vapor Trail. BTW, have you seen this article about Snakes and Arrows recording session: https://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/making-of-snakes-and-arrows.php?fbclid=IwAR03IZ8rlYrdToErmmZoTvPgNThDhPtYntSZRMs-PPr2riIzGOGViDIxzaU

For Moving Pictures MOFI sounds fantastic and dynamic as hell, but maybe lacking some sound body and a bit dead at the center of the stereo image. On the other hand, high resolution downloads for Moving Pictures seem to be not high resolution transfers (fake) - almost no sound energy above 20kHz, have you notices that?

 

Yep. Disc has the Van Dette; download is Magee.

 

There are a few better versions than the MoFi Moving Pictures IMO. This album has an original 16/44.1 master. The 2015 was transfered in 24/192 from an analog tape copy of the master and mastered in Hi-Res.

 

Call me dumb or uninformed but what is watermarking on a digital file? I do have the HDTracks for Hemispheres that came with the download card but all I did was download them and put them on my phone. I never looked at them after that, mostly just play the vinyl copy.

 

Yes, very much over-kill, zero reason for this to be charged at a premium at 192.
Qobuz has since either downed it to 96 or doesn't carry this mastering any longer-not sure.
For digital, the old German mastering is my favorite.

 

It's a constant chirping sound below the music at around between -40dB and -60dB. It's more audible when the music is sparse and contaminates imaging and transients which appear less precise and sharp.