Wow! I only tried one album, Axis, did a really close A/B and was really disappointed I just dropped $9 bucks on the 2010 remaster. Interesting stuff... perhaps I should get bigger speakers before making bold statements. Gonna try all 3 again on headphones.
sorry to threadcrap, I'm not an audiophile, but anyway, is it true that the Jp 2nd pressing P20P CDs are lower gen. / higher qual. than the 1st pressing P33Ws? I've been trying to complete this series, mainly because they're easier to find in Tokyo, and some in this series were never released as P33Ws...the bummer is that Loose Ends and Midnight Lightning (my holy grails) are wicked rare...there's so much conflicting info on these CDs thanks mainly to us, if you do a google search the 1st responses are all SH Forum ones on the multiple confusing threads on this... would some of my P33Ws be trade-able for these P20Ps? Thinking of starting a for trade thread instead of trying to sell them...the bummer is I used to see these all the time in Tokyo when I didn't care but now that I want them they seem to be scarce...particularly, the P20P of Band of Gypsys I would see at every store, but this last trip I couldn't find one... here is the list of the P20P series, the ones in bold are the ones I still need: Are You Experienced P20P-22001 Axis Bold as Love P20P-22002 (very common) Smash Hits P20P-22003 (very common) Electric Ladyland P36P-22004/5 Band of Gypsys P20P-22006 The Cry of Love P20P-22007 Isle of Wight P20P-22008 In The West P20P-22009 War Heroes P20P-22010 Loose Ends P20P-22011 Crash Landing P20P-22012 Midnight Lighting P20P-22013 Hendrix Concerts P20P-22014 Jimi Plays Monterey P20P-22015 Live at Winterland P20P-22016 Kiss the Sky P20P-22017 (don't care to find this, who cares?) and why aren't Rainbow Bridge and Nine to the Universe on this list, a crime !!!!
also, I tend to agree with a poster here who said that the people who say the Japan releases have the best sound qual. are those that are financially motivated to hike the value of the P33Ws and P20Ps.....all of the ones on my list were bought for $10 or less, some with obis....Smash Hits I think cost me like $3, with obi at the same store it would have cost $9..the only one of these I paid $20 for was the Electric Ladyland fat-boy...the irony is that before I went to Tokyo I paid over $30 for Crash Landing from a Japanese seller to save on shipping so he could send to our Tokyo address...then, on one of my first trips to Disk Union I bought one (with obi) for $10...
I assume the currently available Blu-Spec CDs are the same mastering as any of the run-of-the-mill Experience Hendrix CDs, correct?
Thanks for this. I literally bought my first Hendrix P20P (Smash Hits) yesterday in a Book Off for 500 yen with obi. I have a couple of related queries: Are the Polydor POCPs the same masterings as the P20Ps? Which are better? Does Smash Hits have any masterings that are hard to get on other CDs? Is Smash Hits no-Noised?
yeah, Book Off is great for finding cheap stuff, did you find that in the Y500 discount aisle? I'm not sure if the 3rd pressing POCP discs are the same (???), but I doubt it since no one mentions them here....check the matrix numbers, most P20Ps have the P33P #s...if you live in Kawaguchi, Saitama prefecture you'll find all the best stuff for way cheap eventually, take your time ! I don't know about the technical stuff, but I have the same question regarding the Smash Hits mastering...
Cool. I actually found it in the normal A-Z part in Mejiro. I often ride through Kawaguchi on my bike but am yet to stop off there. Live in Omiya. Someone did ask here if there was any difference but the thread died very soon afterwards.
collectors sets? a set (or single recording) put out by collectors for free. Many if not all include artwork. none of them are commercial in any way, they are what they say on the tin, collectors sets for collectors. sad to say, many of these are bootlegged and sold for vast sums on the net (including ebay!). ifts site? yes, many if not all are listed here.
2010 "EL" has a 'DRD' rating of "8". http://www.dr.loudness-war.info/index.php?search_artist=hendrix&sort=dr&order=asc 1990 "EL" has a 'DRD' rating of "11"*. *:
Not trying too bash you Bill [nor Chris]: "Masterings" is the key word here [thread & SHMF (duh!)]; was Chris M. including "DNR"? Because we have Hendrix ceedees that use the "same" masterings, however do or don't use/have DNR [NoNoise]. Not saying this individual is 100% correct: http://hendrix.guide.pagesperso-orange.fr/cd_sound.htm just referencing diff digital discs did see/have seen diff "Digital Defraud" (TM)... er... manipulations.
The poll is eighteen months old as well as skewed w/"other" & "needledrops" (at least). i know bout every 18 m's mine & the forums faves adapt (too put it politely). It doesn't take in too account the diff WG & Japan pressings either (even tho there may indeed be no diff/the poll should reflect posters preferences too those releases). The BIG prob here [Hendrix CD's] is diff tracks sound different on diff releases, have or don't have specific glitches, or are different mixes entirely from another release of the same title. You really have too go after Hendrix track-by-track on ceedee & that's just too much for most of us. Now Playing [via 3WK]: much more "peaceful" too my brain than this thread!
yeah, officially un-released recordings are traded for free, never sold, that's my credo...I've been offered money for copies of some of my vast etree collection, but that would go against all that is sacred to me...of course in Tokyo, the bootleg capital of the world, you can find used silver disc boots of every band imaginable for way cheap, but lately they've been copying the art and selling these as cdrs, cdrs are free for trade, not sold...lame!
Right. And will there ever be an answer on these boards to differences between the Japanese P20P series and the POCPs?
And if I get the report right, (s)he says that the P20s were manufactured before the P33s but released in 1989 after the P33s (?!?).
[Apologies: this is the proper reply to the above post. I can't delete the other] Right. Finally, a report that states that the P20Ps are the ones to get (over the P33s), though (s)he does say that the P20Ps were manufactured before the P33s were released (if I read him correctly) and therefor released in 1989 (after the P33s) (?!?). But will there ever be an answer on these boards to differences between the Japanese P20P series and the POCPs?
Oh how I'd love to see Nine to the Universe released. But after seeing what they did with In The West, Im sure they would find a way to "improve" it...not.
If only is was not riddled with errors..... The 1st Gen reprises were made from the original master's - George Gastwirt?? - I'll leave up to other folks to post more. All the p20p's I have have p33p matrixes and on tow of them the only way to know is a p20p is on the artwork - aftermarket mismatch perhaps? Any how unless you are a collector they are the same as the Europe Polydor's. But seriously the Polydor AYE is made from inferiors tapes and is rife with gltiches. AYE is suing a never intended to be released inferior mix [although the SQ is decent] , EL is really the only Polydor worth having of the "core 3" at least for 1/2 the tracks but the wrong order or both discs is nonsense. Original Polydor BOG is very nice though. The Japan Polydor Cry Of Love mastering is different than the Reprise. I was once firmly in the original Reprise camp on this now I not so sure which is really better. I do not know if the P33P/P20p COL is the same as the Europe.
Thanks, it does seem, though, that the Reprises must be better if they used the original masters (and no-Noise and no maximization?), your reservations about EL notwithstanding. (There are quite a few typos in your post that I can't follow.)
Not actually about sound quality, but important anyway: The 1993 Alan Douglas release of "Are You Experienced" (w/alternate artwork) runs too slow! Clearly noticable when comparing to other versions. The 1997 "First Rays Of The New Rising Sun" has the first drumbeat to Ezy Ryder missing/clipped. This intro is corrected/restored on the 2010 release.
Polydor messed up several times with correct speed: 1st Polydor release of AYE has also major speed issues, and also the compilation Ultimate Experience (the non-HDCD vsn only, the HDCD -with same cat.no.- is correct and much better mastered). And the 2010 Axis sounds clearly different, a bit muffled and 1 channel lower in volume, than the 1997, while the other 201o releases sound virtually same as their 1997 counterparts.
