THE Best CD version thread

steveinaz

I would like to start a thread on the search for the best versions (editions) of compact discs. I have recently been on a search to replace (if possible) sub-par recordings with better versions, and thought it would be cool if we could develope a "repository" type thread where people could search to see if their favorite CD may have a better version available. This is in response to so-called "remasters" that turn out to be nothing more than volume-jacked, crushed dynamics re-sales.

My first contribution:

Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive! (Deluxe Edition, 2 CD set, 25th anniversary) (HDCD)

Impressions:
Right away I noticed that Peter's vocals are much cleaner and organic. The vocals are also brought forward some, no longer lost in the sea of music. The guitar licks are also more spread out between speakers, instead of being locked in the center on earlier CD's. The mid-bass bloom has been backed down quite a bit, and cymbals are very nicely done. You can actually hear background vocals more delineated (for better or worse) and identifiable. There's less blur/fuzz in the performance, but it's a little strange at first, if your used to older recordings--almost too clean sounding; which gives the impression that some of the live "raw" feel is gone.

On "Baby I love your way" right away you'll notice that the strummed acoustic guitar sounds far more organic now, and less "steely." It's VERY noticable, you'll see what I mean if you buy this version. Almost sounds like a new version of the song. Gone too, are the gaps between songs, it all just continues as if you are there---cool touch--in fact you'll hear Frampton say things to the audience you've never heard before on prior cuts.

All in all, very nice--though I admit it takes a little getting used to. This recording is defintely NOT squashed in dynamic range (Yeah!!!). It just "feels" a little strange because the background is quieter, vocals clearer, drums much more impactful. They've done a real nice job.

muncybob

The 40th Anniversary of Aqualung is by far the best of what I have heard. Too bad they didn't have a better original source though. I often wish some artists would go back to the studio and redo their work with today's technology.

heiney9

steveinaz wrote: »

I would like to start a thread on the search for the best versions (editions) of compact discs. I have recently been on a search to replace (if possible) sub-par recordings with better versions, and thought it would be cool if we could develope a "repository" type thread where people could search to see if their favorite CD may have a better version available. This is in response to so-called "remasters" that turn out to be nothing more than volume-jacked, crushed dynamics re-sales.

My first contribution:

Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive! (Deluxe Edition, 2 CD set, 25th anniversary) (HDCD)

Impressions:
Right away I noticed that Peter's vocals are much cleaner and organic. The vocals are also brought forward some, no longer lost in the sea of music. The guitar licks are also more spread out between speakers, instead of being locked in the center on earlier CD's. The mid-bass bloom has been backed down quite a bit, and cymbals are very nicely done. You can actually hear background vocals more delineated (for better or worse) and identifiable. There's less blur/fuzz in the performance, but it's a little strange at first, if your used to older recordings--almost too clean sounding; which gives the impression that some of the live "raw" feel is gone.

On "Baby I love your way" right away you'll notice that the strummed acoustic guitar sounds far more organic now, and less "steely." It's VERY noticable, you'll see what I mean if you buy this version. Almost sounds like a new version of the song. Gone too, are the gaps between songs, it all just continues as if you are there---cool touch--in fact you'll hear Frampton say things to the audience you've never heard before on prior cuts.

All in all, very nice--though I admit it takes a little getting used to. This recording is defintely NOT squashed in dynamic range (Yeah!!!). It just "feels" a little strange because the background is quieter, vocals clearer, drums much more impactful. They've done a real nice job.

Which other version are you comparing this to? There have been a few reissue/remasters offered over the years for this one. I have the single disc remaster w/extra tracks. I wonder how this compares. I'll have to pull out the original and compare I guess.

H9

steveinaz

My older version I've had for at least 15 years...so.....(it's not a remaster).

pitdogg2

muncybob wrote: »

The 40th Anniversary of Aqualung is by far the best of what I have heard. Too bad they didn't have a better original source though. I often wish some artists would go back to the studio and redo their work with today's technology.

well yes and no I agree that most of the older masters are not in the best shape, but asking an artist that is 40 yrs older and has much worse ear's today than yesterday might make a bad master worse...If you catch my drift. Not to mention that some hot rod new dude in the control room might just go here " I'll take care of it" and pump up and compress the snot of it.

muncybob

I see your point and agree. Age takes it toll on both a person's hearing and vocal range, but they probably can't do much worse than a lot of the "remasters" out there. I'm thankful that forums such as this exists or I may not have taken a chance on Aqualung.

Tbone289

muncybob wrote: »

The 40th Anniversary of Aqualung is by far the best of what I have heard. Too bad they didn't have a better original source though. I often wish some artists would go back to the studio and redo their work with today's technology.

That's an idea, but Ian Anderson's voice sounds completely different today than it did in 1971--in a bad way. I agree with you, the 40th remaster is excellent.

drumminman

muncybob wrote: »

I see your point and agree. Age takes it toll on both a person's hearing and vocal range, but they probably can't do much worse than a lot of the "remasters" out there. I'm thankful that forums such as this exists or I may not have taken a chance on Aqualung.

Don't know how familiar you are with Tull, but a couple of other great albums are "Thick As A Brick", and "Stand Up".

bikezappa

Interesting thread STEVEINAZ.

The early Beatles CDs really suck IMHO. Some of the Stones aren't very good either.

I'd be interested in what others would recommend to replace these recordings.

Are there any improved Zappa CD recordings?

sda2mike

bikezappa wrote: »

Interesting thread STEVEINAZ.

Are there any improved Zappa CD recordings?

didn't fz remaster his entire catalog in the early 90s?

bikezappa

sda2mike wrote: »

didn't fz remaster his entire catalog in the early 90s?

Yes and I have purchased most of them. But I have seen some special Gold CDs and was wondering if there was an improvement of sound?

The worse CD for sound IMHO by Zappa is the sound track from 200 Motels and that was issued by United Artists not Zappa.

sda2mike

200 motels...i tried the movie about 20 years ago...didn't get it...haven't tried since..maybe i should...LATHER imo, has a real good sound on all the cuts...yellow shark, too

gdpeck

steveinaz wrote: »

I would like to start a thread on the search for the best versions (editions) of compact discs. I have recently been on a search to replace (if possible) sub-par recordings with better versions, and thought it would be cool if we could develope a "repository" type thread where people could search to see if their favorite CD may have a better version available. This is in response to so-called "remasters" that turn out to be nothing more than volume-jacked, crushed dynamics re-sales.

My first contribution:

Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive! (Deluxe Edition, 2 CD set, 25th anniversary) (HDCD)...

Are you using a playback device that does HDCD decoding? Or were your impressions without the decoding?

steveinaz

I don't know how EAC handles HDCD, but the rip seems to play just fine; tone-wise. It's run through my squeezebox via digital, then on to my Benchmark DAC.

steveinaz

bikezappa wrote: »

The early Beatles CDs really suck IMHO. Some of the Stones aren't very good either.

I'd be interested in what others would recommend to replace these recordings.

The recent (2009?) Beatles remasters are outstanding. I bought almost all of them. (Look for the little green apple).

headrott

bikezappa wrote: »

Yes and I have purchased most of them. But I have seen some special Gold CDs and was wondering if there was an improvement of sound?

The worse CD for sound IMHO by Zappa is the sound track from 200 Motels and that was issued by United Artists not Zappa.

If you are talking about the Ryko AU20 CD's, although I haven't heard any Zappa AU20 CD's the Davids Bowie Ryko AU20 CD's are phenominal sounding. If the Zappa AU20 CD's are as good as the Bowie ones, they are definately worth getting, IMO.

Greg

smglbrth

I agree w/ya Steve, about the "remasters". From the little that I've experiemented with, it seems to me that the original CD's made way back when are generally better, to my ears. They just seem warmer and not so "sharp", for lack of a better word. When you posted a ways back in the wanted section of the forum about the Kansas CD I knew exactly where you were coming from.

bikezappa

headrott wrote: »

If you are talking about the Ryko AU20 CD's, although I haven't heard any Zappa AU20 CD's the Davids Bowie Ryko AU20 CD's are phenominal sounding. If the Zappa AU20 CD's are as good as the Bowie ones, they are definately worth getting, IMO.Greg

Yes the Au or gold CDs are what I was talking about headrott. Any Zappa fans hear/play them? I have seen them on Ebay but they are not cheap.

decal

mrendrison wrote: »

buy the best brand with quarantee for 5 years.

^^^^ reported ^^^^

dragon1952

drumminman wrote: »

Don't know how familiar you are with Tull, but a couple of other great albums are "Thick As A Brick", and "Stand Up".

I have 11 Tull CD's and they are all great

dragon1952

bikezappa wrote: »

Interesting thread STEVEINAZ.

The early Beatles CDs really suck IMHO. Some of the Stones aren't very good either.

I'd be interested in what others would recommend to replace these recordings.

Are there any improved Zappa CD recordings?

The Stone's hi-res downloads from HDTracks is a great option.

George Grand

Zappa dicked up just about everything he re-mastered. Hot Rats is almost unlistenable, and adding new drum & bass tracks to "We're Only In It For The Money" and "Reuben & The Jets" was the worst idea he ever had. Thanks Frank.

rlmacklin

This one is a musical treat NOT to miss -

http://www.importcds.com/Music/1559005/Van-Morrison-Astral-Weeks-2008-Remastering-CD

Astral Weeks: 2008 Remastering [CD] [Import]
~ Van Morrison
Japanese remastered version $22.99

This Japanese remastered version is well worth the price for the clarity of the instruments and vocals versus the much murkier mix on the American Warner Bros. CD release.

All ten reviews [of this version] on Amazon give it 5 stars.

Some highlights from those reviews (as it's hard to express it any better !!!) :

"Van's first recording for Warner Brothers and it's jazz twinged bass lines and drummer-less fluid musical lines showed an affection for beatnik era coffeehouse poetry and flowing saxophone tinged musical lines..."

"...one of the greatest musical statements of all time: a true musician's album, impossible to categorise, standing out distinctively even from the rest of Van's voluminous and consistently excellent body of work over 40 years. All played in one inspired spontaneous burst, in a 12-hour studio session by musicians who had little or no experience of playing together: in the can, done and dusted, a timeless classic created in one night in NYC.

"Bursting with youthful energy, musical originality and jazz-improvisation, featuring some of the most inspired poetic lyrics ever committed to song, the whole beautiful, timeless marvel is carried along by strings, brass, flute, acoustic guitar and the most delicious driving bass playing you'll ever hear. And then there's Van's youthful and right-on-the-edge voice, articulating those poetic stream-of-consciousness lines with such power and conviction you feel he's baring his very soul..."

"an additional bonus: an 18-page insert with all the song lyrics in both English (thankfully) and Japanese..."

"Someone said of Astral Weeks many years ago: "You can't really say why it's so great. You have to listen to it to understand that. It just is."

"There's nothing else like it, nor ever likely to be. It's gorgeous, rich, delightful, transformative, inspired, a one-off. If you've never heard it, then it's time you did and this is the version to buy. "

bikezappa

George Grand wrote: »

Zappa dicked up just about everything he re-mastered. Hot Rats is almost unlistenable, and adding new drum & bass tracks to "We're Only In It For The Money" and "Reuben & The Jets" was the worst idea he ever had. Thanks Frank.

I once listened to a long talk recording, three hours, of Zappa and his wife Gail about how he writes and performs music.

The interesting idea that I took away was that Zappa never thought any of his songs were complete. The song/tunes were always changing and hopefully improving. At some point he just decided to record them as a record.

This goes along with the music that Zappa played during the concerts I attended. The tunes never sounded like the recorded LP or CD. He changed many things. Even when I saw two concerts the same night the tunes were different.

Just the way he did it..

chumlie

The master tapes were not stored properly. When he finally got them back from the record company. He had to redo the bass & drum tracks to release them.

bikezappa

chumlie wrote: »

The master tapes were not stored properly. When he finally got them back from the record company. He had to redo the bass & drum tracks to release them.

I remember Zappa saying that. Good recall.

chumlie

You notice the price jump on his stuff lately ?

bikezappa

No because I haven't bought any Zappa CDs in a few years now.

rooftop59

anybody know if the remastered cd of Allman brothers Eat a Peach is better than original cd? Worth the upgrade?
Thanks!