Quality Re-Masters

LL21

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Hi Bill,

Great stuff! thanks for that. Have you heard the Verve '24 Remasters' for Ella? (and in particular Ella and Satch)? i think the 24 refers to 24/96 remastering which is then placed onto CD...Incredible! Spellbindingly good recording on any level. And its Ella and Satch if you like them...i really enjoy this CD.
 

Old Listener

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Hi Bill,

Great stuff! thanks for that. Have you heard the Verve '24 Remasters' for Ella? (and in particular Ella and Satch)? i think the 24 refers to 24/96 remastering which is then placed onto CD...Incredible! Spellbindingly good recording on any level. And its Ella and Satch if you like them...i really enjoy this CD.

I'm interested in this album but I have not found that album yet.

I immediately went to Amazon and looked for title='24 Remasters' with Artist=Ella Fitzgerald. Nothing found. Searching for Artist=Ella Fitzgerald and Label=Verve' produced 245 returns. I didn't see "24 remasters' in the list. Quite a few remastered albums from ~2007.

I then looked at the Verve Music group site. Lots of Ella albums but I didn't see '24 Remasters' .

I would appreciate any further leads and comments.

(I wonder if 24 remasters is the title of a series.)

An Ella Fitzgerald song you may not have heard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HlK96kSNt0

Bill
 
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LL21

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rockitman

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I didn't see Fleetwood Mac Rumours 45 rpm remaster mentioned....The Hoffman/Gray version. I find it a wonderful listening experience....dynamic, extended and warm. I prefer it to the original issue "Palm Tree" textured outer sleeve version which I have too.
 

Andre Marc

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The Beatles re-masters. To be honest, these weren't great recordings in the first place, so even the re-masters are not "audiophile" recordings by a long shot, but they are world's better than the original CDs and clearly done with love and care. I have both the mono and the stereo sets. Which I prefer varies from cut to cut, though in general the stereo masters are better, I think, if you can get past some of the hard panning of instruments. Some of the monos sound a bit congested to me.

Not to be disagreeable, but I'm not a huge Steve Hoffman fan. He does a lot of things right -- goes to great lengths to get the original tapes so not re-master from a copy, does not compress, avoids noise reduction, etc. He is clearly a dedicated craftsman. But his eq is, in my limited experience with his work, digital for people who don't like digital. He tries to make CDs sound like vinyl. To me that just sounds a bit rolled off up high and chunky in the middle. But one man's muddy is another man's warmth. They might be just the thing for you.

P

Agree about the Beatles. Mono CDs sound boxey and congested to me. Nothing like a live band, but some cuts sound Ok.

Steve Hoffman..you are right about chunky mids, but not for ALL of his CDs. Some hare quite extended in the bass and treble. In general,
I like his work.
 

Andre Marc

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Wrong and you simply have no clue what you're talking about. In fact, you're the first one who has ever described Steve's re-issues as chunky in the mids; OTOH, maybe you're hearing the upper octaves like they are, rather than some re-equalized, amusical release.

Steve Hoffman's AIM is first and foremost to make his reissues sound like the tape they come from. No more, no less. Perhaps you should look at your system first rather than blame the engineer. Perhaps you're actually hearing what the music sounds like rather than some crappy digital remaster from the major labels. Perhaps you should tell us what Steve Hoffman remasters you're talking about.

Sorry, Myles, you are so off the mark it is not even funny. At least for the last 5 years of Hoffman's work. He uses ALOT of EQ. I mean ALOT. See piece below about the Audio Fidelity Crosby, Stills and Nash HDCD remaster.
It sounds NOTHING like the original master tape, I mean NOTHING. I have bootlegs of the rough mixes, all three previous CD editions, and heard a dub of the master.

Now, all that being said...he did polish it up and he brought out previously unheard sparkle in the guitars and vocal harmonies.

http://www.analogplanet.com/content/audio-fidelity-gets-csn-couch-and-your-room-0
 
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Andre Marc

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i have been fortunate with the following remasters...some of which were done by the legenery Bob Ludwig:

- Nearly all of Sting/Police remasters
- Nearly all of the U2 remasters
- Rudy van Gelder remasters...many have commented they are bright. i have not found that on the ones i have bought
- The Ella Fitzgerald remasters have been INCREDIBLY good
- Many of the Dexter Gordon remasters, Stanley Turrentine, Red Garland Trio/Quintet, Thelonius Monk remasters...all much improved over the original CDs

Agree on Police, U2, and RVG. Which Sting remasters are you referring too?
 

LL21

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Agree on Police, U2, and RVG. Which Sting remasters are you referring too?

The Police (2 CD album) and Fields of Gold - the Best of Sting...i believe remastered a few yrs ago by Bob Ludwig.
 

LL21

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Just picked up the following...all great:

APO Remasters
Lou Donaldson: Time Is Right
Horace Parlan: Movin & Groovin
Ray Charles & Betty Carter: Ray Charles & Betty Carter

XRCD:
Freddie Hubbard: Open Sesame
 

LL21

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I've had a Satch Plays Fats CD for years. It was released in 1986 and has OK sound. The music is first rate and the sound quality didn't spoil my listening pleasure.

I recently found this remastered version

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012GMYEG

There are a number of bonus tracks and the sound quality is significantly better in my opinion. Singers and soloists come out of the general sound in a vivid but natural sounding way. I hear a bit of distortion for a second in two or three places. I'd guess that the microphones or preamps were overloaded.

If you like Louis Armstrong as a performer or Fats Waller as a composer, I'd recommend this to you highly.

Bill

Hi Bill - FYI - Ella & Louis and Ella and Louis Again...both are now remastered by 2 different companies. FIM/LIM did a 32-bit remaster K2, and Analogue Productions also did CD/SACD Remasters. I got both to compare, and when done will probably share some with friends as thank you's for various favors they've done over the years. Better than a bottle of wine!
 

LL21

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Oh man...i just finished work and pulled up Amazon...got hooked on a trail of really promising sounding remasters of Oscar Peterson...Cole Porter, Rodgers & H, Irving Berlin, Gershwin...and then i just ordered an XRCD of just Ella and Oscar Peterson singing. Enough! I ordered them all...about 3-5 bucks each second hand though, so that's nice. Except the XRCD of Ella & Oscar Peterson...ouch.
 

Lee

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Some Girls is in fact a disaster. However, I highly recommend the recent DSD-sourced LPs for a Rolling Stones fix.

Keef don't go. ;)

The new Paul Simon Graceland LP beats my pristine promo.

As for the Cisco Aja, skip it. Look for the Canadian colored vinyl instead.
 

zztop7

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Google: crane NYC

Great example of high-end decoupling. I would love a quality remaster of the sounds of that crane in NYC today. Google: crane NYC.
zz.
 

Phelonious Ponk

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This is an old thread and I've probably said this already, back there somewhere: The Beatles remasters. Sometimes I prefer the mono, sometimes the stereo. But they're all good.

Tim
 

Ronm1

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As with Tim, may have listed these before.

•HB@CH K2HD
•IICORMN David Crosby DVDA
•Doors DVDA box set with additional cd redbook disc that crushed the original cd's that were pieces of dog doodoo IMHO
•# of FIM titles too many to mention. Just superb work on their releases.
• The Living Stereo SACD releases
 

NorthStar

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My favourites too
Also the Audio Fidelity 180grm remaster of Marianne Faithfull's Broken English

Love that album. ...Pow Wow Pop music...groovy.

This is an old thread and I've probably said this already, back there somewhere: The Beatles remasters.
Sometimes I prefer the mono, sometimes the stereo. But they're all good.

Tim

The Beatles too I have most of all their remastered albums that were released on SACD...including the original mono ones from yesterday...they're all good.
Of course they are...love songs.


 
Steely Dan - Aja - Cisco Music. Nicely packaged, although I'm not fond of their paper/plastic inner sleeve. Mastered by Kevin Gray and Robert Pincus at AcousTech Mastering.

View attachment 2049
A stunning reissue, compared it to all of the other copies I have - MoFi, original English & American - Cisco is the clearest, for example on Peg, Michael McDonald sings the backing vocal on the chorus. But was instructed not to break into falsetto. On the Cisco his voice is easily identifiable, on the others, his voice is hidden behind a curtain.
 

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