Led Zeppelin - best CD release to buy IMO

[TBone]

Late to the party here, but as someone who has attained a relatively large collection of LZ (both LP and CD) I just wanted to point out that the early Barry Diament LZ CD's are easily the best sounding digital LZ I've heard by a country mile. Lots more headroom. The first thing you'll notice is the much lower recording gain - compared to the overly compressed Marino / 90's editions/box sets that Page "supervised", which are dynamically squashed in comparison.

If you can get your hands on an early Diament LZ2 CD, you'll be hearing the same so-called "master" tape (the original LZ2 master was long "lost") that Ludwig used to make his "RL" pressing.

I've not heard the latest 96/24 versions, and supposedly they compete quite well, but the early Diaments CD represent the "master" when those tapes may have been much healthier ...

TB1

 

[Orb]

Heh,
for me the 1990 4CD and 2CD set were the last of the good ones (agree it is louder than what came before but I do like aspects of this remaster) and since then they have progressively become louder-hotter-worse IMO .
After 1990 release I liked the only other CD I can play is the Page/Plant 1994 Unledded - and I have the various others including Mothership/Celebration Day/BBC sessions/etc.

Just to add, personally the definitive ones to own were the individual album LPs as you say quite a bit before 1990.

Cheers
Orb