Pink Floyd Remasters

BenLaw

Well-known member
Nov 21, 2010
475
7
18,895
Visit site
My finger keeps hovering over the DSoTM immersion boxset ;) Reality is it's unlikely to come down in price so I know I'll succumb eventually ;)

Very interested in how the remasters sound, please keep us updated :)
 

Pete Shields

Well-known member
Sep 23, 2008
132
0
18,590
Visit site
DSoTM sounded great in the car coming back from Tesco, but doesn't want to play on the main system.

I'll give it a clean and try again after I've listened to the live at Earls Court 74 concert..

It's worth buying the disks experience boxset just for this.

Quality is excellent and I can't believe they never released it years ago.

Don't think much of the booklet though. Not a patch on the last release.

I can't bring myslf to justify the Immersion boxset.

I'd sit and play it for a couple of days, whilst playing with all of the gubbins (and getting ridiculed by the family). Then it would be gathering dust after it was ripped to FLAC to play through the Sonos....
 

Bodfish

New member
Jun 25, 2009
16
0
0
Visit site
BenLaw said:
My finger keeps hovering over the DSoTM immersion boxset ;) Reality is it's unlikely to come down in price so I know I'll succumb eventually ;) Very interested in how the remasters sound, please keep us updated :)

Well I started at the end tonight with The Division Bell so tomorrow I'll aim to help you and your finger out by giving Dark Side a run out :)
 

Pete Shields

Well-known member
Sep 23, 2008
132
0
18,590
Visit site
Back to Tesco tomorrow to get another copy of the experience DSOTM.

Managed to rip it to the Sonos, but it doesnt sound much different to the last release when played through Sonos......

watch this space....
 

Bodfish

New member
Jun 25, 2009
16
0
0
Visit site
Pete Shields said:
Bearing in mind the Division Bell is the newest of the bunch, how did it fare against the original CD release?

I thought there were clear differences, at least to my ears. I'd liken it to the difference between 16/44 to 24/96 recordings of the same album.
 

sc1

Well-known member
Sep 4, 2008
16
0
9,020
Visit site
I said much the same when reviewing the boxed set on the site from which I purchased it but the immersion boxed set is a bit of a mixed bag to be honest.

Music wise it is 4/5. I deduct 1 mark for not including the SACD version but it could be argued that anyone likely to be buying this set would already have the SACD. The 5.1 bluray mix is totally immersive. Extra tracks are a nice bonus and the concert from '74 sounds fantastic.

Otherwise....tat.
3 marbles - ?
Booklets - slick but not of much substance.
Scarf - ?
Coasters - unlikely to use as such given they come from such an expensive item.
Memorabilia - unmemorable
 

Dan Turner

New member
Jul 9, 2007
158
0
0
Visit site
Hey - I guess the fact that the posts here have dried up may be an indication that every one is too engrossed in listening to their new PF remasters, but if you can tear yourselves away, I for one would love to hear your opinions about they sound compared to the older issues. :)

Cheers!
 

Pete Shields

Well-known member
Sep 23, 2008
132
0
18,590
Visit site
Managed to loan a copy of the immersion box set last night. Initial impressions are the same really as those in my earlier post.

disk 1 - 2011 remaster is a marked improvement on the last release. There is certainly a better clarity to the cd. One of my favourite albums, so a must have, regardless!

disk 2 - 1974 concert. This is my favourite disk of the package and is the one disk I think I'll play again, especially in the car over the next few weeks.

disk 3 - demos, etc. Would probably listen to this one more time, but doubt it would be played after that.

DVD 1-3.

The 5.1 DVD mixes sound great through my PS3/YAM surround sound setup. "Speak to me", the opening track spooked the kids, who wouldn't even stay in the room whilst it played. From memory, they don't sound as good as the 30 year aniversary SACD disk mix though, which I have, but haven't been able to play since my SACD compatable DVD player packed in. I'd put that down to the resolution though.

I do not have high res audio on my surround amp, so couldn't take advantage of the Bluray sound. I have aquired a FLAC rip of the stereo version in high res, but need to find a way to play it through my Dacmagic!

The 1972 concert footage didn't do much for me. Not keen on the songs, and from an earlier Pink Floyd age.

The projection films, I'm sure some have appeared on the pulse DVD and certainly on youtube, so I can't see these getting much more of a listen. I only played them once last time.

This is really for the completist as has been said in the reviews.

Over the years, I have bought 2 vinyl editions, the original CD release, the US gold master recording, the 30th Aniversary edition, the 2011 experience edition of this album, so it's obviously one of my favourites (and having listed out my purchases, I'm begining to think that Dave/Roger/Nick should have dropped the latest one off by hand) . I've also had bootleg versions, dodgy downloaded psuedo DVD 5.1 audio versions, Japanese rips, etc

The latest do sound the best yet, but I can't really justify a further £88!

So, experience CD set it is.

I expect it will be the same for the other immersion box sets due to be released. So will end up getting the experience editions of WYWH and The Wall. This is the reason why I haven't gone out and bought the Discovery boxset. I have all Floyd's albums on CD already and in addition to the Experience editions, there are only Animals and Meddle that I'll be investing in in Discovery format.

I've listened to a FLAC version of the discovery boxset and must admit I'm very impressed with the quality through my Sonos. When I purchase the actual disks though, I'll report back again!

Has anybody else got anything to report?
 

MajorFubar

New member
Mar 3, 2010
690
6
0
Visit site
Pete Shields said:
...The Wall...

I'll be looking forward to this myself.

I bought The Wall on LP in the early 80s. I thought the SQ was awesome.

In the late 80s when lots of people junked their LPs in favour of CDs, this was one of the LPs I got rid of. And I regretted it. The 1985 CD I bought to replace it sounded thin and harsh by comparison, but I put it down to my budget CDP. I've since come to learn, as with most poor-sounding A->D transfers from that era, it was more to do with the rushed 'jump-on-the-new-bandwagon' transfer and the immature technology used to do it.

In the 1990s I bought the 1994 remaster, which I thought sounded much, much better. By then, the majority of record labels had learned how to do analogue tape -> CD transfers which didn't sound thin and brittle. Most importantly they had yet to start crushing the sound to death with merciless compression.

I await the 2012 re-issue with baited breath, but I'm not sure what a new 16/44 version can offer us, over and above the 1994 remaster.
 

manicm

Well-known member
I've just bought the discovery versions of Meddle, Dark Side, Animals and The Final Cut.

The good - I've only listened to Animals so far and have to say James Guthrie has finally done the job. The CD now sounds as good as the vinyl - no more sonic mud, James has certainly scrubbed the animals clean on this farm!

The bad - Storm Thorgeson remains an idiot. He's generally trashed the inner booklet of all these I've bought e.g. leaving out extra pics that were in the previous issues. Also he's trashed the original typefonts for the lyrics e.g. the original Animals lyrics fonts were as ominous and funny as the lyrics as the music itself - but no he trashes it for standard fonts for all the albums. No wonder Roger Waters unceremoniously ditched him after Animals. Horrifying.
 

krazy_olie

New member
Aug 19, 2011
6
0
0
Visit site
Anyone else find the packaging horrific on these?

I have a few of them now and I my copy of Meddle is already scratched from trying to get it out/put it back.

THe live DSOTM disk is an absoloute gem though, glad i paid theextra £3 for the "experience" edition
 

manicm

Well-known member
Here's my take on the sound:

Dark Side - Yes

Animals - Yes

The Final Cut - No, clearer but compression is evident - there's a lack of dynamics.

Wish You Were Here - No, James Guthrie admirably restores the effects at the beginning to a more audible level, but again compression.

Meddle - again compression/lack of dynamics.

So these new remasters are a mixed bag then. And yes the packaging is horrifying.
 

MajorFubar

New member
Mar 3, 2010
690
6
0
Visit site
I hope they don't mess up The Wall. That's the one I'm really waiting for. Though I'm not sure what it's going to offer over and above the 1994 remaster, which I think sounds excellent.
 

MajorFubar

New member
Mar 3, 2010
690
6
0
Visit site
Well after some delay (because it was purchased as a Christmas present) tonight I finally got to hear the 2011 remaster of DSOTM (Discovery Edition).

The first thing I did was to listen to the last 30 seconds of Eclipse to see if the Ticket to Ride print-through was still there, as heard on my original DSOTM CD from the late 80s, but not on my 70s vinyl. Disappointingly, it is still there.

That leaves me somewhat deflated, and dare I say it, feeling a touch swindled. Why? Well, rumour has it that the infamous instrumental print-through occured in the 1980s when the analogue stereo-master was transferred to digital. The fact that it is still there in this master tells me that the engineers have gone no further back than a 1980s digital capture.

The problem occurs because of the vagaries of the word 'remaster'. What I wanted it to mean on this occasion was that the engineers had dug out the original (or earliest-available) analogue master-tape and re-digitized it to extract more information from it than digital technology was capable of in the 80s. Sadly that doesn't seem to have happened here.

I'm left feeling that this 'remaster' was little more than a marketing exercise.

As for the overall sound...doesn't seem hugely different, other than a bit of extra compression to hike-up the average volume, plus the frequency extremes seem to be a bit more prominent. But then again, it wouldn't do, would it, if it's the 1980s digital master wearing blusher and lippy.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
I, for one, am enjoying the set. Final Cut sounds fine to me, as does The Wall (only played these so far). Not bad for £53 delivered for the Discovery box.
smiley-cool.gif
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts