HW: Re: New Remasters better sound?

[Stephen Swann]

On Wed, Aug 11, 1999 at 10:52:00AM +0100, Dave Berry wrote:
> At 19:08 10/08/99 , Stephen Swann wrote:
> >BTW, did we ever settle the issue of whether there was a difference in
> >sound between the single-album issue of Levitation, and the Castle
> >two-for-one _Levitation/Live '79_?
>
> What about whether last year's (?) re-release of Live Chronicles is better
> than the earlier CD versions?  (I mean the single-disc version, I think it
> was from Griffin?  Actually, I don't remember the details).

The re-release of the Castle _Live Chronicles_ (the one with the extra
tracks) sounds slightly different than the original Castle 1-CD
release; these both sound different than the Griffin 2-CD release, and
they all sound different than the vinyl.  ;-)

Basically, in my opinion, the best sounding release is the vinyl
double LP.  It has a beautiful smoothness of sound, and Huw's guitar
cuts through the mix like a laser beam.  The next best is a toss-up
between the two Castle CD releases.  To be honest, I don't recall them
being that much of different.  The re-release sounds similar to the
original, but (and I'd have to go back and do another comparative
listening to be sure of this) I think that they seem to have "beefed
up" the bottom end, given a little more kick to the bass and drums.  I
don't consider this "better" or "worse", it depends really on whether
you like the bass and drums to have more presence, or whether you like
the more balanced sound of the original (I think the original sounds
closer to the vinyl).  Both Castle CD releases suffer somewhat from
some high-end shrillness, especially in the frequently-used
synthesizer washes (the vinyl's smooth high-end rolloff diminishes
this effect, leaving the synths sparklingly clear, but not shrill).

At the bottom of the heap is the Griffin 2-CD set, which I'm sorry to
say sounds like shit.  Call it murky, muddy, ill-defined, whatever; it
sounds like it was mastered using a pocket cassette recorder.  If it
wasn't for the restored tracks, I'd say there was no reason whatsoever
to own this.

Steve
swann at plutonia.com