Some context: Analog master tapes are subject to degredation over time due to storage conditions, repeated uses, and just the effects of time on the physical elements of tape technology. Hence the baking of the tapes in order to make a new transfer (a process in which the stickiness of the tape material is dried out so that the master can be played back without tearing itself apart, but often resulting in the tape deteriorating directly following the playback). In order to preserve the integrity of the master recording, many labels and artists have preserved the masters by baking them and transferring them to a very high-resolution digital copy that is transparent to the original master. "Digital" is often given a bad rap, as most people equate analog and digital as set quality levels. That's not the case... there can be good digital recordings, and bad ones. Likewise, there can be good analog recordings and bad ones as well. An expertly engineered analog-to-digital transfer will contain all of the nuance, dynamic range, and detail of the analog recording. The benefit is that the digital master is not subject to the same degradation over time or uses that the analog recording does. It preserves the quality at the time of the transfer, and it can be cloned for additional backup masters without generation loss. It makes sense to preserve the recordings in this way, and to strike new records from new digital masters if the process maintains the highest possible quality from the transfer all the way to the pressing. In short, the Led Zeppelin pressings are not made from mp3s or CD-quality recordings. These were made at least 96kHz and 24bit, though they could be at 192hKz and 24bit. Any shortcomings either exist on the original master, or represent the aesthetic choices of whoever was mastering the new vinyl.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience with the remasters. All my Zeppelin albums are German pressings from mid 80s and they all sound great. I’ve the box sets of Remasters, TSRTS, Mothership, HTWWW and Complete BBC too! I’d like Presence 2014 remaster because mine has a single sleeve and no artwork!
Hey,Brian.You found a Please Please Me dry mix Parli 45-well,time to search for ANOTHER dry mix 45-the red or black label '60's era Live Me Do 4949 Parli pressing.Both sides on the Parli and the Canadian swirl Capitol are THE only issues of the bone dry initial issue mixes on both.Thevolune on PS I Love You was engineer lowered and the whole song was bass reduced to where it comes across as a soft ballad.I have the RL of Zep 2!Amazing!!
I bought most of them because of the extra material but my favourites are the U.K. plum first pressings. I also bought the U.S. quiex 200 gram remasters from the early noughties. I gotta say these sound incredible.
I actually love all these remasters even the ones you’re not crazy about. I bought all the deluxe box sets when they were released along with all the cd’s separately from the box sets so I could play them in the car and leave the box sets as untouched originals. I love the books that come along with the box sets and to my old ears I honestly I can’t tell a big difference in sound quality. I also have all my original Canadian pressings and I also have all the original Japanese pressings w/ Obie’s from the 70’s/80’s …..and those albums sound and look incredible! I’m with you on Presence and In Through the Outdoor…… both incredible albums that seem to get overlooked. Every song a journey…….Including Hot Dog which is such a fun tune that only Zeppelin could pull off. The remastered Coda is great too with the additional songs….I wish a few of those songs had been included on the original 1982 release. Cheers
I have the 2014 Led Zeppelin two vinyl and a 1977 pressing. I was genuinely hoping the new one would sound better but after comparison, I still enjoyed the old better. It seems to have more dynamics and a better high-end.
Thank you for this! I’ve been A/B-ing my first presses (except my II RL, bc no contest) recently with the remasters & the only one that comes close (remasters) is Physical Graffiti. My original is GP all four sides, but the vinyl is noisy, so remaster “wins” …not really. The RL cut Houses of the Holy is incredible, especially the German press. Thank you again for these videos!
I have no issues with these releases. Zep always had distortion..Bonham's beats were just too loud and they were pushing the sound to the limits. The distortion on Zep I is audible ony casette tape from 84.
I have all the 2014/2015 remasters.. They're good for the money, nice placeholders, but if you want the best sounding pressings, go with OG analog 70's pressings (with the exception of LZII - the '69 1st RL cut is the best, but the Piros '77 xxx Monarch is easily the next best thing). Anything cut by George Piros and Robert Ludwig sounds phenomenal. Porky/Pecko Duck for IV For LZIII, the original UK Plum is the best I ever heard.. Well worth grabbing. US 1st pressings for the rest will do, though I recommend getting the Japanese strawberry cuts for Presence & ITtOD. 😎
Setting aside digital vs analog sound quality arguments, not choosing an all Analog process is really an example of not following the “know your customer “ rule.
Thanks for a great video. The first LZ album i heard was IV, at a friends house. This was in 72 i guess. So, a UK first press. As a 13 year old truly blown away. To this day side one is still my favourite side of music. The first one i bought was 2. I was so disappointed with Whole lotta love. Too quiet. The rest was great. A couple years later picked up an Atlantic comp. At last a total in your face version of WLL. Have first 4 on vinyl, all seventies, 70s pressings. Then fell out of love with LZ. Bought Remasters on cd. Primarily for the best of the later songs on disc 2. Do own first 6 remasters now, on cd. Plus of course the BBC and live stuff. Thanks again
This is great. I don’t have any of the vinyl but the cd of In through the out door is amazing (including bonus mixes) Plant’s vocals are so much clearer than ever! Also I bought 3 on vinyl for my niece who has become a big fan! Glad to hear that’s a good one.
I have the super deluxe pressings and I love them. A much more modern sound. A warm sound that is not too treble like the original pressings without going over board on the bottom end.
Thanks for this. Never considered any of these since they were generally panned. Like that you went into detail without simply blowing them off for the digital step which doesn't bother me if done correctly. Some diss all digital vinyl but I am not one. They don't realize that some all analog pressings are utter crap. On a side note, I was a record reviewer in high school when 3 came out (I'm showing my age) and received a review copy of 3 which I still have. I panned it in my review comparing it negatively to the first two albums. I do enjoy several tracks on 3 and have grown to appreciate it more but still stick by my opinion that it was a huge step down from the first two albums.
I just got a porky pecko IV copy yesterday and I agree it sounds great!! I’m buying a lot of George peckhams pressings of late starting with unknown pleasures was my first that I knew I had of his which turned out I had more of his stuff in my collection, I’m waiting on Lennon Imagine cut by porky pecko that should be in the post today!!
Great video. I agree the remasters are a mixed bag. Zeppelin III is terrific like you said. Houses is a bit dodgy. Graffiti is rather good. I have a US Porky Pecko of Zeppelin IV which is excellent. I agree it would to be great eventually to get an all analog release of their discography.
Call me weird, but I like to record the Beatles in order that they recorded the songs. In Jan. 1968, when Paul McCartney, was producing his brother's sessions for "McGear & McGough". Jimmy Page, who was with John Bonham Carter and John Paul Jones, told Paul that he thinking of reforming "The Yardbirds" all he needs is a lead singer. On Jan. 20, 1968, he recorded a few songs with Jimi Hendrix and Brian Jones, before they recorded "All Along the Watchtower" that's on "South Saturn Delta". My record supplier, in the early 80's, tried to sell me a copy for $100, but it looked like someone played Frisbee with it in a muddy field (plus it was all scratched up). I even missed it when it was first released on C,D.. Thanks to Ebay i was able to secure a copy.
Great video, man. I sorta did the same thing. I have a couple of remasters and a couple of originals. Of course, the remasters are cheaper, but some definitely fall short on sound quality. Not all bad, though.
Deep groove distortion is going on a lot of new vinyl releases. Had it on the blue HMV Steven Wilson mixes of the YES ALBUM. The manufacturer of the product are not checking the Sound quality European pressing plants. Pink Floyd 2018 remix ANIMALS is another album that has faults in various parts during play too. And Scratch in the master disc being produced on the Steven Wilson The Harmony Codex.
When a band's entire output is showcased it makes you reflect on what a contribution to the culture they made, the legacy they left. Same with the ouevre of an author or classical composer or books sampling the lifetime range of painters or photographers - - a gauge of people's creative life. Even just the determination of a band to stay on the case long enough to amass a body of work is impressive. And you get Movements, Waves: one band inspires another because there's something in the air. If it's not folk rock it's psychedelia & if it's not psychedelia it's metal. *Warning - - the next para is Negative - - is Negative - - * Today the thing to have is collapsible shelving. There's less & less signs of new millennial culture contributing anything worth keeping, few bodies of work in any medium worth archiving. There are exceptions but no Movements, no more Waves. Built-in obsolescence has a Very Short Shelf Life now. As if hype can bluff a comparison with the output from 50 years ago just long enough to make a buck before the cracks show. As if mankind has nothing left in the tank but another war. As if today's culture doesn't know the 1st thing about what made the contributions of former generations worth keeping. Which is when next-generation remasters/repressings have no Quality Control to speak of.
just got near mint uk first pressings of physical graffiti, presence and in through the out door and a 1972 uk repress of III, all of them single handedly smoke the 2014 remasters. infinite levels of detail and sheer power. the guitars in particular on a lot of physical graffiti and presence sound wimpy on the 2014 remasters but absolutely shred like a chainsaw on the originals, the guitar solos on nobody's fault but mine and sick again being a great example.
2014 remasters are a mixed bag. but I got a lot of the 70s George piros pressings and they smoke the 2014. The piko duck pressing of 4 is the best I’ve ever heard
@@darthwarren4599 I have what I believe is a 1976 repress of 4, sounds great but I would love to get a piko duck If I come across one, I do however have a bootleg cd I got off a friend that used to work in a record store that has a needle drop of an original usa promo copy of 4 on it and that sounds phenomenal.
Great score if you got a near mint PG. UK copies are notoriously hard to find in that condition, mine looks a solid VG+ and the even the slightest sleeve scuff makes some surface noise
It's been 10 years, long enough that they could start a new reissue campaign without much crying, preferably mastered by a hotshot like Grundman, Kevin Gray or Ryan K. Smith, double 45 RPM.
For me…some have been pretty decent some have sounded muddy.. the deluxe versions companion disks make them worth while in my opinion… the classic records versions are supposed to be great but they are going for big bucks. Prob tuff to find originals in good shape or pay big money for good ones. I’m still hoping chad at acoustic sounds can get a deal to redo them..
Every LP pressed today is cut from digital files with very rare exception. The reason LPs like these sound bad is because they did a bad job when they did the remaster. Simple as that. Usually too much compression.
I mostly agree, BUT, some represses and reissues from the first 4 albums from the 70's suck big time, here's where the reissues win. For example the Zeppelin II the repress after RL sucks, it's dull as hell, here the Page reissue wins. If you want a good vintage Zeppelin II you need and RL or George Piro pressing. Same thing with Zeppelin I... either a first pressing or a Piros pressing, otherwise the reissue wins. I agree with the rest of your review...
My findings are very different to yours although I wouldn't describe myself as a critical listener or audiophile. I thought 1, 2, and 3 all sound amazing. 4 sounds dull but then I picked up the crystal clear vinyl edition they released last year just for fun and it sounds much better, even though it has the same stampers as the black vinyl! My Porky/Pecko Duck pressing doesn't sound any better or worse, just different. Physical Graffiti is a bit 'meh' in my opinion but I'm yet to hear a great sounding copy of that on any format. By the way I'm not sure how much of the actual 'work' Jimmy Page did, it was John Davis (who sadly passed away last year) that did the remastering and I think Page just signed it off! 🙂 Shortly after Davis passed away Metropolis studios had some videos on their website of him talking about the project and the remastering process, not sure if they're still available though.
Have four of the 2014 series...II, IV, Houses and PG. No kidding on the 2014 IV...that thing outright sucks. The others three are good, though. Best I, II and IV that I have are the 1977 George Piros pressings. The Porky/Pecko-Duck IV, I consider between the 1977 and the 2014. Guessing I have a crappy copy even though it's in EX- condition...it's an 1841 Broadway/Richmond (RI).
I dunno, my III and ittod digital vinyl reissues just sound odd. I grew up in the '70s and have owned multiple pressings of all of them. A disappointment.
I have a stupid question You’re showing us all the Page remastered versions and criticizing each of them then why on earth did you keep buying all of them!!! Just wondering????
@@davepounds8924 actually a fair question. If you watch the full video you will see that I like some of the pressings. In addition I got most for a good price.
I had all the 2014 remasters in LP and CD form...all awful...sold them all off...thin sounding and definitely over compressed. Compared all the CD 2014s to the original CD counterparts...no doubt about it...the originals are superior across the sonic spectrum. I admit that the second extra LPs and CD bonus material was geat and sounded a whole lot better than the studio counterparts. Keep you originals if you have them...pray for Steven Wilson to have a go on all these.
You did hint at this. Why on earth would Jimmy Page think he could outperform work that legendary professional engineers could achieve? He already had previously buggered up some remastering of Zeppelin stuff. Plus he must have been in his late sixties. Sound engineering is a younger man’s game. Total ego trip.
What are you talking about? Your ignorance of Page's activities are obvious. Page would sit in with the cutting engineers while cutting the masters for pressing and guiding then on what he wanted and where. He was totally hands on from production to cutting and he did this with every album. He had nothing to do with the CDs from the 80s and was appalled by them. He remastered all Led Zep in the early 90s and these were a vast improment. He did them again in 2014 because the technology had advanced a great deal and these sound fantastic.
@@apollomemories7399 As we’re both fans let’s agree to disagree. He did sit in most of the remastering sessions when it was digitised with George Marino. That’s when the sound quality (most not all) hit a brick wall. There’s an obsession to master louder.
@@jim586 Jimmy personally directed all the mastering sessions throughout from 68 and all the 70s. He had nothing to do with the first round of CDs in the 80s which sounded terrible. He again did the early 90s which were a vast improvement. And the 2014/15 releases which I think are exceptional. I only bought one re-release on vinyl, Physical Graffiti, since I already (of course) own first UK pressings. I thoought the Cds sound really good and I can't detect any of that brick wall issue. All my system read outs tell me the sound levels are not brickwalled. But, I did spend $50k on that, so perhaps much cheaper gear just can't handle th signals, similar to that first US pressing of LZII that caused needle-jump as the bass signal was so loud.
A lot of audiophiles really like the original 80's CDs, which were mostly mastered by the very well respected Barry Diament, apart from Zep IV. They weren't just rushed out. The 1994 Jimmy Page and George Marino masterings aren't as popular. They're the ones I have though.
@@JamesTaylor-yg7ow What? You've got the wrong end of the story. I've no idea where you obtained that nonsense information. These 80's CDs were hated and because they were NOT mastered very well. Whereas, the 1990 and 1993 box sets and 1994 individual album releases were most welcome and applauded.
Some context: Analog master tapes are subject to degredation over time due to storage conditions, repeated uses, and just the effects of time on the physical elements of tape technology. Hence the baking of the tapes in order to make a new transfer (a process in which the stickiness of the tape material is dried out so that the master can be played back without tearing itself apart, but often resulting in the tape deteriorating directly following the playback). In order to preserve the integrity of the master recording, many labels and artists have preserved the masters by baking them and transferring them to a very high-resolution digital copy that is transparent to the original master. "Digital" is often given a bad rap, as most people equate analog and digital as set quality levels. That's not the case... there can be good digital recordings, and bad ones. Likewise, there can be good analog recordings and bad ones as well. An expertly engineered analog-to-digital transfer will contain all of the nuance, dynamic range, and detail of the analog recording. The benefit is that the digital master is not subject to the same degradation over time or uses that the analog recording does. It preserves the quality at the time of the transfer, and it can be cloned for additional backup masters without generation loss. It makes sense to preserve the recordings in this way, and to strike new records from new digital masters if the process maintains the highest possible quality from the transfer all the way to the pressing. In short, the Led Zeppelin pressings are not made from mp3s or CD-quality recordings. These were made at least 96kHz and 24bit, though they could be at 192hKz and 24bit. Any shortcomings either exist on the original master, or represent the aesthetic choices of whoever was mastering the new vinyl.
Appreciate the video...that Coda trifold is an awesome package and includes the best selection of (essential) bonus material.
All the JP vinyl remasters sounded fine to me on my system, clearer and more detailed with all the rough edges on early albums taken off, all good!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience with the remasters. All my Zeppelin albums are German pressings from mid 80s and they all sound great. I’ve the box sets of Remasters, TSRTS, Mothership, HTWWW and Complete BBC too! I’d like Presence 2014 remaster because mine has a single sleeve and no artwork!
Hey,Brian.You found a Please Please Me dry mix Parli 45-well,time to search for ANOTHER dry mix 45-the red or black label '60's era Live Me Do 4949 Parli pressing.Both sides on the Parli and the Canadian swirl Capitol are THE only issues of the bone dry initial issue mixes on both.Thevolune on PS I Love You was engineer lowered and the whole song was bass reduced to where it comes across as a soft ballad.I have the RL of Zep 2!Amazing!!
I bought most of them because of the extra material but my favourites are the U.K. plum first pressings. I also bought the U.S. quiex 200 gram remasters from the early noughties.
I gotta say these sound incredible.
I actually love all these remasters even the ones you’re not crazy about. I bought all the deluxe box sets when they were released along with all the cd’s separately from the box sets so I could play them in the car and leave the box sets as untouched originals. I love the books that come along with the box sets and to my old ears I honestly I can’t tell a big difference in sound quality. I also have all my original Canadian pressings and I also have all the original Japanese pressings w/ Obie’s from the 70’s/80’s …..and those albums sound and look incredible!
I’m with you on Presence and In Through the Outdoor…… both incredible albums that seem to get overlooked. Every song a journey…….Including Hot Dog which is such a fun tune that only Zeppelin could pull off. The remastered Coda is great too with the additional songs….I wish a few of those songs had been included on the original 1982 release. Cheers
Nothing is wrong, jimmy did a fine different work. Might not be the greatest but they are absolutely really good and worth having them...
I have the 2014 Led Zeppelin two vinyl and a 1977 pressing. I was genuinely hoping the new one would sound better but after comparison, I still enjoyed the old better. It seems to have more dynamics and a better high-end.
Thank you for this! I’ve been A/B-ing my first presses (except my II RL, bc no contest) recently with the remasters & the only one that comes close (remasters) is Physical Graffiti. My original is GP all four sides, but the vinyl is noisy, so remaster “wins” …not really. The RL cut Houses of the Holy is incredible, especially the German press. Thank you again for these videos!
I have no issues with these releases. Zep always had distortion..Bonham's beats were just too loud and they were pushing the sound to the limits. The distortion on Zep I is audible ony casette tape from 84.
Glad to learn that Zep 3 remastered is really good. Need to replace my Zep 3 copy due to only having a fair used copy
I have all the 2014/2015 remasters.. They're good for the money, nice placeholders, but if you want the best sounding pressings, go with OG analog 70's pressings (with the exception of LZII - the '69 1st RL cut is the best, but the Piros '77 xxx Monarch is easily the next best thing). Anything cut by George Piros and Robert Ludwig sounds phenomenal. Porky/Pecko Duck for IV
For LZIII, the original UK Plum is the best I ever heard.. Well worth grabbing.
US 1st pressings for the rest will do, though I recommend getting the Japanese strawberry cuts for Presence & ITtOD. 😎
I got a near mint of the piros 77 cut and it’s amazing
Setting aside digital vs analog sound quality arguments, not choosing an all Analog process is really an example of not following the “know your customer “ rule.
It's not always possible, due to the conditions of the original tapes.
Thanks for a great video. The first LZ album i heard was IV, at a friends house. This was in 72 i guess. So, a UK first press. As a 13 year old truly blown away. To this day side one is still my favourite side of music. The first one i bought was 2. I was so disappointed with Whole lotta love. Too quiet. The rest was great. A couple years later picked up an Atlantic comp. At last a total in your face version of WLL. Have first 4 on vinyl, all seventies, 70s pressings. Then fell out of love with LZ. Bought Remasters on cd. Primarily for the best of the later songs on disc 2. Do own first 6 remasters now, on cd. Plus of course the BBC and live stuff. Thanks again
This is great. I don’t have any of the vinyl but the cd of In through the out door is amazing (including bonus mixes) Plant’s vocals are so much clearer than ever!
Also I bought 3 on vinyl for my niece who has become a big fan! Glad to hear that’s a good one.
I have the super deluxe pressings and I love them. A much more modern sound. A warm sound that is not too treble like the original pressings without going over board on the bottom end.
Awesome video as always. Thank you Brian. My OG UK 1st press of Physical Graffiti blows away anything that came after at in my opinion
Thanks for this. Never considered any of these since they were generally panned. Like that you went into detail without simply blowing them off for the digital step which doesn't bother me if done correctly. Some diss all digital vinyl but I am not one. They don't realize that some all analog pressings are utter crap.
On a side note, I was a record reviewer in high school when 3 came out (I'm showing my age) and received a review copy of 3 which I still have. I panned it in my review comparing it negatively to the first two albums. I do enjoy several tracks on 3 and have grown to appreciate it more but still stick by my opinion that it was a huge step down from the first two albums.
Nice video. I have all the 2014-15 remasters by Page and think they sound great. And for the price it’s really good value.
I just got a porky pecko IV copy yesterday and I agree it sounds great!! I’m buying a lot of George peckhams pressings of late starting with unknown pleasures was my first that I knew I had of his which turned out I had more of his stuff in my collection, I’m waiting on Lennon Imagine cut by porky pecko that should be in the post today!!
Great video. I agree the remasters are a mixed bag. Zeppelin III is terrific like you said. Houses is a bit dodgy. Graffiti is rather good. I have a US Porky Pecko of Zeppelin IV which is excellent. I agree it would to be great eventually to get an all analog release of their discography.
Call me weird, but I like to record the Beatles in order that they recorded the songs. In Jan. 1968, when Paul McCartney, was producing his brother's sessions for "McGear & McGough". Jimmy Page, who was with John Bonham Carter and John Paul Jones, told Paul that he thinking of reforming "The Yardbirds" all he needs is a lead singer. On Jan. 20, 1968, he recorded a few songs with Jimi Hendrix and Brian Jones, before they recorded "All Along the Watchtower" that's on "South Saturn Delta". My record supplier, in the early 80's, tried to sell me a copy for $100, but it looked like someone played Frisbee with it in a muddy field (plus it was all scratched up). I even missed it when it was first released on C,D.. Thanks to Ebay i was able to secure a copy.
Great video, man. I sorta did the same thing. I have a couple of remasters and a couple of originals. Of course, the remasters are cheaper, but some definitely fall short on sound quality. Not all bad, though.
Thx, Yes! I checked it out. I have the Pecko Duck.
I totally concur. I always thought this record sounded special. Much more dynamics I think.
Deep groove distortion is going on a lot of new vinyl releases. Had it on the blue HMV Steven Wilson mixes of the YES ALBUM. The manufacturer of the product are not checking the Sound quality European pressing plants. Pink Floyd 2018 remix ANIMALS is another album that has faults in various parts during play too. And Scratch in the master disc being produced on the Steven Wilson The Harmony Codex.
✨I can hear some great remix but I like the 1975 mix of The Rover the best. Had to buy back my original mix cd I traded in just for this one song✨
When a band's entire output is showcased it makes you reflect on what a contribution to the culture they made, the legacy they left. Same with the ouevre of an author or classical composer or books sampling the lifetime range of painters or photographers - - a gauge of people's creative life. Even just the determination of a band to stay on the case long enough to amass a body of work is impressive. And you get Movements, Waves: one band inspires another because there's something in the air. If it's not folk rock it's psychedelia & if it's not psychedelia it's metal. *Warning - - the next para is Negative - - is Negative - - *
Today the thing to have is collapsible shelving. There's less & less signs of new millennial culture contributing anything worth keeping, few bodies of work in any medium worth archiving. There are exceptions but no Movements, no more Waves. Built-in obsolescence has a Very Short Shelf Life now. As if hype can bluff a comparison with the output from 50 years ago just long enough to make a buck before the cracks show. As if mankind has nothing left in the tank but another war. As if today's culture doesn't know the 1st thing about what made the contributions of former generations worth keeping. Which is when next-generation remasters/repressings have no Quality Control to speak of.
just got near mint uk first pressings of physical graffiti, presence and in through the out door and a 1972 uk repress of III, all of them single handedly smoke the 2014 remasters. infinite levels of detail and sheer power. the guitars in particular on a lot of physical graffiti and presence sound wimpy on the 2014 remasters but absolutely shred like a chainsaw on the originals, the guitar solos on nobody's fault but mine and sick again being a great example.
2014 remasters are a mixed bag. but I got a lot of the 70s George piros pressings and they smoke the 2014. The piko duck pressing of 4 is the best I’ve ever heard
@@darthwarren4599 I have what I believe is a 1976 repress of 4, sounds great but I would love to get a piko duck If I come across one, I do however have a bootleg cd I got off a friend that used to work in a record store that has a needle drop of an original usa promo copy of 4 on it and that sounds phenomenal.
Great score if you got a near mint PG. UK copies are notoriously hard to find in that condition, mine looks a solid VG+ and the even the slightest sleeve scuff makes some surface noise
Thanks for the video! Great content!
It's been 10 years, long enough that they could start a new reissue campaign without much crying, preferably mastered by a hotshot like Grundman, Kevin Gray or Ryan K. Smith, double 45 RPM.
For me…some have been pretty decent some have sounded muddy.. the deluxe versions companion disks make them worth while in my opinion… the classic records versions are supposed to be great but they are going for big bucks. Prob tuff to find originals in good shape or pay big money for good ones. I’m still hoping chad at acoustic sounds can get a deal to redo them..
Oh yea and awesome shirt !
Every LP pressed today is cut from digital files with very rare exception. The reason LPs like these sound bad is because they did a bad job when they did the remaster. Simple as that. Usually too much compression.
Zep🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I mostly agree, BUT, some represses and reissues from the first 4 albums from the 70's suck big time, here's where the reissues win. For example the Zeppelin II the repress after RL sucks, it's dull as hell, here the Page reissue wins. If you want a good vintage Zeppelin II you need and RL or George Piro pressing. Same thing with Zeppelin I... either a first pressing or a Piros pressing, otherwise the reissue wins. I agree with the rest of your review...
The question we're all wondering is... how did you get the black hype stickers off without ripping the covers?! 🙂
@@jameshogg11 ha very carefully! I always like to try and get the hype stickers and them put them somewhere inside the sleeve.
My findings are very different to yours although I wouldn't describe myself as a critical listener or audiophile. I thought 1, 2, and 3 all sound amazing. 4 sounds dull but then I picked up the crystal clear vinyl edition they released last year just for fun and it sounds much better, even though it has the same stampers as the black vinyl! My Porky/Pecko Duck pressing doesn't sound any better or worse, just different. Physical Graffiti is a bit 'meh' in my opinion but I'm yet to hear a great sounding copy of that on any format. By the way I'm not sure how much of the actual 'work' Jimmy Page did, it was John Davis (who sadly passed away last year) that did the remastering and I think Page just signed it off! 🙂 Shortly after Davis passed away Metropolis studios had some videos on their website of him talking about the project and the remastering process, not sure if they're still available though.
Jimmy Page's ears?
Have four of the 2014 series...II, IV, Houses and PG. No kidding on the 2014 IV...that thing outright sucks. The others three are good, though.
Best I, II and IV that I have are the 1977 George Piros pressings.
The Porky/Pecko-Duck IV, I consider between the 1977 and the 2014. Guessing I have a crappy copy even though it's in EX- condition...it's an 1841 Broadway/Richmond (RI).
I dunno, my III and ittod digital vinyl reissues just sound odd.
I grew up in the '70s and have owned multiple pressings of all of them. A disappointment.
I have a stupid question You’re showing us all the Page remastered versions and criticizing each of them then why on earth did you keep buying all of them!!! Just wondering????
@@davepounds8924 actually a fair question. If you watch the full video you will see that I like some of the pressings. In addition I got most for a good price.
I had all the 2014 remasters in LP and CD form...all awful...sold them all off...thin sounding and definitely over compressed. Compared all the CD 2014s to the original CD counterparts...no doubt about it...the originals are superior across the sonic spectrum. I admit that the second extra LPs and CD bonus material was geat and sounded a whole lot better than the studio counterparts. Keep you originals if you have them...pray for Steven Wilson to have a go on all these.
You did hint at this. Why on earth would Jimmy Page think he could outperform work that legendary professional engineers could achieve?
He already had previously buggered up some remastering of Zeppelin stuff. Plus he must have been in his late sixties. Sound engineering is a younger man’s game.
Total ego trip.
What are you talking about? Your ignorance of Page's activities are obvious. Page would sit in with the cutting engineers while cutting the masters for pressing and guiding then on what he wanted and where. He was totally hands on from production to cutting and he did this with every album. He had nothing to do with the CDs from the 80s and was appalled by them. He remastered all Led Zep in the early 90s and these were a vast improment. He did them again in 2014 because the technology had advanced a great deal and these sound fantastic.
@@apollomemories7399 As we’re both fans let’s agree to disagree.
He did sit in most of the remastering sessions when it was digitised with George Marino. That’s when the sound quality (most not all) hit a brick wall. There’s an obsession to master louder.
@@jim586 Jimmy personally directed all the mastering sessions throughout from 68 and all the 70s. He had nothing to do with the first round of CDs in the 80s which sounded terrible. He again did the early 90s which were a vast improvement. And the 2014/15 releases which I think are exceptional. I only bought one re-release on vinyl, Physical Graffiti, since I already (of course) own first UK pressings. I thoought the Cds sound really good and I can't detect any of that brick wall issue. All my system read outs tell me the sound levels are not brickwalled. But, I did spend $50k on that, so perhaps much cheaper gear just can't handle th signals, similar to that first US pressing of LZII that caused needle-jump as the bass signal was so loud.
A lot of audiophiles really like the original 80's CDs, which were mostly mastered by the very well respected Barry Diament, apart from Zep IV. They weren't just rushed out. The 1994 Jimmy Page and George Marino masterings aren't as popular. They're the ones I have though.
@@JamesTaylor-yg7ow What? You've got the wrong end of the story. I've no idea where you obtained that nonsense information. These 80's CDs were hated and because they were NOT mastered very well. Whereas, the 1990 and 1993 box sets and 1994 individual album releases were most welcome and applauded.
IV is horrid, the rest are fine imo.
They sound good stop whining.
@@Dr.Fiendish you seem like fun