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How to find the good CD recordings?

I'm new to high end audio but have a decent system. One of the things I've noticed with this new (old) system, is that some of my CDs which I used to think sounded fine just don't sound all that good anymore while some of them sound great. A lot of these CDs are 30 years old and came from CD clubs (remember those?) and typical record stores.

I've noticed in particular that some of my Led Zep CDs just sound a little flat and a little shallow while some of the Pink Floyd and Rush CDs sound quite good. 

Is this just a matter of Floyd and Rush having higher production quality from the beginning? 

Would later "remastered" Zep CDs sound better? Is "remastered" always an indication of better or superior quality? Is it just marketing hype sometimes?

Anyway, with this new system I am inclined to buy the best quality recordings of any newer music I buy and possible replace some of my old favorites.

So is there a place on the internet where one can go to get reviews of the actual recording quality and not just the music itself. I don't see iTunes or Amazon as particularly useful here. At this point I am not interested in pursuing vinyl or high end audio files. I'm still just getting my feet wet and CDs seem like a cheap way to do that.

Any assistance much appreciated,

George
n80
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,417 posts
 
Regarding finding the best Zep CD, it’s kind of a crapshoot.
I’m listening to LZ IV today and all 3 releases are different. The US (1987) has little detail and poor imaging; there is no separation between vocals and drums.
Germany (1987) is holographic. A wide and deep detailed image, and great separation with drums in the background with a clear bassline. It’s outstanding.
Germany Target release (1984) is transparent with good detail and a 3D image. Drums have space behind the vocals.
And sometimes there is no difference in SQ between a first issue and a later release.

With all the different CD releases I own, the best sound comes from a pressing with a low noise floor. The pressing plants may get the same master, but like pressing vinyl, each facility is different and the QC is different. Pressing a CD is a physical process where the playing side of a disk is actually pressed into a very accurate formation.

Another example, I have a very clean copy of LZ I, but it will never equal the SQ of the later albums due to the noise in the recording. The master tape was recorded over many times during the mixing session, the source reels had many hours rewinding/FF on the ATR’s. And due to the tape wear there is noise and even bleed through.

I’ve discovered that finding quality CDs is no different than looking for the best vinyl release. It takes some research and buying several copies.


lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,417 posts
 
And then there's the issue of reversed channels on LZ releases. On Steve Hoffman there's a very long discussion about the matrix numbers and which issues have the correct L,R channels.
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,417 posts
 
And then there's the issue of reversed channels on LZ releases. On Steve Hoffman there's a very long discussion about the matrix numbers and which issues have the correct L,R channels.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Speaking of which, one wonders what role, if any, Polarity plays in the differences among CDs.
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,417 posts
 
geoff, I’ll bet phase was not a major consideration for recordings of that era.
As to polarity, there would be no consistancy, don’t you think?
I should invert polarity on the flat sounding CDs.

If the various Zeppelin masters for worldwide distribution had inconsistent channel assignments, how many other mistakes were there?


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