What CD sound is the best?

Isn't 40th anniversary edition a box set? I read it includes the 2004 remaster as well as a fresh mix by Stephen Wilson (of Porcupine Tree fame) whose recordings always sound fabulous.

Everything I read about that version would lead me to expect excellent results plus a lot of material to listen to in the box set. That mix scores slightly higher in dynamic range in the on line recording dynamic range database than the 2004 remaster, FWIW.

I also read the other day that there is a new box set version of the KC classic "Red" coming out. 20+ CDs of related material in that one is what I think I saw. That's a lot of KC material to absorb. Could keep one busy for awhile.

There is a cd + dvd-a version of King Crimson's 40th Anniversary edition. The cd has the 2009 mix plus 5 bonus tracks. The dvd-a has 2 surround formats plus the 2009 mix in 24/96 stereo and the 2004 mix in 24/48 stereo.

The reason for the remixing is that the album was originally recorded on 4 track tape and they had to "bounce down" the recording (rerecord two or more tracks to one track) to get more than 4 tracks worth of music. Therefore they couldn't change the mix on an individual instrument and they had to use second or third generation tapes for the mastering. For this edition they were able to go back to the first generation "slave masters" (pre "bounce down") that contained the one instrument per track original recording. Steven Wilson worked closely with Robert Fripp on the new mixes, according to the liner notes.

There is also a 5 cd + dvd-a version if you really love this album.

One correction, the first generation recordings were called "slaves" rather than "slave masters" as I stated in my post above.

Played my original release "In the Court of..." LP today and I'm ready to move up to the new remaster.
There's also a 30th anniversary single disk remaster of "Red," maybe I should wait to see if they release a new remaster.

Great info, Tomcy6. Those were the good old days of music recording; bouncing tracks and "ganging" the slaves together. I'm glad I got my start with 24 track decks.

This is great. I'm happy that this thread has reraised the consciences of you guys for the undeniable impact and beauty of TCOTCC. The lyrics bring full blown visuals especially the title tune. Thanks for your help you guys. The cover as well as the content make it one my of many all time greats. Listen on!

CHEERS