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Duped again

After several disappointing re-issue purchases I swore never again. But I was taken in again. This time, the re-issue of The Wall."You've never heard The Wall like this in any format" "Stunning", " Blows the CD away" read the pre-release reviews....Nuts... My 1979 original copy eats this re-issue for lunch and it's 32 years old. The differences in the mid and upper ranges are not subtle, it's downright glaring. The low end is there but much tighter on the original.

Perhaps I didn't do enough research beforehand, but is there something I should look for before I even consider another re-issue such as who's the engineer? The plant doing the pressing etc? Or are vinyl lovers just being taken advantage of?
mjm1124
kbarkamian
647 posts
 
Thanks! I'll add one to my next vinyl order, unless of couste I see it locally somehow. Oddly enough, a local FYE carries vinyl. Haven't seen it in any other FYE store.
actusreus
733 posts
 
Kbarkamian,
The reissue is a really nice package with the original poster, postcard and sleeve. That alone is worth $30 in my opinion. I think it's a no-brainer if you don't own a great-sounding original pressing. As my luck (or lack thereof) would have it, every copy I've run into was massacred. I think you'll be pleased with the reissue. Once you get a chance to give it a good listen, please share your feedback. I'm curious whether you experience that noise that I was referring to that sounds like mic overload. Thanks.
snackeyp's avatar
snackeyp
455 posts
 
It's funny all the complaints about the new Floyd Reissues. I have purchased all three: Dark Side, Wish, and The Wall. All sound phenomenal to my ears, and I consider myself to be very picky. That said, I have not been buying all of their other reissues on CD, SACD, etc., and I no longer own the originals that I bought when I was in high school. I did buy an import copy of Animals in the used bin recently and it sounds awful, and this despite the vinyl looking really clean. The recording just lacks depth and body, so it collects dust in my room. The new reissues on the other hand are in regular rotation for me. Perhaps they are sensitive to the equipment they are played on?
actusreus
733 posts
 
I think some of the criticism stems from the fact that the original pressings of Floyd albums sound quite amazing so the bar was set very high for reissues from the beginning. I think these particular reissues don't sound bad by any means (especially considering how bad reissues tend to sound these days), but not as good as the original pressings, while they were advertised as sounding as good if not better than the originals. Definitely one of the issues is that The Wall was re-mastered at a much lower volume, which makes it sound not as dynamic to me. But the details and clarity are still there and I certainly don't regret the money I spent on it.
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