Led Zepplin Mothership vs. hi-res vs. newest

There are several threads here, and elsewhere, regarding the 2014 vinyl
releases. I think that Mothership on vinyl was mastered by the same guy
that did the 2014 releases on vinyl, but a lower rez digital transfer was the
basis for Mothership. (Mothership, as I recall, is sort of a 'best of,' at least
on vinyl and may not have all tracks you want).
The new vinyl (2014) is pretty good if you are only casually into Zep- the
pressings are quiet, and they aren't the kind of sterile, flat sounding digital
to vinyl sound that I think of as worst of the breed. But, if you are interested
in better sound for Zep on vinyl, there are myriad possibilities, most of them
older pressings. The Piros remasters done in the mid 70's are very good,
and don't command crazy prices. The trick, of course, is condition, and
that's where a lot of people are going to be satisfied with a fresh record
rather than hunting for old vinyl that was probably put through some serious
playing/abuse.
There are, of course, many far more expensive, collectible pressings of
these albums, but that's another story. (FWIW, i have quite a few different
pressings of Zep, and one of the best- of Zep 1- is a particular Piros
remaster from the mid-70's which holds its own- and in some ways betters-
many of the more collectible, expensive ones).
I can't comment on the hi-rez digital formats, cause I don't use them.
At bottom, I personally don't consider any of the Zep catalog to be
'audiophile' quality sound, so it really is about finding the best sound given
the limitations of the original recordings.
Good luck.

i have all the remaster, plus the SMH Cd complete set. Mothership is not bad but the new remaster are better,plus you get the extra out take which are not bad . The new remaster sound just a little better than the SHM Cd set, with a couple of songs at a tie. If your are a Zep fan then i would get the new remaster i have not heard any of the Hi Rez down loads.
Enjoy Pete

I have Mothership on CD and I don't think the sound could possibly be better. I have the new 2014 version of Led Zeppelin II here for comparison but haven't gotten around to it quite yet.

I respect and am astounded by Whart's knowledge of the Zeppelin catalog. There are other threads regarding this topic and I agree that Mothership was probably a lower rez digital master.

I have the remasters of LZ I, II, III on vinyl and am very pleased with the results. But you can't take circa 1970 recordings and turn them into audiophile quality. I appreciate the fact that the remasters are mixed similarly to the original recordings; by that I mean less compression was used than most digital remasters these days. There is depth to the recording, "air" around the instruments and plenty of bass slam from Bonham's drums. Some of the flaws of the original tapes were left in the remix which is better than overprocessing to remove them.

In comparison, the Mothership record is a more technical achievement. There is no tape hiss and Plant's voice is cleaner, but to my ears it sounds digital and is a less enjoyable listen than the new remasters.

Thanks, Low. I am hardly an expert, and what I do is no secret- I research the various pressings, and listen to them. In the case of Zep, along with a number of other bands from that era, I decided to seek out the best sounding pressings, which meant having quite a few (I never bought the Classic 'roadcase' of Zep at the time, but have a few of the 45 cuts that were released separately, late in the game for Classic). The sonic differences are readily apparent, but different 'flavors' might exist for different people, based on their ears and systems. FWIW, it was John Davis who did the 2014 vinyl releases of LZ 1-III, and is credited as the (re) mastering engineer for Mothership. But Stan Ricker (who did the old MoFi vinyl) is credited as mastering the vinyl release of Mothership. As best I can tell, Ricker worked from the files that Davis created. Appreciate the kind words.
regards,
Bill Hart