I think I'll actually pick up the Zep I box set. I like HTWWW, too! Have you heard the BBC sessions. I guess some quibble about the SQ or prefer audience interaction. But, they were so raw and young. I think there were a couple of sessions-one right after I came out I think-it's all stuff from the first two albums and another set right before III. They play Stairway to Heaven to an audience who had never heard the song-it hadn't been release yet. Hard to imagine, right? But, for any Zep fans who might want to hear them before the excesses of celebrity came and they were young and had some schiit to prove-just raw-I like it a lot.....maybe not audiophile SQ, but killer hard bluesy rock.
Would be worth it!
I have the following versions of LZ I:
1980s Barry Diament Masters
1994 Box Set (Grey Box)
2008 Box Set (The Japanese Mini-LP Remasters - Though I have the US release, so they are NOT SHM-CDs, but the same Remaster as the SHM-CD Japanese Mini-LP Remasters)
200g Classic Records
180g Classic Records (someone else's 192/24 rip, I never owned the 180g Version)
and
2014 Deluxe Box Set - I haven't opened it, dont think I will. Prob will buy the standard LPs to listen to instead.
2014 Deluxe CD Version
2014 Remaster HDTracks 96/24 Version
I gotta say, they new remasters (both the CD and HDTracks - when ripped, the CD actually has a few tracks with a higher DR than the HDTracks version) blow away all other versions. I feel like the HDTracks version is the best sounding of the two, but the difference between the CD and HD is slight, slight enough that the difference could be in my head.
Next up would be the 2008 Remasters, which are awesome as well, they just have a tad bit noise and tad bit less detail than the 2014s. The Classic Records 200g/180g are right up here too: they dont have quite the detail or dynamic range as the 2014 masters, but they are definitely awesome, and have a certain LP charm that puts them on par with the 2008 Remasters.
From here, I prefer the Diament Masters, which have the widest dynamic range, but definitely sound like their age: you can tell they are mastered well, but limited to the tech of the time. The 1994 version is not far behind, cleaner than the Diament Masters, but also a lil bit colder.
Long story, still long: the 2014 is def the best sounding Zep yet