[tquickbrownfox]

I just heard When The Levee Breaks from the new Led Zeppelin 4, and it feels like most of the 'detail' is gone. 
 
Anyone else had a chance to try them?
 
What has, in your opinion, been the best led zep releases?

 

[marcswede]

Haven't heard the specific remaster you're mentioning, but:

If I have no other clues, I always go for att the oldest possible edition. I've found that to be the best way to avoid compression and other loudness tricks.

I feel many remasters lift the bass and treble too much. As a consequense, they also lift the distorsion and noise floor in those areas.

When it comes to classical rock albums I want them to be as close to the original vinyl issue as possible.

24bit 192kHz remasters don't do much good for me if they don't respect the original recording.

 

[marcswede]

Just checked my Led Zeppelin IV. It's a Japan 2004 CD remaster. I'm fully happy with it. It is crisp and has no heavy compression from what I can see in Audacity.

 

[vertical]

If I have no other clues, I always go for att the oldest possible edition. I've found that to be the best way to avoid compression and other loudness tricks.

Agreed. That's been my general experience as well given no respected reviews are available.

The forums over at Steve Hoffman are frequented by some experienced folks that offer opinions on the various releases / remasters from an artist. Check them out if you haven't already.

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/forums/music-corner.2/

 

[LFF]

You have two options for finding the best LZ albums out there...
 
1) The original CD releases
2) The original LP releases
 
It's really a matter of picking your poison as they both suffer from separate issues. 
 
1) The original CD releases are taken from safety tapes.
 
2) The original LP releases have compression added.
 
It's a sad state of affairs as these albums could be INCREDIBLY dynamic and wonderful. I've had the luck of listening to the original work parts for many songs and the dynamic range on them is absolutely INSANE. Sadly, I doubt we'll be getting a good remix or remaster of any of these albums anytime soon. 
 
IMHO, go to your local used CD vendor and just buy the original CD's for $4 each. 

 

[tquickbrownfox]

Wow, thanks, that Steve Hoffman website is quite resourceful.
 
Turns out I was listening to When The Levee Breaks from the upcoming Super Deluxe Edition Box. Its coming out on the 27th of this month, but apparently there was a leak online. It was at a friend's place.
 
Yeah, the original cd releases do seem to sound best. By a significant margin imo.

 

[hogger129]

  I just heard When The Levee Breaks from the new Led Zeppelin 4, and it feels like most of the 'detail' is gone. 
 
Anyone else had a chance to try them?
 
What has, in your opinion, been the best led zep releases?

 
I bought Led Zeppelin II - Deluxe Edition and though I thought it sounded better than the previous CD remaster, I don't think it sounds better than the old, original, Barry Diament-mastered Led Zeppelin II.