I know these were done from copies and not the original master tapes.
Basically the songs were compressed ALOT for higher volume and i think they sound pretty bad especially the extended versions which sound very squashed.

Don;t get me wrong they're not awful at all and on a car stereo or something like that they probably sound o.k but they don;t do the recordings justice.

I haven't listened Ultimate (because I think it's a waste of money), but nevertheless I think that the remastering of TVBOP was just EXCELLENT.

By the way, do you know if Warner is planning to release a Remaster Series of Prince or something like that?

JoeTyler said:

Is TVBOP remastered? I didn;t know that.

I'm afraid i have no knowledge about future remasters although i heard someone say Purple rain was gonna be remastered soon.

Imagine a remastered SOTT the celebrate the 20 years it's been out? Of course it depends who would do it but i think the fuckadelic remasters are great, clear and dynamic; Prince has a catalogue which deserves that treatment; don;t ya think?

i thought it sounded nice, though i wasn't blown away. it was nice to hear some of those b-side/12" tracks cleaned up for CD, though.

Anx said:

The original let's work extended sounded better.

loveisnotgod said:

you mean the album version? there are several album versions i prefer to the 12" versions - "hot thing", for example - but it's nice to have those previously vinyl/cassingle-only mixes on a professionally remastered CD, just to have.

i guess my ears are rubbish or something. i'd have to listen compartively to pick up on certain differences you all are pointing out.

Best thing to me about Ultimate though is the Hot Thing extended remix, I'm feelin' it. Didn't know it was even out there. Worst thing is that Cream debacle

datdude said:

they TRULY could have kept the cream remix off there!

heck, put on 'call the law' instead, at least it has camp value.

Anx said:

I agree. Having Kiss 12" on CD was nice. The 1st CD I dunno is ok, but the second CD was where it was at for me.

Anx said:

There were several songs that could have been left off...just for the sake of having something DIFFERENT out there for the fans.

Easily left off

I would Die 4 U
Money don't Matter 2nite
Nothing Compares 2 U
Little Red COrvette Mix
Hot Thing Remix
Cream Remix

And replace them with

Take Me with U
Mountains
I wish U heaven
Sexy Dancer 12"
Anotherlover 12"
HouseQuake 12"

what does the booklet say about remastering?

the waveform's don't look squashed, it doesn't sound squashed...

Anx said:

definitely. since the only place I've generally ever heard those B-sides/extended versions is my old vinyl or cassette taped from my old vinyl- I thought it sounded great! I got that CD for Christmas, and actually had goosebumps hearing some of that stuff. Many of those long versions I hadn't listened to in way too long....

Doesnt this forum have any people left who are willing to answer a simple question?

WHAT DOES THE BOOKLET SAY ABOUT REMASTERING?

The booklet doesn't say anything about remastering...

floralelephants said:

it isn't even claimed it's remastered on the booklet, does it? There might be one credit... I can't find it in my house!

floralelephants said:

If thats true, then peeps are talking out of their aholes with this "remaster" shit.

--
[Edited 2/8/07 8:05am]

ufoclub said:

nope

Abrazo said:

I believe it was remastered, but very conservatively. I made sure by checking the waveform to see if it was different and it was (on at least Gett Off). A simply volume change wouldn't affect the proportional shape of the wavefrom, but any kind of tampering with the EQ or compression will make a different shape.

and someone who posted on here (or was it housequake.com?) actually helped with the production of this compilation, and confirmed that it was remastered.

ufoclub said:

and you believe all that?

when it it's TRULY remastered the booklet will SURELY say so.

Abrazo said:

I made sure by checking the waveform to see if it was different and it was (on at least Gett Off). A simply volume change wouldn't affect the proportional shape of the wavefrom, but any kind of tampering with the EQ or compression will make a different shape.

And yes, the person or people do work professionally and were part of the team that created the compilation. In fact they were interviewed in an article about it, and that link was posted. It was one of their personal record collections that the photography of prince stuff depicts.

ufoclub said:

"on at least Gett off"?

ok.

LOL.

Really, when a new CD is TRULY remastered they always put it on there.

Abrazo said:

meaning I doubted it was really remastered, so I opened the wave form of Gett Off from the album and from the new compilation, and they were different. So it was remastered (apparently from the two track mixdown)

It is odd that they didn't say anything in the booklet, and that is why I did that test, but if you look at the tech specs on amazon.com it will be listed as a remastered product. So it was promoted that way.

This PopMatters feature from Feb. 2 addresses the remastering issue specifically.

http://www.popmatters.com...te-prince/

Here's the relevant bit:

Yes, fans new and old can enjoy the fruits of their labor: two CDs with 28 classic Prince tracks, 11 which are remixes, which sound better than ever despite not being remastered. (Rhino declined to comment on the issue of remastering for this story, citing contractual confidentiality.)

livewire said:

Well I guess that settles that.

Abrazo said:

"pop matters" is more credible than analyzing the wave file? No.

ufoclub said:

why would they be silent about it?

putting "DIGITALLY REMASTERED" on it sells.

Abrazo said:

I completely agree with you. something weird is going on. Why did the people interviewed in the article you quoted (who are the ones I mentioned that have posted) originally flat out said it was remastered at the time the collection was originally being scheduled for release? why is it then not printed in the booklet? The only thing I can guess is that they remastered them then ran into a problem with some contractual prince glitch and were not allowed to say such. I can actually post the wave files in a second for everyone (interested) to see...

ufoclub said:

If there is a contractual glitch, which is possible, I am sure Prince would have tried to block the release and we would have heard something about that.