anyone heard these? can't really imagine the sound being any better via better plastic as the original recordings would have to be combed over like the Beatles ones.

links below

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/...WPCR-13538

http://eil.com/shop/morei...gid=471105

http://prince.org/msg/7/314399

http://prince.org/msg/7/314720

http://prince.org/msg/7/314384

http://prince.org/msg/7/309365

http://prince.org/msg/7/315353

http://prince.org/msg/8/319631

You're correct in your skepticism of these SHM titles. There was no remastering of the albums, and SHM is digital snake-oil. I've read a lot of reviews of these new Prince releases, and have concluded that they in fact, sound worse in parts of the sound spectrum than previous Japanese WB releases. They look good, though.

after the ten copies of lotusflow3r sold, those showed up and have not sold much here in japan

but nice for a collector i reckon

just read through the above threads and will probably go for SOTT.

someone mentioned that official remasters are on their way, true or false?

Official remasters will never happen, what with the catalogue reverting back to Prince in turn very soon. As long as he's a Jehovah's Witness, well, can you imagine what "Dirty Mind" would be without the prurient content?

People whinge far too much about the CD versions out there. The recording quality of much of the early stuff isn't great anyway. And as for whinging about the 80s stuff not having much low end - that's how many records were mixed and mastered in the 80s.

Don't fuck with art.

Sign O The Times is the one to buy from this new collection. It sounds much better than previous CD releases of that album, in my opinion.
All of the albums look great of course, but if you want to buy one of them for the sound, buy SOTT.

I have bought all 10, but I haven't listened to them yet...

They all look excellent, a shame Lovesexy is not tracked/ is 1 track.

Nightcrawler said:

Louder doesn't mean that it sounds better. That's all they've done with them.

They do look very impressive, though.

I don't recall anyone referring to them as remasters. I think it was wishful thinking! We all would know if they were indeed remastered.

However I do think there are some slight improvements in sound quality, they sound a little higher fidelity. The loudness is a little higher on some of them and the noise has been cleaned up a little to my ears. I would say the bass is deeper and treble a little crisper. It depends on the track, some standout more than others. They are not officially remastered but I think they have applied the masters to a new technique of transferring them to disc. Again, this is not confirmed, its my ears. I carefully listened to them and compared to the regular CDs.

They are worth getting just for the packaging though, being miniature LP reproductions. I like them! I just wish we could have true remasters. For now, this is as good as it gets IMO. Some day soon I hope to get a good quality turntable and hi-fi and revisit all my vinyl. I do miss their sound. Anyone checked out the 180gm Purple Rain?

funkylust said:

kanoohead said:

Mong said:

All I know is, when I listen to the original vinyl release of SOTT or Parade, it is a very different experience from listening to the CDs. The CDs sound very flat and lifeless in comparison, and a good remaster could correct that.

I love these.
I took a road trip and brought them all with me.

I know all the Prince albums like the back of hand... every word, every little sound, the whole thing.

I was hearing things that I had never heard before... Dirty Mind and SOTT were especially refreshing for me.

Definitely recommended.

Reading this thread got me wondering...

Have any of you recorded your vinyl LPs onto CD-Rs? If so, do the resulting discs sound better than the released CDs?

I'm curious...

bluefish said:

yeah i recorded all my lps onto cdr and then cdr to my ipod and love it

also love the sound.....don't notice much difference

bluefish said:

I haven't ripped any Prince LPs from vinyl, but I've transferred other albums and 12" mixes that didn't make it to CD. You can take out the pops and crackles with software. Much of the bootlegged Prince 12" sets that I have were ripped from vinyl, and they sound excellent. I have older sets that I've bought that pre-date the audio cleaning software. The newer, free bootlegs are actually much better than the older stuff with the advent of computer technology.