Would everyone be happy if the Prince remasters quality would be @ least as decent as how everything sounds on Prince: Ultimate Collection? [of course, I'm not saying they're even coming out, but I'm just asking]. I personally like how everything was louder & clearer on this collection. But I'm sure some of you audiophiles probably found issues with it [not sure...wasn't on here when it came out ]. I'm not totally sure how there were remastered [maybe compressed], but I wasn't mad @ the quality @ all...Thoughts?

Btw.....Does anyone think 'Batman' will be remastered too? I don't know why I wonder about that particular album sometimes..

[Edited 9/5/12 16:05pm]

electricberet said:

Have you listened to the 2009 Japanese SHM reissues of the first ten albums? Those are also louder than the originals and seem to have been given a similar treatment as Ultimate. They are back in print now too.

I never heard those. I think they're a bit too expensive too.

Tittypants said:

electricberet said:

Have you listened to the 2009 Japanese SHM reissues of the first ten albums? Those are also louder than the originals and seem to have been given a similar treatment as Ultimate. They are back in print now too.

I never heard those. I think they're a bit too expensive too.

They are all in stock at cdjapan.com for about $30 each, except for SOTT which is about $40. I can't say that they are better but they are definitely louder. I did a comparison of the peak levels for the 1999 album here:

http://www.stevehoffman.t...amp;page=2

See also the waveform comparisons here:

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

The packaging is top-notch. They are perfect replicas of the original LPs. No bonus tracks or anything, though. On the assumption that these may be the best versions we're going to get on CD, I ordered a backup set a couple of weeks ago. They may not be in print for long.

[Edited 9/5/12 16:37pm]

I wouldn't because as an audiophile, I feel that the "remasters", using the term loosely, on Ultimate are abysmal and you are better off just either manually raising the old volume on the original CD's to a sutible, non clipped level or simply raising the volume knob.

For example, the first picture is Kiss. Top is original Parade CD, bottom is Ultimate "remaster"

As you can see, the peaks in the Ultimate "remaster" are clipped (red marks), which will cause disortion in the sound and not a very good listening experience. Thats why vinyls are popular amonst audiophiles. Vinyls have a strict mastering code so that the needle doesn't literally fly off the groove. Therefore, vinlys have a much warmer and quieter sound that makes you want to turn up the volume, not lower it.

I close this post with what is, in my opinion Prince's worst mastered song: Rainbow Children.

It would be interesting to see a waveform of The Rainbow Children on vinyl.

electricberet said:

Tittypants said:

I never heard those. I think they're a bit too expensive too.

They are all in stock at cdjapan.com for about $30 each, except for SOTT which is about $40. I can't say that they are better but they are definitely louder. I did a comparison of the peak levels for the 1999 album here:

http://www.stevehoffman.t...amp;page=2

See also the waveform comparisons here:

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

The packaging is top-notch. They are perfect replicas of the original LPs. No bonus tracks or anything, though. On the assumption that these may be the best versions we're going to get on CD, I ordered a backup set a couple of weeks ago. They may not be in print for long.

[Edited 9/5/12 16:37pm]

Yeah, see, I'm not paying that much just for better sound quality..& nothing else. Now, if you add the b-sides, videos, outtakes to it, & I'm in.

PurpleMedley122 said:

I wouldn't because as an audiophile, I feel that the "remasters", using the term loosely, on Ultimate are abysmal and you are better off just either manually raising the old volume on the original CD's to a sutible, non clipped level or simply raising the volume knob.

For example, the first picture is Kiss. Top is original Parade CD, bottom is Ultimate "remaster"

As you can see, the peaks in the Ultimate "remaster" are clipped (red marks), which will cause disortion in the sound and not a very good listening experience. Thats why vinyls are popular amonst audiophiles. Vinyls have a strict mastering code so that the needle doesn't literally fly off the groove. Therefore, vinlys have a much warmer and quieter sound that makes you want to turn up the volume, not lower it.

I close this post with what is, in my opinion Prince's worst mastered song: Rainbow Children.

Good grief! Okay. I don't like the idea of "brickwalled" stuff either. I'm actually scared though to think about what Prince will do to these....if he finally does it

electricberet said:

It would be interesting to see a waveform of The Rainbow Children on vinyl.

I think that album needs remastering just to remove that "deep" voice that's all throughout it

I am actually optimistic that we will get remasters and pessimistic that they will be an improvement on what we already have.

electricberet said:

I am actually optimistic that we will get remasters and pessimistic that they will be an improvement on what we already have.

I'm more worried about edits of stuff more than anything. "Sister" Better not be edited....or "Jack U Off"....or anything of the other ones. I'm scared that Prince will do exactly that

Tittypants said:

Tittypants said:

Good grief! Okay. I don't like the idea of "brickwalled" stuff either. I'm actually scared though to think about what Prince will do to these....if he finally does it

Even 20TEN is another victim of bad mastering. Take a look at Compassion:

PurpleMedley122 said:

Tittypants said:

Good grief! Okay. I don't like the idea of "brickwalled" stuff either. I'm actually scared though to think about what Prince will do to these....if he finally does it

Even 20TEN is another victim of bad mastering. Take a look at Compassion:

I complained about "20TEN"'s mixing & mastering flaws when it first came out & made a thread about it too . That whole album sounds crappy imo. I really must admit that I didn't like how any of the Disc from "Lotusflow3r" were mixed either. I think I know what Prince was going for with that collection, but I found the sound a little too hollow [on all 3 disc]....

I can NOT wait.

I can see it now. Around The World in A Day will be given a latin salsa interlude to make the song appear more 'Miami' with Doug E. Fresh providing the obligatory rap. Of course, we'll get lines like, "No ego in the game....Larry Graham's moustache looks like a lion's mane....," etc. And Before "Condition of the Heart" kicks off, you'll hear Rosie Gaines's constipated, "Aggghhh Came 2 paarrrteeeee...."..

Yall, his remasters are going to be off the hook!

Batman: I don't expect to see any of this every released again. Not only would Prince & WB have to come to an agreement, but DC Comics as well. It should be easy with WB owning DC, but, I'm betting it's not.

No Batman tracks on: The Hits, The Very Best Of or Ultimate...

That's my clue.

BTW, I was and still am shocked that the 3 videos from the album made it onto the Batman Special Edition DVD/Bluray... Bet they never end up on any DVD collections of Prince's videos.

djThunderfunk said:

Batman: I don't expect to see any of this every released again. Not only would Prince & WB have to come to an agreement, but DC Comics as well. It should be easy with WB owning DC, but, I'm betting it's not.

No Batman tracks on: The Hits, The Very Best Of or Ultimate...

That's my clue.

BTW, I was and still am shocked that the 3 videos from the album made it onto the Batman Special Edition DVD/Bluray... Bet they never end up on any DVD collections of Prince's videos.

Good point. That might explain why the Japanese SHM series stopped with Lovesexy.

djThunderfunk said:

Batman: I don't expect to see any of this every released again. Not only would Prince & WB have to come to an agreement, but DC Comics as well. It should be easy with WB owning DC, but, I'm betting it's not.

No Batman tracks on: The Hits, The Very Best Of or Ultimate...

That's my clue.

BTW, I was and still am shocked that the 3 videos from the album made it onto the Batman Special Edition DVD/Bluray... Bet they never end up on any DVD collections of Prince's videos.

I hear Prince doesn't even own rights to any of the Batman album...I think he only had rights to the b-sides. Very true about those videos too. I wonder how much he got robbed for with that album?

electricberet said:

djThunderfunk said:

Batman: I don't expect to see any of this every released again. Not only would Prince & WB have to come to an agreement, but DC Comics as well. It should be easy with WB owning DC, but, I'm betting it's not.

No Batman tracks on: The Hits, The Very Best Of or Ultimate...

That's my clue.

BTW, I was and still am shocked that the 3 videos from the album made it onto the Batman Special Edition DVD/Bluray... Bet they never end up on any DVD collections of Prince's videos.

Good point. That might explain why the Japanese SHM series stopped with Lovesexy.

Wow, no 'Graffiti Bridge' JSHM remaster either?

Tittypants said:

electricberet said:

Good point. That might explain why the Japanese SHM series stopped with Lovesexy.

Wow, no 'Graffiti Bridge' JSHM remaster either?

Nope.

imago said:

I can NOT wait.

I can see it now. Around The World in A Day will be given a latin salsa interlude to make the song appear more 'Miami' with Doug E. Fresh providing the obligatory rap. Of course, we'll get lines like, "No ego in the game....Larry Graham's moustache looks like a lion's mane....," etc. And Before "Condition of the Heart" kicks off, you'll hear Rosie Gaines's constipated, "Aggghhh Came 2 paarrrteeeee...."..

Yall, his remasters are going to be off the hook!

[img:$uid]http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f151/renhoek2k5/GIFS/ef0d0a14.gif[/img:$uid]

I feel all the talk about remasters is like some sort of thought magic. Like, by constantly talking about them, we're willing them into existence.

djThunderfunk said:

Batman: I don't expect to see any of this every released again. Not only would Prince & WB have to come to an agreement, but DC Comics as well. It should be easy with WB owning DC, but, I'm betting it's not.

IIRC, WMG isn't owned by Time-Warner any longer. Plus, they would have to clear the voices of the actor's Prince sampled.

If Prince ever does a reissue project, hopefully he'll take a page out of the 2009 Beatles remasters. Those have been the best remasters in recent memory. I've heard a rumor that WMG had been planning a reissue project back in the mid-late 00s, but didn't go through with it because Prince demanded he be payed a million per album, or something to that effect.

link343 said:

djThunderfunk said:

Batman: I don't expect to see any of this every released again. Not only would Prince & WB have to come to an agreement, but DC Comics as well. It should be easy with WB owning DC, but, I'm betting it's not.

IIRC, WMG isn't owned by Time-Warner any longer. Plus, they would have to clear the voices of the actor's Prince sampled.

If Prince ever does a reissue project, hopefully he'll take a page out of the 2009 Beatles remasters. Those have been the best remasters in recent memory. I've heard a rumor that WMG had been planning a reissue project back in the mid-late 00s, but didn't go through with it because Prince demanded he be payed a million per album, or something to that effect.

I would listen to the album without the vocal samples from the film. I would like to hear those remastered too. But I 'm sure so many are used to them by now, people would be outraged if they were missing.

Tittypants said:

djThunderfunk said:

Batman: I don't expect to see any of this every released again. Not only would Prince & WB have to come to an agreement, but DC Comics as well. It should be easy with WB owning DC, but, I'm betting it's not.

No Batman tracks on: The Hits, The Very Best Of or Ultimate...

That's my clue.

BTW, I was and still am shocked that the 3 videos from the album made it onto the Batman Special Edition DVD/Bluray... Bet they never end up on any DVD collections of Prince's videos.

I hear Prince doesn't even own rights to any of the Batman album...I think he only had rights to the b-sides. Very true about those videos too. I wonder how much he got robbed for with that album?

In order to be a part of this huge hit film he had to agree to give up the rights-He was a hired hand for WB Batman movie.

Obviously `louder` is not better.

You get volume with that knob on your stereo, but loudness on CD is obtained by reducing dynamics in the audio. I.e.: before it hits your stereo.

Not all music gets better by doing that.

Also taste matters here.

So what do you want? Also after 3 hours non-stop repeat with the stereo at 9? (it goes to eleven)

Tittypants said:

link343 said:

IIRC, WMG isn't owned by Time-Warner any longer. Plus, they would have to clear the voices of the actor's Prince sampled.

If Prince ever does a reissue project, hopefully he'll take a page out of the 2009 Beatles remasters. Those have been the best remasters in recent memory. I've heard a rumor that WMG had been planning a reissue project back in the mid-late 00s, but didn't go through with it because Prince demanded he be payed a million per album, or something to that effect.

I would listen to the album without the vocal samples from the film. I would like to hear those remastered too. But I 'm sure so many are used to them by now, people would be outraged if they were missing.

I'm sure that if there were a lot of money to be made from a Batman album remaster, all those issues could be worked out. But I don't think it would make a lot of money, so most likely all those involved would conclude it's not worth the effort.

electricberet said:

Tittypants said:

I would listen to the album without the vocal samples from the film. I would like to hear those remastered too. But I 'm sure so many are used to them by now, people would be outraged if they were missing.

I'm sure that if there were a lot of money to be made from a Batman album remaster, all those issues could be worked out. But I don't think it would make a lot of money, so most likely all those involved would conclude it's not worth the effort.

That's too bad. I think it would have been pretty nice to have heard that remastered. Guess I'll just have to do it myself through "Goldwave" or something

I don't think there will be a major problem with clearing the film clip samples on the Batman album. Any licensing and clearance was probably taken care of at the time of release.

HOWEVER, that doesn't mean that the fees that might be incurred from their use 25-30 years later might make Prince or WB think twice about bothering to re-release them. Who knows what the cost of using them is, even if they are already cleared for use.

it's possible that this album may have closer ties to Time-Warner than to others and might even be owned outright by them, rather than Warner Bros. Records. it may get re-released at some point as part of an anniversary re-issue of the movie.

errant said:

I don't think there will be a major problem with clearing the film clip samples on the Batman album. Any licensing and clearance was probably taken care of at the time of release.

HOWEVER, that doesn't mean that the fees that might be incurred from their use 25-30 years later might make Prince or WB think twice about bothering to re-release them. Who knows what the cost of using them is, even if they are already cleared for use.

it's possible that this album may have closer ties to Time-Warner than to others and might even be owned outright by them, rather than Warner Bros. Records. it may get re-released at some point as part of an anniversary re-issue of the movie.

If you're right, that's a good idea. They should do a 25th anniversary edition a couple months after a Purple Rain 30th anniversary edition.

"Should" being the operative word...

[Edited 9/7/12 7:36am]