SUPER WEIRD. This doesn't bode well for a Dirty Mind release, but with songs like Sister and Head I can't say I'm surprised.

https://www.hdtracks.com/...3497911196

Haven't listened yet but I'm downloading now. I'll let you know. This is easily the worst-sounding of his albums and I for one am pretty interested in what they've done with it. Could be cool...

After comparing to the original CD, the HD Tracks version seems to be different in very subtle ways only. I did notice the stereo separation is a lot more pronounced and there is a little more depth and clarity, but it's pretty minor. The original CD is actually LOUDER than the HD Tracks version, too. This surprised me a bit because I always thought the original For You CD was unusally quiet, even for its day. One of the main differences I've noticed so far is that the lead guitar on "I'm Yours" is a lot less shrill than before. Although it's suspected that 1999 and Purple Rain are remastered I would say this one is most certainly not, though it does sound a little better.

steakfinger said:

Haven't listened yet but I'm downloading now. I'll let you know. This is easily the worst-sounding of his albums and I for one am pretty interested in what they've done with it. Could be cool...

How so? That album was beatifully recorded, mixed, and mastered... Maybe you're referring to the CD? The original vinyl sounds fantastic.

Giovanni777 said:

steakfinger said:

Haven't listened yet but I'm downloading now. I'll let you know. This is easily the worst-sounding of his albums and I for one am pretty interested in what they've done with it. Could be cool...

How so? That album was beatifully recorded, mixed, and mastered... Maybe you're referring to the CD? The original vinyl sounds fantastic.

Maybe you're right. I've never heard it on vinyl, but it's hard to imagine it could be so different. It always sounded murky and distant to me and buried under a ton of reverb. The bass guitar on some tracks, ("In Love" in particular) sounded very small and crusty.

If you think the vinyl sounds so different I'd be curious to see if you thought the HD version sounds good to you. It definitely is an improvement but I think it's only slightly better than the CD. I'd love to hear it on vinyl someday if it's really that much better.

I'm not complaining, either. It's better for certain, but I don't think it had the startling clarity of even his second album, which sounds great on CD as is.

I'll have to dig that up on vinly somewhere and go have a hang with a friend who has a turntable. I love the songs on that album even though lyrically he hadn't quite found his niche, so I'd love to hear it sound like a million bucks. The CD does not.

Would you say the CD is drastically different than the vinyl? I'm really curious.

steakfinger said:

SUPER WEIRD.

Must be missing something, what's "weird" about it?

Giovanni777 said:

steakfinger said:

Haven't listened yet but I'm downloading now. I'll let you know. This is easily the worst-sounding of his albums and I for one am pretty interested in what they've done with it. Could be cool...

How so? That album was beatifully recorded, mixed, and mastered... Maybe you're referring to the CD? The original vinyl sounds fantastic.

I'm with you on that. I'll take my Stereo over Digital any day

djThunderfunk said:

steakfinger said:

SUPER WEIRD.

Must be missing something, what's "weird" about it?

It's a weird choice to me. first we had 1999, then Purple Rain, then Controversy, then Around the World in a Day, (which threw some folks because we all assumed the remastered vinyl releases would be getting releases first) and then out of the blue we get an album that is probably the slightest of his career and certainly not on anyone's list of legendary Prince albums. In fact, it topped one list I saw of being the most disappointing debut in history when viewed through the light of what he became. I find it weird that such an album would get a release before even the "Prince" album. That's all. Unexpected to me.

steakfinger said:

djThunderfunk said:

Must be missing something, what's "weird" about it?

It's a weird choice to me. first we had 1999, then Purple Rain, then Controversy, then Around the World in a Day, (which threw some folks because we all assumed the remastered vinyl releases would be getting releases first) and then out of the blue we get an album that is probably the slightest of his career and certainly not on anyone's list of legendary Prince albums. In fact, it topped one list I saw of being the most disappointing debut in history when viewed through the light of what he became. I find it weird that such an album would get a release before even the "Prince" album. That's all. Unexpected to me.

Ok. Cool.

"Crazy You" sounds delicious in even low quality ear buds.

.

Kind of want to listen to "I'm Yours" in my better pair of cans. I was hoping there would be a bit more clarity with the vocals on that one.

"For You" is one of my favorites. I need to get this and burn it to dvd. YEAH!

Can someone explain what this whole "HD" track thing is about? Are these actual remasters that are available on [real actual retail] disc? Or is this some custom versions that someone is making? I'm saying this, because I could easily run all of his albums through Goldwave & make them sound louder, & more vibrant.....plus, it wouldn't cost me a damn thing to do that myself.

Tittypants said:

Can someone explain what this whole "HD" track thing is about? Are these actual remasters that are available on [real actual retail] disc? Or is this some custom versions that someone is making? I'm saying this, because I could easily run all of his albums through Goldwave & make them sound louder, & more vibrant.....plus, it wouldn't cost me a damn thing to do that myself.

A normal audio CD is 44.1Hz/16 bit. This sounds like what you're used to. HD offers two formats, one being 96kHz/24bit and the other being 192kHz/24bit. HD has nothing to do with loudness and, in fact, these are not loud. Nor should they be. Google "loudness wars" to see why your favorite loud CDs are not quality, just loud.

If you listen, you will notice more clarity and depth. You also may notice things you never heard before. On the 1999 album I notice keyboard parts that are very quiet in the HD versions and I can't even hear them on the standard CD. "Pop Life" has two basslines which I never noticed before. Maybe these things were noticable on vinyl, but not on CD. In the case of the For You album, it's actually a bit quieter than the CD, but it sounds much better to me. The lead guitar on I'm Yours isn't nearly as shrill and piercing as it was on the CD.

Having said all that, the differences are there but they are subtle to most people. I've spend a lot of time listening to music in headphones searching for detail, trying to transcribe every little part and I've spend a fair amount of time in recording studios. They are not subtle changes to me, but if you're used to lossy mp3s then you probably won't notice much of a difference if at all.

I would say there's no reason to go for the highest resolution as it takes a miracle ear to hear the difference between the two hi-def formats.

These are very hi-resoultion and an iPhone won't play them. They have to be downsampled first. iTunes will play them, but they won't work on most devices I know of.

Around the World in a Day, (the song) sounds really great and in the percussion you can actually hear the flesh hitting the head of the tamborine. To my ears it's quite a remarkable difference.

For You is definitely the most subtle of the bunch so far.

[Edited 8/2/13 14:33pm]

SpiritOtter said:

Does Prince receive any royalties from these HD releases? Did he need to “okay“ their release? Are these effectively an official remastered series? Or is this completely unofficial/not related to remastering? What is the difference between these HD releases and what Foefur did? If these are legitimate releases, should these not be front page news? What is the difference between these and the Japanese releases previously? Why is at all apparently so low key in terms of advertising and barely making any headlines, aside from the few people interested? Out of all these reissued releases, what are the must haves in terms of quality and discernable difference? Have I asked too many questions? Sorry and thank you in advance.You have to realise, I am just an Otter.

Highest bit rate, real deal and not a fan tweak though I usually do like foefurs tweaks.

has anybody asked doc funkenberry about these on the spreecast?

steakfinger said:

Tittypants said:

Can someone explain what this whole "HD" track thing is about? Are these actual remasters that are available on [real actual retail] disc? Or is this some custom versions that someone is making? I'm saying this, because I could easily run all of his albums through Goldwave & make them sound louder, & more vibrant.....plus, it wouldn't cost me a damn thing to do that myself.

A normal audio CD is 44.1Hz/16 bit. This sounds like what you're used to. HD offers two formats, one being 96kHz/24bit and the other being 192kHz/24bit. HD has nothing to do with loudness and, in fact, these are not loud. Nor should they be. Google "loudness wars" to see why your favorite loud CDs are not quality, just loud.

If you listen, you will notice more clarity and depth. You also may notice things you never heard before. On the 1999 album I notice keyboard parts that are very quiet in the HD versions and I can't even hear them on the standard CD. "Pop Life" has two basslines which I never noticed before. Maybe these things were noticable on vinyl, but not on CD. In the case of the For You album, it's actually a bit quieter than the CD, but it sounds much better to me. The lead guitar on I'm Yours isn't nearly as shrill and piercing as it was on the CD.

Having said all that, the differences are there but they are subtle to most people. I've spend a lot of time listening to music in headphones searching for detail, trying to transcribe every little part and I've spend a fair amount of time in recording studios. They are not subtle changes to me, but if you're used to lossy mp3s then you probably won't notice much of a difference if at all.

I would say there's no reason to go for the highest resolution as it takes a miracle ear to hear the difference between the two hi-def formats.

These are very hi-resoultion and an iPhone won't play them. They have to be downsampled first. iTunes will play them, but they won't work on most devices I know of.

Around the World in a Day, (the song) sounds really great and in the percussion you can actually hear the flesh hitting the head of the tamborine. To my ears it's quite a remarkable difference.

For You is definitely the most subtle of the bunch so far.

[Edited 8/2/13 14:33pm]

Uh......okay?

I mean, I get what you're saying......but uh........if they're not approved by the proper person {Prince}, what's the point?

djThunderfunk said:

steakfinger said:

SUPER WEIRD.

Must be missing something, what's "weird" about it?

^ Yes >>> what's "weird" about it?

Tittypants said:

steakfinger said:

A normal audio CD is 44.1Hz/16 bit. This sounds like what you're used to. HD offers two formats, one being 96kHz/24bit and the other being 192kHz/24bit. HD has nothing to do with loudness and, in fact, these are not loud. Nor should they be. Google "loudness wars" to see why your favorite loud CDs are not quality, just loud.

If you listen, you will notice more clarity and depth. You also may notice things you never heard before. On the 1999 album I notice keyboard parts that are very quiet in the HD versions and I can't even hear them on the standard CD. "Pop Life" has two basslines which I never noticed before. Maybe these things were noticable on vinyl, but not on CD. In the case of the For You album, it's actually a bit quieter than the CD, but it sounds much better to me. The lead guitar on I'm Yours isn't nearly as shrill and piercing as it was on the CD.

Having said all that, the differences are there but they are subtle to most people. I've spend a lot of time listening to music in headphones searching for detail, trying to transcribe every little part and I've spend a fair amount of time in recording studios. They are not subtle changes to me, but if you're used to lossy mp3s then you probably won't notice much of a difference if at all.

I would say there's no reason to go for the highest resolution as it takes a miracle ear to hear the difference between the two hi-def formats.

These are very hi-resoultion and an iPhone won't play them. They have to be downsampled first. iTunes will play them, but they won't work on most devices I know of.

Around the World in a Day, (the song) sounds really great and in the percussion you can actually hear the flesh hitting the head of the tamborine. To my ears it's quite a remarkable difference.

For You is definitely the most subtle of the bunch so far.

[Edited 8/2/13 14:33pm]

Uh......okay?

I mean, I get what you're saying......but uh........if they're not approved by the proper person {Prince}, what's the point?

They are approved by Prince. Warner Bros. cannot release anything in a new format without his approval. Warner Bors. cannot release anything remastered wthout his approval. Prince is weird. Since he isn't a past-dweller it makes perfect sense that these would be release with minimal/no advertising. He has certain rights as a producer that he wouldn't have as a artist.

thedance said:

djThunderfunk said:

Must be missing something, what's "weird" about it?

^ Yes >>> what's "weird" about it?

#8 answers your question just as it answered djThunderfunk's question.

The mini-LP SHM-CD from 2009 sounds spectacular, even though it's not particularly remastered.

In an attempt to keep things a bit organised (since for some reason these threads have disappeared in favor of the usual fluff), here are previous threads about Prince's music on HDTracks:

New HD TRACKS Album

HDTracks Purple Rain fixed

And now there are four: A...with "RB")

ATWIAD Coming to HD Tracks this week

1999 in highres audio

Prince coming to HD-Tracks?!?

1999 Now on HD Tracks! (9...kHz/24bit)

Around the World in a Day... HD Tracks

HD Tracks has "1999" reissue on SALE

[edit: found more threads]

[Edited 8/6/13 11:43am]

Tittypants said:

Can someone explain what this whole "HD" track thing is about? Are these actual remasters that are available on [real actual retail] disc? Or is this some custom versions that someone is making? I'm saying this, because I could easily run all of his albums through Goldwave & make them sound louder, & more vibrant.....plus, it wouldn't cost me a damn thing to do that myself.

<sigh> See that box in the top-right corner? With the button next to it saying "search"? Is inputting "HDTracks" into the search box and clickign that button really that much trouble? Then again, it seems you lack even basic Google skills to find out what HDTracks is and read their website, so why am I even bothering trying to teach you a VALUABLE SKILL.

SpiritOtter said:

Does Prince receive any royalties from these HD releases?

Yes.

Did he need to “okay“ their release?

Possibly. Possibly not.

Are these effectively an official remastered series?

Looks like it, although the quality varies quite a bit.

What is the difference between these HD releases and what Foefur did?

They don't suck.

If these are legitimate releases, should these not be front page news?

Why do you even bother? The Org has long given up on that aspect of the site, even though this was originally a great news-centric website.

What is the difference between these and the Japanese releases previously?

Those were the same masters as before, just louder.

Why is at all apparently so low key in terms of advertising and barely making any headlines, aside from the few people interested?

Because HDTracks is gogawful at promoting itself? Because even on the Org people care more about crummy MP3s of livestreams of at best mediocre material instead of investing time and braincells into learning about high-definition audio and supporting a viable remastering program?

Out of all these reissued releases, what are the must haves in terms of quality and discernable difference?

Read this and previous threads and make up your own mind.

Tittypants said:

I mean, I get what you're saying......but uh........if they're not approved by the proper person {Prince}, what's the point?

Oh please, that dude has never given a crap about quality. Listen to the mastering jobs of his recent CDs as evidence, or look at the waveforms of the recent web releases.

Who gives a fuck if Prince approves? Because of that asshole there's still several CDs worth of music that only exists on vinyl. Because of him we don't have remastered and expanded editions of his classic albums. If WB hadn't paid him $3 million we would not have The Hits/The B-Sides.

steakfinger said:

Tittypants said:

Can someone explain what this whole "HD" track thing is about? Are these actual remasters that are available on [real actual retail] disc? Or is this some custom versions that someone is making? I'm saying this, because I could easily run all of his albums through Goldwave & make them sound louder, & more vibrant.....plus, it wouldn't cost me a damn thing to do that myself.

A normal audio CD is 44.1Hz/16 bit. This sounds like what you're used to. HD offers two formats, one being 96kHz/24bit and the other being 192kHz/24bit. HD has nothing to do with loudness and, in fact, these are not loud. Nor should they be. Google "loudness wars" to see why your favorite loud CDs are not quality, just loud.

If you listen, you will notice more clarity and depth. You also may notice things you never heard before. On the 1999 album I notice keyboard parts that are very quiet in the HD versions and I can't even hear them on the standard CD. "Pop Life" has two basslines which I never noticed before. Maybe these things were noticable on vinyl, but not on CD. In the case of the For You album, it's actually a bit quieter than the CD, but it sounds much better to me. The lead guitar on I'm Yours isn't nearly as shrill and piercing as it was on the CD.

Having said all that, the differences are there but they are subtle to most people. I've spend a lot of time listening to music in headphones searching for detail, trying to transcribe every little part and I've spend a fair amount of time in recording studios. They are not subtle changes to me, but if you're used to lossy mp3s then you probably won't notice much of a difference if at all.

I would say there's no reason to go for the highest resolution as it takes a miracle ear to hear the difference between the two hi-def formats.

These are very hi-resoultion and an iPhone won't play them. They have to be downsampled first. iTunes will play them, but they won't work on most devices I know of.

Around the World in a Day, (the song) sounds really great and in the percussion you can actually hear the flesh hitting the head of the tamborine. To my ears it's quite a remarkable difference.

For You is definitely the most subtle of the bunch so far.

[Edited 8/2/13 14:33pm]

Thanks for explaining this...I had no clue what makes these so good but now I'm interested as this seems the best quality of the album

Just saw that For You is mentioned as one of the best-selling titles in a recent promo email from HDTracks.

BartVanHemelen said:

SpiritOtter said:

Because HDTracks is gogawful at promoting itself? Because even on the Org people care more about crummy MP3s of livestreams of at best mediocre material instead of investing time and braincells into learning about high-definition audio and supporting a viable remastering program?

Out of all these reissued releases, what are the must haves in terms of quality and discernable difference?

Read this and previous threads and make up your own mind.

Thanks, Bart.

BartVanHemelen said:

In an attempt to keep things a bit organised (since for some reason these threads have disappeared in favor of the usual fluff), here are previous threads about Prince's music on HDTracks:

New HD TRACKS Album

HDTracks Purple Rain fixed

And now there are four: A...with "RB")

ATWIAD Coming to HD Tracks this week

1999 in highres audio

Prince coming to HD-Tracks?!?

1999 Now on HD Tracks! (9...kHz/24bit)

Around the World in a Day... HD Tracks

HD Tracks has "1999" reissue on SALE

[edit: found more threads]

[Edited 8/6/13 11:43am]

Mods, can we get Bart's post stickyfied in a new HD thread at the top of the page?

Just INjoy the ride. Thank you for the link...so wonderful. This album is one of my favorites -infintitely beautiful. Often wonder if beings can love some1 4ver. Some do stay true to their words, actions, thoughts, and heart.