I ordered the new releases on vinyl, and emailed Warner Music Australia for an update. Here's the response I received:

[Edited 10/8/14 8:14am]

"Warner were able to get it over the line"... Wow interesting! Is that meaning P and Warner were disputing the Vinyl release between them?

It most likely means that, one way or another, they were just able to justify pressing it for the cost.

It was axed by someone, then they were just about able to make the numbers work somehow. Unlikely Prince had anything to do with it.

I have a feeling the sound quality is pretty much the same as the cd. I'm sure all the distortion and bad sound quality actually happened somewhere in the mix before mastering. If that's so, I'm just buying the vinyl for nostalgia reasons, and not for better sound quality. I love having huge cover art, wax, and the feel of physical music. The needle is actually physically reading the sound. It's not a bunch of 1s and 0s. And even though it doesn't create better sound objectively, it sure gives me a good feel and connection to the music. I'll just wish and hope for it to come with great sound.

Am glad they are still comming on vinyl , i dont buy cd's

Prince was not happy with the quality of them apparently

fnksoul said:

Prince was not happy with the quality of them apparently

And if Prince seriously is unhappy with the sound quality, it shows how clueless he is. Sad, because he made some really nice songs between the two albums. I don't trust that Prince seriously took the proper precautions to make the albums sound right. U2's new album is louder than it should be, but it is not so horrible that you cringe. AOA sounds bad, PE sounds horrible.

Warners must be happy with the numbers enough to justify a vinyl edition. That's usually the real reason - perceived demand - not the technicalities of the vinyl master.

stillwaiting said:

fnksoul said:

Prince was not happy with the quality of them apparently

And if Prince seriously is unhappy with the sound quality, it shows how clueless he is. Sad, because he made some really nice songs between the two albums. I don't trust that Prince seriously took the proper precautions to make the albums sound right. U2's new album is louder than it should be, but it is not so horrible that you cringe. AOA sounds bad, PE sounds horrible.

So I've finally started an honest attempt to listen to PE after my initial reaction to disliking Hannah's voice....and there are some good songs, and even some good moments in some vocally awful songs - but man, there is SO much distortion it's unreal! It sounds as if my speakers are blown in my car, except they're not. Everything else I play sounds great.

theblueangel said:

stillwaiting said:

And if Prince seriously is unhappy with the sound quality, it shows how clueless he is. Sad, because he made some really nice songs between the two albums. I don't trust that Prince seriously took the proper precautions to make the albums sound right. U2's new album is louder than it should be, but it is not so horrible that you cringe. AOA sounds bad, PE sounds horrible.

So I've finally started an honest attempt to listen to PE after my initial reaction to disliking Hannah's voice....and there are some good songs, and even some good moments in some vocally awful songs - but man, there is SO much distortion it's unreal! It sounds as if my speakers are blown in my car, except they're not. Everything else I play sounds great.

Seriosly, sounds fine to me. Try adjusting your base and trebble. I generally have mine 2 clicks down on bass and 2 clicks up on trebble (but then my Hifi is bass-tastic with the speakers on a solid floor).

Infact I though PE was quite soft/low in sound - I don't think it lends it's self to high volumes.

Daveoooo said:

theblueangel said:

So I've finally started an honest attempt to listen to PE after my initial reaction to disliking Hannah's voice....and there are some good songs, and even some good moments in some vocally awful songs - but man, there is SO much distortion it's unreal! It sounds as if my speakers are blown in my car, except they're not. Everything else I play sounds great.

Seriosly, sounds fine to me. Try adjusting your base and trebble. I generally have mine 2 clicks down on bass and 2 clicks up on trebble (but then my Hifi is bass-tastic with the speakers on a solid floor).

Infact I though PE was quite soft/low in sound - I don't think it lends it's self to high volumes.

Shouldn't have to adjust the EQ. Flat tells you exactly how it was recorded. EQing at home should be used for slight tweaks because of room acoustics, not to correct horrible recording.

Daveoooo said:

theblueangel said:

So I've finally started an honest attempt to listen to PE after my initial reaction to disliking Hannah's voice....and there are some good songs, and even some good moments in some vocally awful songs - but man, there is SO much distortion it's unreal! It sounds as if my speakers are blown in my car, except they're not. Everything else I play sounds great.

Seriosly, sounds fine to me. Try adjusting your base and trebble. I generally have mine 2 clicks down on bass and 2 clicks up on trebble (but then my Hifi is bass-tastic with the speakers on a solid floor).

Infact I though PE was quite soft/low in sound - I don't think it lends it's self to high volumes.

I have over 200 cds in my car in my notebooks. PlectElect is the only one that sounds louder on volume 15, then most of the others on volume 25. AOA is not really much better...

But if you don't think that Plect is mastered poorly, then you probably just have awful hearing.

KlyphIsBackAgain said:

Replica said:

I have a feeling the sound quality is pretty much the same as the cd.

.

Most likely they'll simply use the CD master. Shit sounds wack already anyway, no need to invest in a mastering job.

Replica said:

KlyphIsBackAgain said:

Shouldn't have to adjust the EQ. Flat tells you exactly how it was recorded. EQing at home should be used for slight tweaks because of room acoustics, not to correct horrible recording.

Only the same room and same set of sound system placed the same way will produce the same sound as the recording. So some sort of equing is in many rooms necessary for similar results.

Hence why I said tweaks for room acoustics. You should still start flat. Flat will give you the closest representation. You're right, NOTHING is exact.

KlyphIsBackAgain said:

Replica said:

KlyphIsBackAgain said: Only the same room and same set of sound system placed the same way will produce the same sound as the recording. So some sort of equing is in many rooms necessary for similar results.

Hence why I said tweaks for room acoustics. You should still start flat. Flat will give you the closest representation. You're right, NOTHING is exact.

PE is the worst sounding cd in my collection. Then again, the Deluxe version of Duran Duran's Seven And The Ragged Tiger is probably worse....but considering I have over 2,000 recordings, being in the top 2 worst ever is not an easy accomplishment. Well done Prince and Warners.

KlyphIsBackAgain said:

Daveoooo said:

Seriosly, sounds fine to me. Try adjusting your base and trebble. I generally have mine 2 clicks down on bass and 2 clicks up on trebble (but then my Hifi is bass-tastic with the speakers on a solid floor).

Infact I though PE was quite soft/low in sound - I don't think it lends it's self to high volumes.

Shouldn't have to adjust the EQ. Flat tells you exactly how it was recorded. EQing at home should be used for slight tweaks because of room acoustics, not to correct horrible recording.

In general I agree, but how about Nirvana's In Utero, it has specific notes suggesting bass and treble settings to get the ideal sound from the recording. So why not apply that to all music when wanting to hear it at it's best (i.e. loud on good headphones, through a good system, on vinyl in, a quite room). I normally listen to music in my car comuting to work and back so mostly pick a generic couple of clicks up on both to lift the sound above road noise (although the preivious owner has it at top of the bass so the speakers may have been affected by that?)