So, I haven't been abele to get super deep into this yet, but there is definnitely some remastering going on in the TIDAL releases. I want to start a discusssion about it.

Unfortunately this appears not uniformly on entire albums, but on some songs.

What I noticed last nght.

-KISS on Parade is remasted, but remastered horribly. Without looking at the file, I'm pretty sure it's brickwalled or near brickwalled. Everthing about is loud, loud, loud. Anotherloverholenyohead, goes right back to normal volume. Christoper Tracy's Parade, and New Position seemed clearer, but I'm uncertain if they aren't the same as the CD.

-on SOTT Adore and Sign O' the Times sounded very clear. IF I was Your Girfriend sounded more of less the same... dfinitely a volume difference with Adore.

-Contoversy and Sexuality sounded great.

-Dirty Mind might have sounded clearer, but unsure ...


So, that's what I got. one of the things theorized is that some of these songs, Like Adore, are taken from the Spike Lee movie soundtrack (I forget want it was called).

Has anyone else found /heard any differences? I read here on the org that the internet only albums have differrent sound quality.

Can anyone else speak to sound qulity differences on the TIDAL releases?

They're not new remasters, they're just old remasters from one of the 3 compilations released in the past. You'll notice they're mainly singles.

As I said in the other thread - the volume issue was the very same when his catalogue was on Spotify. There's also a number of 12" singles taken from a late 2000's digital releases and they are sourced from vinyl rips. Here's an example.

From what I have found, there's been no changes to the sources on Tidal from other streaming services, just an addition of some of his post warner stuff.

[Edited 9/10/15 8:45am]

jaawwnn said:

They're not new remasters, they're just old remasters from one of the 3 compilations released in the past. You'll notice they're mainly singles.

As I said in the other thread - the volume issue was the very same when his catalogue was on Spotify. There's also a number of 12" singles taken from a late 2000's digital release and they are sourced from vinyl rips.

There's been no changes to the sources on Tidal as other streaming services, just an addition of some of his post warner stuff.

Good info!

JudasLChrist said:

Good info!

No prob, kinda want someone to go "No you're wrong! He's working with Tidal to remaster and release his stuff and here is proof -" but no...

jaawwnn said:

JudasLChrist said:

Good info!

No prob, kinda want someone to go "No you're wrong! He's working with Tidal to remaster and release his stuff and here is proof -" but no...

FYI. The HDTracks for Around a World in a Day sounds especially beautiful. Also 1999, too. Those are worth seeking out. The rest, not so sure athere's any difference.

I noticed the variances in the loudness on HNR as well....the loudness levels from track to track are all over the place.....same for more than a few albums on tidal....that should be a non-issue since they're touting their superior sound.

Amazon and Google do this too, when they try to "match" songs. It totally throws the albums off-kilter, like missing the perfect transition from "Kiss" to "Anotherloverholenyohead".

TrevorAyer said:

It takes a special kind of stupid for a "real musician" to mismatch mastering on his own classic records ... Its almost as if prince doesn't even listen to his own music before selling it to the public ... That would explain a lot

I don't know what is going on but i got my hands on some FLAC files of SOTT and 1999. They are apparently from some Japanese vinyl release. I have no further info but the soun dis definitely better, not just louder. I hear more guitar bits on Lady Cab Driver, HouseQuake and I Could Neer Take the Place sound muct better and louder.

So, was the original CD transfers just terrible or did they improve things on the Japanese Viny?

TrevorAyer said:

It takes a special kind of stupid for a "real musician" to mismatch mastering on his own classic records ... Its almost as if prince doesn't even listen to his own music before selling it to the public ... That would explain a lot

Yes, it's shameful. I get that the kids today aren't really listening to 'albums' today per se, but if you're gonna offer them mixed from different sources, then why even offer them as albums at all?

Disgusting.

I signed up for Tidal, played Sign o the times, then cancelled Tidal.

Fuck off Tidal.