I'm in the market for a new sound system, and was wondering if the 2017 Itunes releases offer the best sound for Prince's peak era material. Specifically, I was wondering how they compare to stuff like the DJ Foefur remasters and the DJ Pantal mixes, which I have but didn't check out yet. Any thoughts?

[Edited 10/30/17 10:54am]

The HD Tracks are the best (except for Controversy).

Wouldn't Tidal's wav quality stuff trump lossy music on itunes?

67Cadillac said:

bluegangsta said:

The HD Tracks are the best (except for Controversy).

What's wrong with Controversy?

67Cadillac said:

I'm in the market for a new sound system, and was wondering if the 2017 Itunes releases offer the best sound for Prince's peak era material. Specifically, I was wondering how they compare to stuff like the DJ Foefur remasters and the DJ Pantal mixes, which I have but didn't check out yet. Any thoughts?

[Edited 10/30/17 10:54am]

Doesn't, as said above, iTunes provide only lossy files? Not that we all can hear the difference between 320 and Flac (I can't), but if you're an audiophile then you may want to avoid iTunes and look for a lossy site (HDTracks being one). In any case there's no such thing as "iTunes 2017 masters": those are sourced from the same masters the original CDs were made of (if not from the CD's themselves).

.

I don't know how good or bad the fanmade mixes sound but I'd be inclined to avoid anything fanmade: basically those "remasters" are remasters of a master as opposed to a real remaster that, theorically at least, should be made from the original, pre-mastered tape. So unless those guys are professional engineers and really good at what they're doing, I would assume that tweaking an official release maybe isn't the best idea from an audiphile's perspective. I'm no specialist, though, so maybe I'm wrong about the whole thing.

databank said:

67Cadillac said:

I'm in the market for a new sound system, and was wondering if the 2017 Itunes releases offer the best sound for Prince's peak era material. Specifically, I was wondering how they compare to stuff like the DJ Foefur remasters and the DJ Pantal mixes, which I have but didn't check out yet. Any thoughts?

[Edited 10/30/17 10:54am]

Doesn't, as said above, iTunes provide only lossy files? Not that we all can hear the difference between 320 and Flac (I can't), but if you're an audiophile then you may want to avoid iTunes and look for a lossy site (HDTracks being one). In any case there's no such thing as "iTunes 2017 masters": those are sourced from the same masters the original CDs were made of (if not from the CD's themselves).

.

I don't know how good or bad the fanmade mixes sound but I'd be inclined to avoid anything fanmade: basically those "remasters" are remasters of a master as opposed to a real remaster that, theorically at least, should be made from the original, pre-mastered tape. So unless those guys are professional engineers and really good at what they're doing, I would assume that tweaking an official release maybe isn't the best idea from an audiphile's perspective. I'm no specialist, though, so maybe I'm wrong about the whole thing.

I have to say, that Lovesexy Remaster by DJ Foefur is outstanding. The album thumps without having to be tweaked at all. The other albums kind of messed up by removing album versions for a new vision and adding extended version (so be cautious), but Lovesexy generally untouched.

paisleypark4 said:

databank said:

Doesn't, as said above, iTunes provide only lossy files? Not that we all can hear the difference between 320 and Flac (I can't), but if you're an audiophile then you may want to avoid iTunes and look for a lossy site (HDTracks being one). In any case there's no such thing as "iTunes 2017 masters": those are sourced from the same masters the original CDs were made of (if not from the CD's themselves).

.

I don't know how good or bad the fanmade mixes sound but I'd be inclined to avoid anything fanmade: basically those "remasters" are remasters of a master as opposed to a real remaster that, theorically at least, should be made from the original, pre-mastered tape. So unless those guys are professional engineers and really good at what they're doing, I would assume that tweaking an official release maybe isn't the best idea from an audiphile's perspective. I'm no specialist, though, so maybe I'm wrong about the whole thing.

I have to say, that Lovesexy Remaster by DJ Foefur is outstanding. The album thumps without having to be tweaked at all. The other albums kind of messed up by removing album versions for a new vision and adding extended version (so be cautious), but Lovesexy generally untouched.

paisleypark4 said:

databank said:

Doesn't, as said above, iTunes provide only lossy files? Not that we all can hear the difference between 320 and Flac (I can't), but if you're an audiophile then you may want to avoid iTunes and look for a lossy site (HDTracks being one). In any case there's no such thing as "iTunes 2017 masters": those are sourced from the same masters the original CDs were made of (if not from the CD's themselves).

.

I don't know how good or bad the fanmade mixes sound but I'd be inclined to avoid anything fanmade: basically those "remasters" are remasters of a master as opposed to a real remaster that, theorically at least, should be made from the original, pre-mastered tape. So unless those guys are professional engineers and really good at what they're doing, I would assume that tweaking an official release maybe isn't the best idea from an audiphile's perspective. I'm no specialist, though, so maybe I'm wrong about the whole thing.

I have to say, that Lovesexy Remaster by DJ Foefur is outstanding. The album thumps without having to be tweaked at all. The other albums kind of messed up by removing album versions for a new vision and adding extended version (so be cautious), but Lovesexy generally untouched.

Some of those Foefur remasters do sound great. It's a shame the albums themselves weren't left untouched.