So I heard T's 12 inch collection, and even with the channel reversing not taken into account, I have two versions of the long version of Shockadelica and one has a sharper kick drum sound while the other is a bit muffled sounding with an effect that spreads a bit wider to the left and right channels - I don't know how to describe it but it is similar to a sound in the drums in Dorothy Parker

I know this is a very very trite and overly specific thing to ask lol I was just wondering if anyone else noticed this. The officially released version that is shorter has the sharper drum sound, and there are two extended mixes with those slightly different drum sounds

I think I know what you mean, but I think its just a legacy of multiple sources. The most 'natural' version (I base this on my own vinyl rip, a volume boosted version of the edit from the Hits/Bsides + foefurs mix) has the drum sound tight and high.

It does sound 'muddier' on some versions, but I put that down to poor rips or sequencing in original boot tapes which often have lost the high end.

Certainly based on the instrumentation of the era, Prince's kick drum sound of choice was quite high in pitch (Feel U Up, Good Love, Housequake etc).

Thanks for the reply! That is a really good point, I do think that is probably the case, for me in the two versions I heard, I perferred the version with the "weird" bass drum sound in terms of overall balance however since the bass doesn't hit as hard I found myself listening to the other version quite a bit

SquirrelMeat is probably right.

The only other possible explainations could be:

- that one is the version that was broadcast in September 1986 (of which I have never heard any rip, so assumedly it's lost forever though I'm pretty sure some cassette still exist in the hands of some of y'all) was an early mix and got slightly reworked for release but I don't think so.

- that one is the version from the Crystal Ball leak: I don't recall hearing any difference in the mix but given that the released version was mastered and the CB version probably was pre-Grundman, they are likely to sound a little different. This would actually apply to the radio broadcast as well anyway, since it was also "pre-mastering".

[Edited 6/11/18 1:19am]