So what does everyone think of the sound?

I love it...it deserved this unveiling. I already thought Paisley Park extended was incredible when i heard it a few weeks ago, I felt nearly the same about America. Overall, I know I heard more from the album. There were subtle backgrounds that were more clear....there were subtle instrumental bits and pieces that just came through better than ever. In Condition of the Heart, I listened and thought to myself (again), he put so much effort into the background vocals....i heard more and could more clearly hear the vocals intertwining in a way I hadn't before.

Those high pitched 'Trampoline' lines in the back of Tamborine were sticking out like I'd not heard before. I'm not saying they were upped in the mix, I'm saying, they stood out....so so super.

The bass playing in America was definitely more clear..more complete..not lost in the mix.

Pop Life's piano got heard ...better.

the Live Aid 4 the Tears In You Eyes especially sticks out...it is just so much better than the B Sides version...I'd heard from an insider that the 4 the Tears recording that we know from B Sides (1993) was 'saved'...the tape had to be 'baked' and then recovered. So, what we got then, is the best they could do (presumably). This version blow it away...now, i'm wondering how tho....I still hear those deficiencies in the recording...just more pronounced which makes me wonder what they did....I love it, but, I have an asterisk beside it.

Overall, the proper bottom end now makes songs like She's Alway In My Hair sound completed on a great system. Everything benefits from teh bottom end boost.

Great job....to whoever, Chris James or Grundman's people.

I'd love to have someone explain what exactly they do for remastering jobs..

Vinyl: The mastering of the original vinyl needed no tweaks or remaster. On this format it is absolutely not an improvement. The original masters were made specifically for this format at a time when vinyl was the main format. As such, the originals are far superior.

CD: While the original CD masters did not take full advantage of the range available to the limits of the format and are not as loud as the current standard for CDs, I'm not hearing an improvement when playing on a decent system played at a decent volume.

I assume that making it louder and punching up the bass is an improvement for those listening to streaming mp3s on earbuds, but for playing physical media on a decent system I am not impressed at all. I actually prefer the originals.

i'd have to understand what kind of system you're listening on...I've got a fairly atypical SUPERB 2 channel system

It sounds glorious at times...it's def a bottom end boost...much better but we expect this from a remaster, especially an older album. However, i am hearing a lot more at the top end...there are def vocals that are clearer..backgrounds...

JoeyCococo said:

I'd love to have someone explain what exactly they do for remastering jobs..

I'm probably just a nerd that way, but I would love it if they could annotate every modification they made to the original master and note what the thinking behind it was🤣

I'm usually sitting there listening on headphones wondering why the pitch is different or the phase was reversed.The brutal irony is that in 1985 I was listening to this music on rubbish equipment with really decent hearing, and now I have decent equipment, but would be hard pressed to hear anything above about 14kz 😄

andrewm7new said:

JoeyCococo said:

I'd love to have someone explain what exactly they do for remastering jobs..

I'm probably just a nerd that way, but I would love it if they could annotate every modification they made to the original master and note what the thinking behind it was🤣

I'm usually sitting there listening on headphones wondering why the pitch is different or the phase was reversed.The brutal irony is that in 1985 I was listening to this music on rubbish equipment with really decent hearing, and now I have decent equipment, but would be hard pressed to hear anything above about 14kz 😄

The 14 Kz...

guess that goes for most of us (who heard it first in 1985)