I haven't heard this reissue, but I have heard, and own the 40th anniversary Aqualung recording, and Steve Wilson done a great job in the mixing department. Pushed everything away from the speaker.
I agree that when the mix isn't ideal to start with, put a better instrument placement together as a modern recording would sound. Just my opinion. |
Strange Days is amazing. Will soon be cracking open the S/T QRP, and comparing it to my original Tan label. My point of reference for Strange Days is my DCC pressing.
Mr. Fremer has also now reviewed both of these on Analog Planet.com. He gave Strange Days a 10/10. I would have to agree. I think Chad paid big bucks for the rights to these masters. I'm sorry, but Chad is the man. |
Michael Fremer did indeed give this album a great review and I'm sure he got it right. But since it's the same poor mix, I can't see buying it again for a marginal improvement in sound quality.
Remember that most of us don't have systems as revealing as Michael's or his critical listening skills. Those who do, Enjoy! |
Tomcy6: I consider my system to be a lot different from MF's. I do hear Ray's Keyboard's to the left, Robbie's guitar to the right, vocals center.... Still, I am very excited about this release, and look forward to LA Woman, and Morrison Hotel. Cheers ! |
Let us know how they sound Fjn04. |
I have the DCCs of Strange Days, The Doors, LA Woman and also the lizard skin box set. As I recall Fremer also gave the lizard skin box a 10/10 rating. It did not come from the original tapes. Has anyone compared these new reissues to that box set? |
i found both strange days and the self titled are very thin in the bottom end. i couldn't listen to them. sold them both. the original u.s. pressings are much more dynamic and enjoyable to listen to. the more revealing your system, the worst this new pressing will sound. i did try playing the lp's on the stock dl103 helped them out, but still a huge disappointment. |
Corgy,
Your feedback is of interest to me. You're the first truly negative reviewer of these reissues I've come across and I just pre-ordered the whole set. There are differing opinions on Fremer's reviews I suppose but by and large I agree with him on sound quality. If highly resolving systems reveal the flaws in these reissues as you say where does his 10/10 come from? How many people can you name with a more resolving system or more experience with the LP format? I've also come across little but great enthusiasm from one other formal review and multiple individual accounts. So I respect your opinion but it greatly puzzles me.
The obvious solution would be to order a copy of Strange Days myself to try. However, if I do get the whole box, I'll the be stuck with an expensive duplicate. Still, may be worth a try just to make sure the whole $400 set won't be a let down.
Meanwhile, if anyone else has feedback, good or bad, it would be appreciated. |
I'm very much enjoying the largely over-looked 2011 40th Aniversary three-sided Rhino LP release of LA Woman Workshop Sessions. The alternate takes are good, and what a meaty beaty bouncy working session with excellent SQ:
"Dear Doors fans, here we are with the latest Doors tech talk.
As you must probably know by now, LA Woman wasn't recorded in a studio, but at the Doors Workshop. The was the Door's home, where they felt the most comfortable. Upstairs we installed a 3M 56 8-track analog tape recorder, the very one used on Strange Days. From the Elektra Paxton Ranch we used a Langevin Solid State 10-input 8-channel console; and for loudspeakers, JBL 4310s powered by a single Crown amp. The Doors plus Jerry Schell and Marc Benno were downstairs, so I couldn't see them, or they me. Microphones used were Neumann KM40s on the drums, an AKG 414 for the bass, and Sony C37s on the guitars. Ray's keyboards were mic'd by Shure 57s and/or direct. Jim's microphone was his handheld favorite EV, which he used on the road. When we were finished recording, we moved over to Poppi Studios, which was one block from where Howard Hughes was living in his office off Romaine Street. Poppi Studios had Quad Eight mixing consoles and custom Altec bi-amped loudspeakers driven by Marantz amps. The echo came from EMT140 revelation plates and room echo chambers.
This album of outtakes, alternate takes, and studio dialogue all recorded during the original LA Woman sessions that The Doors Workshop in 1970, was transferred and mixed in Ojai, CA, at Uniteye Studios. The original 1-inch 8-track masters were carefully baked and then transferred from an Analogue Studer 8-track into db Technologies 824 A/D converters at 96/24 and recorded on Protools for mixing. The mixing was done on an Avid Audio Icon console with Tannoy/Mastering Lab loudspeakers powered by Ayre Acoustic V1 power amps. Echo was from an EMT140 reverb plate and Altiverb Impulse reverbs. EQ and Limiting/Compression from GML and Sonnox.
When it was time to cut the lacquer masters, we took our final 96/24 mix masters to Bernie Grundman at BGM to do all the final EQ and level prep, and then cut the masters on Bernie's all-tube/valve Westrex cutting system.
Enjoy the way back machine.
Bruce Botnick, August 2011" |
Sonofjim
my analog front end that i played the door's lp's on is a tw acustic ac3 with a davinci grandezza arm and benz ebony cart. probably too revealing for these lp's. i did try spinning them on another table that i have a stock denon 103 installed. that helped, but i still found the lp's disappointing compared to original US pressings. |
I am also not sure who the reviewer for MY VINYL REVIEW is, but I did check it out. That said, I had a similar reaction about Strange Days. It was simply like, "WOW, it can't get much better than this." More importantly, it doesn't seem to strip away emotion, which is tough to describe. For instance, there are other releases that have great this and great that, but just didn't pull me by the heartstrings. The one that comes to mind is the 45rpm,Fleetwood Mac: Rumours. Just for completeness sake, I did not have a First press Strange Days to compare. So IMHO, they hit a home run with this one. I believe both my Morrison Hotel and S/T albums are first presses. MH is a red label, while my S/T is BROWN. I will soon make the comparison between my BROWN label S/T,and the 45. |
I just received the Doors Soft Parade album reissue 45rpm. I thought it sounded just fine. With a nod to the reviewer who questioned the low end being unusually absent, I second the observation. Other than that, the recording seemed entirely in keeping with original pressings that I own. Would I buy the remastered/reissued Doors boxed set based on one LP from Analogue Productions - yes, without hesitation. |
Thanks for the feedback guys. I think I'll stay the course with my pre-order of the whole set. When you're dealing with a subjective experience like this multiple viewpoints are helpful although confusing. Both Fremer and the reviewer from "My Vinyl Review" compared the 45s to original pressings quite favorably. At least one satisfied customer on Audio Asylum actually applauded the low end on his copy. Several people have also stated that the more resolving the system the better they sound. Go figure I guess.
Along with the subjectivity of the listening experience, I imagine results are also heavily system AND probably copy dependent. At a certain point you just have to take that leap and try it for yourself. I have nine cartridges, four tonearms on two sp-10 MKllls, Allnic phono and preamp with upgraded transformers feeding the MX-R monos and 5As. Hopefully, if the low end is there I'll find it. I also have DCCs and originals to compare to. Should be fun. Here goes nothin'. |
Whats the best pressing of a specific title is subjective and very dependent on the quality of your gear and the sound signature you choose when you bought your cartridge, TT, Phono amp, amp, speakers. I can also see people leaning to different pressing not because they are better but because they resolve the deficiencies in their system ie: too bright, too dark, bad setup, etc. These Doors reissues are really nice, nothing lacking on my system, just more of everything. |
yeah, you're right musichead. i need to get a close-and-play record player to try these new releases, maybe they'll sound good then. |
Maybe something is wrong with your AC3 :-) They sound fine on my Raven One/10.5/XV-1s and yes I have compared them to US 1st pressings. |
i do prefer the us 1st pressings over the newer pressings. maybe the tapes have deteriorated over the years making the new releases inferior. not as much information now as there was when the recordings were made 30+ years ago. that's the only explanation i can see. |
I don't buy Tom Port's Hot Stamers but I do believe in sound variation between different copies even of the same pressing. As I recall from the video, QRP made five sets of stamper plates for each album. I think it's entirely possible that some copies will sound better than others even in a relatively small run such as this. There's likely nothing wrong with anyone's system (remember Fremer's is probably close to a $300,000 set up, hardly a close and play). Even if we all heard the same copy on the same system there would be differing opinions. I'm just going to try the set. It's still cheaper tham one Hot Stamper. Maybe someday there'll be a Hot Stamper of the whole set for somewhere around $3,000. |
Hi Corby, interesting way of looking at it but I suspect your system leans on the bright side. My findings are it varies from title to title but in general what I hear is the new 45rpms have 100% of what is on the original 1st pressing + improved clarity and a tighter more dynamic performance. The originals, especially Strange Days sounds rolled off and soft. Have you compared Strange Days original Mono to the stereo pressing? The Mono pressing sounds much better than the stereo in my system and closer to the sound signature of the new 45rpm. Based on this I would conclude the original stereo pressing probably had mixing or pressing issues. The new 45rpm seems to suggest this when you bring the Mono pressing into the mix. |
musichead
thanks for your summary. i have only compared the s/t to it's original us 1st pressing. i bought strange days at the same time but didn't have the 1st pressing to compare it to.
those are the first APO releases that i was disappointed with. i do have many. i won't be buying any more of the doors releases. my front end picks them apart too much. as i mentioned earlier, i played them on my non-reference table, micro seiki 1500 with a morch UP4 and denon DL103 stock, and they sounded better, as this combo did not dig deep into the grooves to extract everything. but i'm not going to spend the money on the lp's to play them on the 103.
i'll pursue more originals and the mono that you mentioned above, |
Anyone get the new 45 LPs of LA Woman yet? |
Yup. I prefer the original die-cut/cellophane window copy I have. The 45RPM is a bit sterile and clinical sounding, lacking in emotion and life. I also find the bass to be somewhat bloated. The original has better spectral balance top to bottom and really lets the music flow easily. YMMV and all that.
BTW, Morrison Hotel is the one to get. |
Thanks! I was going to ask about Morrison Hotel also.
I have the 45 of Strange Days, it sounds real good but
to me not great. |
Interesting- I decided to get LA Woman, and not Morrison Hotel. I passed on MH because I have a red E label, which sounds great to me. I listened to the QRP LA Woman last night, and it sounds great to me. I have a Butterfly label, and had the DCC, which I just sold. Palasr, I will have to pull out my Butterfly label, and listen again. I am almost sure mine has the rounded corners/cellophane. That said, I think Strange Days is revelatory, but LA Woman is still a great success. LA Woman, much like the S/T album has that live, spontaneous feel to it. The QRP seems to capture that better than I have ever heard it. Palasr, do you have the QRP Strange Days. |
Vinylvin- I had a friend over, and played Strange Days for him. He is an audiophile, but not really a huge Doors fan. Anyway, he was quite impressed, and bought his own copy. I also think Strange Days is excellent. So bottom line: I would suggest LA Woman, but not if you think Strange Days is simply good. |
