Thanks for the kinds words, Jeff. I haven't gotten around to III yet, but I did a quite comparison of LZ II which I just posted on the Hoffman forum. Here it is verbatim, omitting the picture:
I just compared a very clean 'RL' SS/narrow side two (PR) with the new issue of LZII. Here's what I heard, listening only to 'Whole Lotta Love' and "Heartbreaker":
the new record sounds similar in overall tone, but there is simply no comparison in the overall propulsive thrust or 'punch'- the 'RL' wins hands down. Both records reveal the distortion when Bonham's drums come crashing through after the 'effects' passage in 'Whole Lotta Love,' it just seems to be part of the overall sound of this cut- which always sounded over-processed to me, from day one. (Not taking away from its musical merit, just saying). Plant's voice also seems far more 'open' on the 'RL' -perhaps that's a result of how this thing was EQ'd (I don't know enough about what source material was used for the digital transfer to comment intelligently on that). The new record has Plant's vocals sounding a little 'canned' to my ear.
Heartbreaker- same kind of difference- the recording is heavily overloaded, particularly the guitar- and the distortion is obvious in both the 'RL' and the new record, but somehow, perhaps an artifact of digital, the old 'uber' pressing just sounds more organic.
A couple of side notes: my system is not bass heavy, if anything, it is tuned to avoid discontinuity between the dynamic woofers and the midhorn, so if real bass is on the record you hear it, but it isn't normally a bone-crushing kind of system (I could adjust it that way, but the woofers would sound out of whack with the horns). The propulsive effect, the so-called 'freight train' delivery of the 'RL' is something you can hear immediately, not a 'golden ears' kind of thing.
I think these new records are great, a good value, I haven't even begun to explore the bonus tracks, but just wanted to weigh in. Here's a snap of the front end, as I was warming the system up for this comparison. (Both records were cleaned using the Audio Desk).
I just compared a very clean 'RL' SS/narrow side two (PR) with the new issue of LZII. Here's what I heard, listening only to 'Whole Lotta Love' and "Heartbreaker":
the new record sounds similar in overall tone, but there is simply no comparison in the overall propulsive thrust or 'punch'- the 'RL' wins hands down. Both records reveal the distortion when Bonham's drums come crashing through after the 'effects' passage in 'Whole Lotta Love,' it just seems to be part of the overall sound of this cut- which always sounded over-processed to me, from day one. (Not taking away from its musical merit, just saying). Plant's voice also seems far more 'open' on the 'RL' -perhaps that's a result of how this thing was EQ'd (I don't know enough about what source material was used for the digital transfer to comment intelligently on that). The new record has Plant's vocals sounding a little 'canned' to my ear.
Heartbreaker- same kind of difference- the recording is heavily overloaded, particularly the guitar- and the distortion is obvious in both the 'RL' and the new record, but somehow, perhaps an artifact of digital, the old 'uber' pressing just sounds more organic.
A couple of side notes: my system is not bass heavy, if anything, it is tuned to avoid discontinuity between the dynamic woofers and the midhorn, so if real bass is on the record you hear it, but it isn't normally a bone-crushing kind of system (I could adjust it that way, but the woofers would sound out of whack with the horns). The propulsive effect, the so-called 'freight train' delivery of the 'RL' is something you can hear immediately, not a 'golden ears' kind of thing.
I think these new records are great, a good value, I haven't even begun to explore the bonus tracks, but just wanted to weigh in. Here's a snap of the front end, as I was warming the system up for this comparison. (Both records were cleaned using the Audio Desk).