Led Zepplin Mothership vs. hi-res vs. newest

Well, I think it's worth considering that dynamic range is certainly not the only audiophile parameter of interest. Dynamic range is not the only game in town. There is also frequency response, bass performance, clarity and resolution, transparency, and so forth. In fact some of the most notable recordings in terms of wide dynamic range such as Brothers in Arms and Bop til you Drop and Peter Gabriel's Security are off the charts dynamic range wise but virtually unlistenable due to ye olde distortion and digital glare.

Geoffkait, point well taken. But what I find unacceptable is the remastering of CDs that have already been compressed. Unless it is indicated that the original sources are being used, either analogue or digital, record labels are remastering on the cheap by using an existing digital master as the source.

Their sole purpose is to make the audio levels of each instrument more even, resulting in a louder recording with little dynamic range.
IMO, these digital masters didn't even need to be remastered, and only the Ipod users welcome it.

Yes there may be other aspects on other discs but we are talking about Mothership specifically.

That disc is heavily compressed.

From what I've read on ofher forums, Mothership was remastered from existing files that were already compressed, thus the poor dynamic range that's very noticeable in the lack of bass slam. LZ was a band well known for their heavy rhythm section which Mothership lacks.

In the LZ 1, 2, 3 remasters, the heavy compression doesn't exist. There is air around each musician.

I just played some songs from the Mothership CD and then the same songs from the HiRez download.
I would say that the Mothership CD has a slightly hotter treble.
If I would have to choose one over the other, I would take the HiRez. It has a better overall finished sound.

Overall though, both versions sound similar and are the best these recordings have been able to sound.