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Duped again

After several disappointing re-issue purchases I swore never again. But I was taken in again. This time, the re-issue of The Wall."You've never heard The Wall like this in any format" "Stunning", " Blows the CD away" read the pre-release reviews....Nuts... My 1979 original copy eats this re-issue for lunch and it's 32 years old. The differences in the mid and upper ranges are not subtle, it's downright glaring. The low end is there but much tighter on the original.

Perhaps I didn't do enough research beforehand, but is there something I should look for before I even consider another re-issue such as who's the engineer? The plant doing the pressing etc? Or are vinyl lovers just being taken advantage of?
mjm1124

Showing 1 response by cousinbillyl

cousinbillyl
190 posts
 
Unless I am wrong, the re-issues start with the master tape.
Unless I am wrong, radio stations way back kept their tapes in a cooled room. This was to preserve the sound on the tape.
Unless I am wrong, the tiny metal pieces on the master tape, which hold a certain orientation, which in turn allows the tape head to read these variations, slowly change position over time.
Unless I am wrong, 32 years for a master tape to be sitting in a vault will allow some loss of definition.
If you ask my wife, I am always wrong.
A digital remaster still starts with a master tape, that's 32 years old.
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