Led Zeppelin I, II & III Remastered (by Page) in 96/24 format

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  • aud19
    Twin Moderator Emeritus
    • Aug 2003
    • 16706

    Led Zeppelin I, II & III Remastered (by Page) in 96/24 format



    Has anyone else heard these yet?! Cranked I and III up last night and my goodness it sounds like Page lubed up his guitar and slid it slowly, lovingly in to my ears.

    If you're a classic rock/Zep fan you owe it to yourself to hear these remasters. They're on a whole other level IMO.*

    Here's a good write up/interview with Page:



    "The best way to listen to Led Zeppelin is off of the analog tapes, but unfortunately, I can’t invite you around to listen to them." That's Jimmy Page, answering my question about whether vinyl was still the best way to experience the mighty Zeppelin's music at the press conference that followed the Led Zeppelin Deluxe Editions Listening Event Page hosted at the Crosby Street Hotel Screening Room in New York on May 13. Page also confirmed that he's done "really, really high-resolution files for whatever system comes next" and that 96kHz/24-bit files will be accessible via download cards in each of the Deluxe Edition box sets of the first three Led Zeppelin studio albums being released by Atlantic/Swan Song on June 3. Event moderator Robin Hurley further confirmed that all of the Zeppelin studio tracks from those three album packages coming to HDtracks.com will be 96/24. (Live tracks will be at 48/24.)[/font][/color]

    In the Screening Room, I hunkered down in the sweet spot in Row 7—dead center, in Seat 6 (of 12)—and enjoyed 36 minutes/eight tracks of previously unheard, unreleased, and mostly unbootlegged Zep material. The gem of the session was one of the unearthed gems from the Companion Audio Disc for*Led Zeppelin III, "Keys to the Highway/Trouble in Mind," with Page going full-on acoustic in the left channel and Robert Plant singing and playing harmonica through Page's amp in the right, with a vibrato effect that was put to similar use on*III's actual closing track, "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper."
    The press conference that followed the listening session was surprisingly focused on audio-centric details—unlike the more general ground covered in the one held for the release ofCelebration Day*back on*October 9, 2012. What follows in a narrative format is the best of what the ace guitarist and producer, now 70, had to say to the gathered journalistic throng about working with the original analog master tapes, finding the groove of country blues, and how the bandmembers knew early on they were part of something a whole lotta magical.

    Jimmy Page:*I had a huge collection of quarter-inch tapes from all the sessions. It’s because I was the producer of the band, so, consequently, I had far more tapes than anybody else did. The original recordings were analog tape, and they were done for vinyl. That was during the late ’60s and the ’70s. And then CDs were put out of that material from copy tapes—and they weren’t very good, to be honest with you. That’s why the original tapes were brought back out again—the master tapes—and they were remastered. And that’s 20[-plus] years ago.

    Since those 20 years have passed, we’ve got all these new digital formats out there, so it made sense to revisit the studio albums. That’s not unique. I mean, everybody’s doing that, so I thought, “Well, let’s see how to make this into something special.” Each of the albums has a companion disc, which, from Zeppelin II onwards, are all rare studio outtakes and various different versions and different mixes. It’s the one thing that’s been missing, really, if we think about the releases of Led Zeppelin over the last few years. This gives you a window—a portal into that time capsule of when each album was recorded. That’s how it works, all the way through to Coda. It’s all done. [Release dates for the remaining six studio albums have yet to be determined.]

    I knew it was a huge, epic task, but I wanted to make sure it was all really superb and was going to hold up. That’s how I was driven. I don’t think [the companion material] changes any story, it just augments it. It gives more color to it. The vinyl masters of all the studio albums you know quite clearly are going to be the best ones. However, these things are fascinating and are of an intrinsic, historical value.

    In the days when these albums were recorded, the [tape box] sometimes had quite detailed studio information on it, and the date. But sometimes it didn’t, and sometimes only the title. I left no stone unturned as to finding source material. I didn’t want something that sounded really good to turn up afterwards. So it took a lot of listening, and I had to get all of the tapes together relative to each song. Some of them were 7½-inch, some of them were 15. Some of them had different equalization; some were NAB, some were CCIR. Some title [i.e., song] may have only had a half-dozen tapes, another one could have 15. It was quite a big thing to memorize. It was not so difficult to put the best take up, comparable to the studio one. It was a lengthy process, but that was how it was arrived at.

    All of our stuff starts off in ’68, and the condition of [the tapes] is absolutely magnificent. We didn’t have to do any sort of restoration, unless an edit came out when you replaced the tape. What happened with analog tape in ’78 or ’79 was they changed the compound of the glue in the oxide—the oxide is what it’s being recorded on, on the magnetic heads. The*In Through the Out Door*album [1979] had been recorded with this new format tape. You’ve heard about tape shredding—that means the oxide comes off, so you have to bake them. Fortunately, there wasn’t a lot of work that needed to be done for*In Through the Out Door.

    All of these mixes are of the time. Basically, that’s what it is. There's no jiggery-pokery.*[Page and the audience laugh]*It’s all the real deal, man. What you hear on “Whole Lotta Love”—that’s the sum of one night’s recording, when we did it in London. That’s the original vocal on it. As far as the drums go—well, there’s extra things that go on in the middle, with the percussion and everything. That’s the same with the “Heartbreaker” [take] as well—that guitar in the middle of “Heartbreaker” is what was done on the recording, straight off.

    The numbers from*Led Zeppelin III*are quite substantially different. Listen to, for example, “Hangman” [i.e., “Gallows Pole”]. All of that rhythmic guitar that’s underneath and sunk down in the final mixes—that’s real interesting, since we’ve been playing this stuff live. It’s interesting to hear those cross-rhythms on the final one. Hearing it come out like that was cool.

    “Since I’ve Been Loving You” is a different take, a different performance altogether; a full-on take, start to finish. It’s like a few days before we did the final one, where we take it much cooler, as far as the approach to the vocal and the guitar, and all of it. That’s why we recut it—because it’s really intense, and the guitar is really hard on it there. If there had been another take of that one, the guitar would have been different. Yeah, I was exploring the whole way through. I was always trying to stretch it. But then, so was everybody else. You can tell that from Robert’s vocals—he was really on top of it on this one. The idea that night was to go in and do something that was quite radical when it came to the blues. A lot of people were just doing the blues as renditions. But I think that while Zeppelin’s approach on “Since I’ve Been Loving You” is based on the blues, then it goes into a whole extension.
    The last thing you heard there was “Keys to the Highway.” I was trying to give the same running order on the companion disc to*Led Zeppelin III. So when it came to the last track, which was “Hats Off to [Roy] Harper,” you can tell it has a similar vocal sound, as you could tell [Robert] is singing through the amp here—this was something on the same reel. Because I was looking for something else to use, and lo and behold, that pops out: “Oh, I remember doing that.” You know, it just sort of shaped up in that kind of way. Oh yes, one take. [chuckles] That was the only one. No comps on that.*[audience laughs]

    We took a whole sort of country blues approach to things, which was “Hats of to [Roy] Harper.” It just said on the box “Blues,” the one that tape was in—but it was blues all night long. When it started up, I remembered exactly what the circumstances were, and it’s only the one take. All the subtleties, and how intricate it is—that was really interesting to hear. The minute that it started up, then I sort of knew, “Yeah, yeah, we did ‘Keys to the Highway’,” and of course there it was. So you could say that was sort of a surprise, but it was pretty instant recall on pretty much what all of it was, really.

    I was very keen to do something along the country blues aspect of things, and it started off that night with experiments, like double-tracking the harmonica through my amp, this thing with the vibrato where it’s really eerie. And then I just got the guitar and said, “Well, we’ll do a blues,” started the intro, and we just locked into what you hear. Just the one take. It really just goes to show how in sync Robert and I were, you know? You’ve heard it; it’s got its moments. Again, it’s that sort of approach to the blues that isn’t the way other people would do it. I was really pleased doing things through the amplifier, because it really worked. And Robert’s singing so brilliantly around the vibrato, isn’t he—singing so well around the effect.

    I’ve sort of said this before, but the most important thing about Led Zeppelin is that each of us were musical equals, there’s no doubt about that. But no matter what John Bonham had done before, he never had the opportunity to play like he did in Led Zeppelin. It’s the same with all of us. I had done a bit with The Yardbirds and studio work and all of that, but this was the vehicle to be able to just go for the stratosphere. It's exactly the same for Robert and John Paul Jones. Although we were great individual musicians, we also played so well as a band. That’s what’s reflected so well in all of this studio material.

    But if we came together through some kind of divine providence or whatever, I’d say that also at the same time, we were so good, and we should—and we did—push things, and just kept moving it and moving it and moving it, because we had the ability to be able to do so. I mean, who knew what was beyond the next horizon? That’s the way it went, really, wasn’t it?
    An extended version of this interview appears on Mike Mettler’s own site,*soundbard.com.

    Can't wait to hear the rest of the catalogue!! :banana:
    Jason
  • JonMarsh
    Mad Max Moderator
    • Aug 2000
    • 15261

    #2
    What version are you listening to? Vinyl, CD, downloads? I'm been planning to get the HD Tracks download as soon as I have some flipping time to actually listen to them! (and put the on the music server, of course....) That might be around mid September or later... GF is going on a trip with another GF, so I can likely find a little time to do some listening at a volume this material deserves... :W
    the AudioWorx
    Natalie P
    M8ta
    Modula Neo DCC
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    Modula Xtreme
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    Wavecor Ardent

    SMJ
    Minerva Monitor
    Calliope
    Ardent D

    In Development...
    Isiris Mk II updates- in final test stage!
    Obi-Wan
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    Resistance is not futile, it is Volts divided by Amperes...
    Just ask Mr. Ohm....

    Comment

    • aud19
      Twin Moderator Emeritus
      • Aug 2003
      • 16706

      #3
      HDtracks is a high-resolution music platform for music lovers to download their favorite tracks in master studio quality. Join us today for the ultimate listening experience!


      DO IT!!!!

      Yeah the wife had our boys at her parents place for dinner last night so I had a couple hours to play it "at a volume this material deserves"

      Part of it I was puttering in our adjoining kitchen and even up there I kept getting drawn back to the railing over our sunken media room and thinking: "holy @#$% that sounds good".
      Jason

      Comment

      • JonMarsh
        Mad Max Moderator
        • Aug 2000
        • 15261

        #4
        Originally posted by aud19
        http://www.hdtracks.com/led-zeppelin-deluxe-edition

        DO IT!!!!

        Yeah the wife had our boys at her parents place for dinner last night so I had a couple hours to play it "at a volume this material deserves"

        Part of it I was puttering in our adjoining kitchen and even up there I kept getting drawn back to the railing over our sunken media room and thinking: "holy @#$% that sounds good".

        That's cool... it's on my bucket list for the weekend now! :T

        Heck, I'm even thinking about buying a Supro Thunderbolt amp, now that clones of them are back in production (small amp used by Page for recording the first two albums...

        the AudioWorx
        Natalie P
        M8ta
        Modula Neo DCC
        Modula MT XE
        Modula Xtreme
        Isiris
        Wavecor Ardent

        SMJ
        Minerva Monitor
        Calliope
        Ardent D

        In Development...
        Isiris Mk II updates- in final test stage!
        Obi-Wan
        Saint-Saëns Symphonique/AKA SMJ-40
        Modula PWB
        Calliope CC Supreme
        Natalie P Ultra
        Natalie P Supreme
        Janus BP1 Sub


        Resistance is not futile, it is Volts divided by Amperes...
        Just ask Mr. Ohm....

        Comment

        • aud19
          Twin Moderator Emeritus
          • Aug 2003
          • 16706

          #5
          So Jon....?
          Jason

          Comment

          • JonMarsh
            Mad Max Moderator
            • Aug 2000
            • 15261

            #6
            Life us what happens while you're busy making other plans! This weekend maybe? GF is leaving on vacation with one of her friends - have to drive them to airport on Sunday. Afterwards....

            I did receive the "definitive" Blu-Ray/CD "Close to the Edge", no time even to rip it yet to the server in CD, much less extract the BD disk. Soon, though....
            the AudioWorx
            Natalie P
            M8ta
            Modula Neo DCC
            Modula MT XE
            Modula Xtreme
            Isiris
            Wavecor Ardent

            SMJ
            Minerva Monitor
            Calliope
            Ardent D

            In Development...
            Isiris Mk II updates- in final test stage!
            Obi-Wan
            Saint-Saëns Symphonique/AKA SMJ-40
            Modula PWB
            Calliope CC Supreme
            Natalie P Ultra
            Natalie P Supreme
            Janus BP1 Sub


            Resistance is not futile, it is Volts divided by Amperes...
            Just ask Mr. Ohm....

            Comment

            • JonMarsh
              Mad Max Moderator
              • Aug 2000
              • 15261

              #7
              OK, I did buy these and download- after I get GF packed off to the airport with her GF for the Las Vegas & Utah vacation, I will do my best to load these up on my 2TB High Res drive and see what we shall see! (maybe I'll get that Close to the Edge BD disk and another I have ripped, too- rather different processes!)
              the AudioWorx
              Natalie P
              M8ta
              Modula Neo DCC
              Modula MT XE
              Modula Xtreme
              Isiris
              Wavecor Ardent

              SMJ
              Minerva Monitor
              Calliope
              Ardent D

              In Development...
              Isiris Mk II updates- in final test stage!
              Obi-Wan
              Saint-Saëns Symphonique/AKA SMJ-40
              Modula PWB
              Calliope CC Supreme
              Natalie P Ultra
              Natalie P Supreme
              Janus BP1 Sub


              Resistance is not futile, it is Volts divided by Amperes...
              Just ask Mr. Ohm....

              Comment

              • aud19
                Twin Moderator Emeritus
                • Aug 2003
                • 16706

                #8
                Can't wait to hear your thoughts Jon
                Jason

                Comment

                • JonMarsh
                  Mad Max Moderator
                  • Aug 2000
                  • 15261

                  #9
                  Just listened to one track, with the speaker test system (TC Electronic Konnekt 8 from Firewire from my Macbook into Ayre K5 preamp and Aragon X3, checking out the new crossover mod on Wavecor Ardents; not a state of the art playback system, but not trash, either:

                  "What is and what should never be"-

                  first judgement is money very well spent, nice dynamic range, and clear reproduction of more subtle stuff, and in general, just quite clean! Thanks for giving me the nudge to get this done!
                  the AudioWorx
                  Natalie P
                  M8ta
                  Modula Neo DCC
                  Modula MT XE
                  Modula Xtreme
                  Isiris
                  Wavecor Ardent

                  SMJ
                  Minerva Monitor
                  Calliope
                  Ardent D

                  In Development...
                  Isiris Mk II updates- in final test stage!
                  Obi-Wan
                  Saint-Saëns Symphonique/AKA SMJ-40
                  Modula PWB
                  Calliope CC Supreme
                  Natalie P Ultra
                  Natalie P Supreme
                  Janus BP1 Sub


                  Resistance is not futile, it is Volts divided by Amperes...
                  Just ask Mr. Ohm....

                  Comment

                  • aud19
                    Twin Moderator Emeritus
                    • Aug 2003
                    • 16706

                    #10
                    Originally posted by JonMarsh
                    first judgement is money very well spent, nice dynamic range, and clear reproduction of more subtle stuff, and in general, just quite clean!
                    That sums it up pretty nicely IMO. Anybody on the fence, take note
                    Jason

                    Comment

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