Great Music, Terrible Sound
929182
Bird live (at least as documented on record) is, if anything, more amazing than Bird in the studio. Half of this CD was recorded from a live radio broadcast of Parker's band with Bud Powell and Fats Navarro (the latter a few of weeks from dying of TB and still superb). Music is predictably amazing, but since the recording source is probably a wire recorder set up next to a radio the quality is pretty bad (though far from the worst I've heard). So I'd still point a newcomer to any of the versions of the Dial recordings or to the Definitive Classics import The Complete Savoy Sessions (Savoy Jazz' reissue series has been a total mess). But bebop lovers with patience for Dean Benedetti-level recording quality will be in seventh heaven.
1898222
The but is this recording desperately needs to be remastered and released. The sound is faint and lacks resolution. Subsequent recordings of the material on this album re-released on their original albums is so much better.

For Eric Clapton fans, this is a fabulous collection of music spanning his work from the Yardbirds deep into the 1980's with some really worth hearing outtakes and unreleased cuts.

BOTTOM LINE: If you're not too concerned about sound quality, here's one fantastic dose of Eric Clapton's material. The CD box inserts and the booklet are loaded with great background information, but being one of the first big Box Set compilations, its use of the digital medium is far from acceptable standards of today.

TRUE RATING: Material: 5 stars *****  Audio Quality: 2 stars **
645128
Beethoven by Brendel with the CSO -- easily one of our best interpreters of Beethoven and one of the four or five best orchestras in the world. A no brainer. Sadly, the sound is really poor. This would be surprising in a Philips recording except that Orchestra Hall in Chicago is notorious for its dead acoustics. I've been there several times and always leave with a profound sense of having missed out. The sound on these discs is dry and thin. There is absolutely no reverb, and the orchestra sounds like it is twice as far away from the microphones than it actually was. One can point to any number of analogue recordings by Philips from the 60s and 70s with better sound than we get here. This is such a shame. How I wish the Philips engineers could have put soloists, orchestra, and a respectable sized audience in Chicago's Medinah Temple. That's where Solti made his fabulous Decca recordings during his long tenure with the CSO in the 70s and 80s.  I know wisdom has it that one should rate the performance and not the sound, but the sound is a major part of the experience. ***1/2
2540805
My favorite period of Yes music and I was so looking forward to listening to the CD having read the comments on improved sound quality versus Yessongs.
Wow, what a disappointment - the sound is awful. I was hoping for a rich, full sound, but there is no weight or substance to the mid range and the bass is very light. Instrumental separation is OK, but the whole thing sounds like it's being played through an AM radio circa 1972!
Such a shame as the musicianship on display is terrific, but for me it is a difficult listen because of the poor sound quality.
3761387
Horrible Sound Quality. Jesse is his usual self, excellent, but the sound is so bad it's hard to listen to. He has much better live albums out there. Don't buy this one.
613560
I love the music but seem to be the first person to advise the world : cuts are distorted, Mismi Overnight and streets Ahead.  imagine someone laying a needle on a scratchy record.  no fingerprints on my disc, and the odds a scratch would start in the time between song 1 and 2 and end with song 3 is infinitesimal.  great music, terrific sound, but because of the distortion I listen to live in Los Angeles.  same songs, cool sounds from Sean Fontaine? guitar player.
3893041
the entire package looks great, so I had a very good impression on it. However, the sound was really terrible.. It sounds like playing music in a pillow. I decided to pay shipping and return this product.
46136
Nice playing, but beware. The sound quality is nearly unacceptable. It sounds like the musicians are playing in a different room. The producer or someone involved in the mixing or mastering process must have slipped on the mixer board or something. The loss of midrange and treble energy makes the record kind of uninvolving. And I'm not talking about the sound through a super high-end system (my stereo setup is rather "modest", worth about $1500). Out of five stars I give the music four weak stars and the sound one strong star.
288683
These CDs contain great performances from all the principals, not the least of which is Zubin Mehta magical conducting. Many years ago I bought cassette tapes of this recording.  Absolute bliss!  It's my all-time  favorite recording of this opera.  Cossotto, Milnes, Domingo, and Price  simply nail it.  But they and the music are hideously marred by the digital  remastering!  Every time the music and vocalists reach intense climaxes,  which is quite often; there occurs a weird vibration in the speakers.  It's  similar to the old AM car stereos at excessive volume.  I thought it was my  speakers but I assure you it is not, and I am talking about at very  reasonable volume levels.  I see green when I hear Leontyne Price flow  upwards in a magnificent phrase and the simultaneously hear static, what an  incredibly disappointing experience.  Perhaps this is the result of  engineering terrorism!  So, performance rates a 5+, sound...what rating  would you give if you wanted to smash the CDs, stomp on them, cut them into  little pieces, and then burn the remnants!
2387759
Okay, I sprung for this, even thought it's crazy expensive for what you get.  Putting the issue of cost aside, the real problem here is the sound.  The CD sounds terrible.  Elvis' voice is way back in the mix, and the whole thing is way too bass heavy.  I wonder if they spent all their time mixing for 5.1 on the DVD, then just combined channels for the CD.  Because the information is there -- it's just mixed terribly.  I tried listening to the 2-channel stereo on the DVD, and it sounds like the same bad mix.  Please bear in mind -- this isn't a complaint from a fussy audiophile -- I've played this on several different systems at different price points, and it just stinks.  It's really too bad.  The band sounds like they were in fine form, and the arrangements are good.  In short, a disaster.
3162960
This album has a great performance by Callas. However, the sound quality is bad, even by vintage recording standards. At one point someone is talking over the performance near the microphone. As someone who wanted to hear Armida before attending one of the Metropolitan Opera streaming events, I found other recordings a better introduction.
1378720
This collection of the Shirelles (25 All-Time Greatest Hits) really is comprehensive, but the sound is disappointing. Even cranked up, the fidelity just isn't there. --BW
545975
Hear is another example of the lie we have been force fed of digital="perfect sound forever".
This is an all time classic collection of one of our most important musical artists that is  unfortunatly strapped with an almost unlistenable sound.  Unless you are  listening to it on a boom box/kmart rack system, the sound of these disks  is thin, flat, one dimensional and very fatiguing (aka digititis).  Its  hard to beleive these were actually remastered.  No wonder vinyl is making  a comeback.  Analog sounds like the real thing.
I want to restate that I  think this is a great work of art.  It just could be worlds better if the  recording industry gave a damn and would put some emphasis on recording  sound quality.  If we vote with our dollars, they will follow.
3733213
I'll skip the track-by-track, in-depth analysis and just make my points. Firstly, to my ears anyway, this definitely sounds MUCH different than the tracks on the original LPs (or CDs). And I hate to say it, but not for the better. I was excited that the somewhat muddled sound of the earlier albums might have been cleaned up with taste and subtlety, and mostly the tracks would be left alone except for the odd tweak here and there, but what greeted me in my headphones was a bit of a shock. Overly spacious and loud, yet also compressed in the ranges which matter, as if they were mastering it for FM radio. I wanted more true dynamic range; all this offers is that faux "roominess" (boominess is the better word) that some liberally applied digital reverb and spatialising offers. These were gee-whiz items in the early 90s when all of pop music was jumping on the effect for its ability to resonate even from cheap speakers, such as those on a computer or in a car, or where there was lots of ambient noise, such as in a club. But when *I* listen to music on headphones, or on a good system in an acoustically neutral room, I don't want all that bassy reverb - I'd go listen to the CDs in a big cave if I did. I want an intimate, upfront sound with a proper soundstage. To quote Mozzer, "Is that too much to ask?"

Sadly, I can't recommend this repackaging of songs from my favourite band. It's ok to have if you're a completist or just want to hear some spacy effects on your most cherished tracks (a bit like the way Depeche Mode or Bjork release tonnes of remixes of most of their songs)... it gives you another option, and options are a good thing. The songs themselves of course remain brilliant, I just personally don't like the new mastering. Fortunately it's not as though the original versions are being discontinued, otherwise I'd have to be even harsher on this set. Go ahead and try it out or even purchase it if you're keen - but don't say I didn't warn you if you find yourself shelving it very soon for the original John Porter / Stephen Street sound that was good enough for the majority of us in the 80s, and still sounds great to my ears in 2009. Although having said that, I'd *still* buy a "correctly" cleaned up remastering, something akin to the new Beatles releases... Thanks for reading my review!
3259647
It's a LOVELY record, this. The songs are great, the production is impeccable, and, if it hadn't been MASTERED LIKE A BRICK WALL, I'd be listening to it over and over and over again.

As it is, Sterling Sound's Greg Calbi has made an album that's as loud as Smashing Pumpkins' "Zeitgeist" and that is, therefore, almost as unlistenable. Ear fatigue sets in almost immediately.

Go with the vinyl, which is marginally better. I look forward to a Blu Ray or similar release so that someone can fix the problem. Damn iPod users and their earbuds are screwing up music for the rest of us.
3521430
This is the worst remaster I've ever heard! Listening through earbuds or a home stereo, it sounds great. Everything is clear and loud and not so tinny. Then I listen to it in my car stereo and it's horrible. Whoever remastered this made the cymbals so loud and tinny that if you listen to it high for even too minutes it feels like your losing your hearing (or mind). Completely disappointed! Disc 2 & 3 sound great though, that is the only reason I'm not going to give this a one star. Of all the remasters I've purchased, this is the ONLY one I wish I would have kept the original copy. I know they are remastering Vulgar Display and it will probably be out some time next year, and I'll scoop it up too because I'm a mindless consumer I guess hahah. But be warned, this remaster sucks, buy for additional content only.
4181262
The music is great. This is my first experience with Basement Jaxx, and I was very excited as a new vinyl-enthusiast to add it to my small and growing collection. Sadly, the sound of my copy is incredibly poor - muddy, clipping vocals, washed out. I end up listening on my ipod and looking at the jacket just pretending. Consider passing on this vinyl, or at least supplementing it with higher quality digital for actual listening.