Great, exhaustive Zeppelin collection. I'm really not trying to brag and probably showing my age (54) but like you I'm kind of proud of my stash and have c. 125 mint Zep albums, with maybe 80 to a 100 being minty bootlegs from way back in the day (mid 80's) when I luckily happened upon a seller. What I don't have (and you do) is all these different remasters and editions of the same album on differing labels from different countries on different vinyl weights and grades. Very impressive and you clearly know your specs and stuff. It's really nice to see other people with great collections so you don't feel like a lone voice in the wilderness speaking to others who have no idea or interest in what you're talking about. All the best and enjoy your wax.
A few weeks ago I visited my local goodwill and occasionally I will glance through their record selection but It's VERY RARE that they have anything worth picking up but I noticed the selection was quite large this time and I felt like it was good idea to look and I'm glad I did! Literally every record was a gem. I couldn't believe how great the condition was and all were original releases. I ended up picking up 25 in total for $1 a piece. I couldn't be happier. A guy overheard me telling my friend about it on the phone in the store at the time. He stopped to ask me "Is that really an original led zeppelin 2? It looks brand new!" "Why, yes it is!" I found out he was local teacher and shares his love for music with his wife. He ended up buying at least 50 records that day.
Great video and amazing collection! What I could afford are remastered CDs plus I and IV on the newest Jimmy Page LP reissues. I have such a great time listening to those albums!
You're missing out on Presence. Give it a try. My favourite record at the moment. Great video again, i agree on your opinion on prices. My most precious item is a first press of the BBC Sessions.
I found an RL Zeppelin 2 for $20 yesterday, it had a lot of light scratches, but the loud parts completely drown out the noise. It's noisy in the quiet parts, but still an amazing listen.
That is a cool Zeppelin collection you have there. I have to limit myself to one pressing of any album in my collection due to space issues. So here is what I have narrowed it down to for my collection. For zep 1 I have a Jap pressing. You mention the pioneer press but have you listened to the early Nippon Grammophon (teal label) presses? I think they sound better. But I haven't listened to any classic pressings yet. For Zep 2 I have a Ludwig press and that will never be topped. Zep 3 is another Nippon Grammophon Jap pressing. Zep 4 is an early UK plum. Just so dynamic. Had a porky press, sold it the minute I heard the plum. Houses I have the Jap pressing. First I had the RL but it wasn't that great. Then I bought the same jap press that you have, the 1976 edition and i was very happy with the sound. I later sought out the earlier 73 jap press. The P8828A, while it sounds awesome, it was a waste of money because it doesn't sound any better than the 76 press. I also think that No Quarter is the best track on the album. I also like the song remains the same version. Page owns that song live. Physical Graffiti is also a Jap pressing that sounds great but I would love to check out the classic pressing. Anyway, cool video, keep it up.
Nice video! I agree with you on several things. First, I too think Zep II is their best record. I bought a NM 1977 Club record which was the first record to my collection a year ago after winning my Denon DP-62L TT on eBay. Since then I've added a NM - VG++ (vinyl) RL SS (both sides), VG+ (sleeve) to the mix. I enjoy comparing both records to each other. My second favorite album is Houses Of The Holy and my favorite song is also No Quarter! I found an RL pressing at a record store. It looked clean but it skips several rotations just as the song gets going again from the quiet part. That's been very annoying. I just ordered a NM RL pressing off Discogs. I really love anticipating an album coming in the mail! I've had mostly good luck with the mail. The first issue that I did have was with an initial RL Zep II album I ordered. My heart started to sink when it arrived in a bubble envelope. Then it was very loud and it skipped because of a scratch. It was graded VG+ and was not even close for vinyl or sleeve. I sent it back. The 2nd RL Zep II came double boxed and was everything as described. It is the best rock album in my collection. I do have Physical Graffiti but I haven't looked at the pressing yet. I bought it at used record store. I like to try and buy original pressings of albums but in some situations I'm not apposed to buying later pressings, I may look for the classic records pressings for 1, 3 & 4.
I appreciate your detail on these Zeppelin pressings. Unfortunately, I got back into vinyl very late into the game. The prices are very high. Last year I got a Japanese Zep II 70’s, and the last few months I got a RL Houses of the Holy, George Piros Zep 1 pressing, and a Canadian Zep 3. I have a ways to go, but it’s a good start. I bet the UK plum pressings are fa! I enjoyed your video, I’m really curious of that 90’s Japanese pressing of Houses. I love No Quarter!
Michael, I have the RL, of course, and it lives up to the hype. A good US pressing of 2 can be the 1977 record club edition. Not so punchy but incredibly clean and detailed
You drew some excellent comparisons in this video, and I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately I haven't had any possibility to hear a Classic Records pressing so far, but you seemed to be very convincing how good the sound quality is. I've got two German pressings (reissues) the first one by TELDEC (Led Zeppelin III) and the second one by WEA Musik (Led Zeppelin II). So very interesting - thank you.
Hi there. I watched some pressing comparisons of Zep 2 on BarakaPDub channel and (oddly enough) i was amazed by how good the Jimmy Page's remastered sound. I mean, not only me, but almost everyone did coment there telling the same. Baraka used the Bob Ludwig as the one to be compared to. So, he compared the RL with a standard American pressing, a Japanese one, a Classic Records one and the Jimmy's remastered. The original Bob Ludwig was the winner, no questions asked. But the second spot on the bill was a tough one. Jimmy's pressing and Classic Records pressing fought side by side - and it is still unresolved (lol). The Japanese and standard American finished last. People were really disapointed with the japanese one. Have you seen this video?If so, what's your take on it? Cheers!
Having compared the Classic records pressings on Zep 1 and 3 directly to the Page remasters, I can say without a doubt the Page remasters are vastly inferior. The dynamic slam is gone, and the drum sound is very artificial. I really cannot stand the remasters, but that's just my opinion. I agree that the 70s Japanese pressings are not very good overally (although I do like my Pioneer pressing of Houses), but the AMJY pressings from the 90s are another story completely. Paul did not include any AMJY pressings in his shootout, if you run across them, I highly recommend giving them a try. In my opinion they are a budget friendly alternative to the classic records pressings.
i have Led Zep 2 SD8236, the "LW" mix. back then, i was big fan, i must have bought it the first week out. Jacket is in good condition, no writing on it. Still have the paper sleeve. and "LW" is stamped on both sides. i would like to sale it.
Awesome spotlight man I love your Led Zeppelin collection I'm still after Led Zeppelin 1 classic 180 or 200 or UK Plum maybe one day. It took me some years I love Led Zeppelin 2 200 gram it has some KILLER punch it one my favorite sounding record. I have 2 to Physical Graffitti 200 gram. Thanks for your honesty I'm going to check out the AMJ early 90s Japanese pressings . Lovell Carter
Many people say that one of the best vinyl Physical graffiti is the 1987 cut by Sam Feldman at Atlantic Studios. I have had 3 first Japanese pressings, they sound very bright and I do not hear differences. It would be great if someone commented on Sat Felman's version.
a close friend and i got the led 3 classic 200g too , but we both agree the start of the first song is a too low volume , just wondering if this is only on the classic BG cut or on the other pressings also ... i´m a big led z fan too , got the most of the classics versions but in one case i sold my led z 2 classic R. version and cap´d my RL version its barely in vg+ and was just 50 bucks but even with lots of scratches , the groove´s are soo deep you can barely here a pop/click and the sound is soo much more alive ... but yea i have the classics of led 1 , 3, 4, 6 and coda .. rest is first uk stuff i say ther good enough for thees albums ..
Love this video! Your comparison between the analog Zeplin 1 record and the digitally remastered version of the same album is really interesting to me. If Bernie Grundig did master the first record that the you like, I'll bet he could have used any signal processing chain and achieved awesome results on the second one, too. I think the corporate ($$$ driven) nature of some remasters is most of the problem.
Bob Sykes This might be very true, its hard to know for sure though. But this is what differentiates the big companies from smaller audiophile ones. They get good sources, good people, good material and give the process the amount of time needed to make a great product. Therefore its often in limited quality and commends a higher price.
Here are some of my opinions of this matter. The new pressings are really, really good......they are absolutely much better than their reputation. My Led Zeppelin II new pressing is only beaten by my RL pressing. It is way better then my japanese pressing, even better than my UK and my other US pressings. This general opinion that is flourishing among vinylgeeks about analog vs digital sources and the analog is always better is really tiresome.......the recording, the mixing, the mastering are components that is really more important than analog vs digital.
Hi Tim, I actually agree with your broader point, that the mastering is the most important factor. There are a number of albums where I actually like the digital version. The Who's Tommy, the recent hires digital pressings sounded way better than the original US pressing I had before it. I also enjoy the recent rolling stones mono box, and those are mastered digitally and done really well. However in this case I really do not enjoy the JP zep remasters, I find them very lifeless. I'd take my UK plums over them any day. My overall point is that you're right, analog does not always trump digital. BUT, in my experience, if all other things are equal (good mastering, good pressing, etc) analog will win hands down. If you went to bernie grundman today and had him master the same album in both 192/24 and in AAA, I think most would bet on the AAA sounding far superior.
I do agree with you that analog is the way to go, that is the biggest reason why we are doing this. My other main reason why Im a vinylnerd is the mastering for the vinylmedia, it sounds way more natural than the masterings for digital media. Go Vinyl and Go poetryonplastic!
poetryonplastic completely agree with you here, I didnt like the new 2014 remasters, even my late 70s repressings were better, but when I got the Classic Records issues I could feel satisfyed for real, except for maybe Zep III. One thing Id like to add is the difference between the 2001 Classics and the 2007 200gram releases. Through weeks of research I found that the 200 gram versions are generally more risky when it comes to surface noise. Classic Records was starting to die out and they were cutting expenses towards the end of the 2000s. Some jackets are even missing inner sleeves like me HotH copy, and the noise floor is higher. Great sound still of course, but Id always take the 180 gram issues.
I have RL ii / German RL II side A (keep your eye out for it), first German III and sefveral 70s of each I bought in the 70s as they came out (Houses onwards) Classic I IV HoTH PG and Presence Like you, who cares afterwards I bought a few of the 2014s - Sper Deluxe for the nice boxes/books yeah they sound terrible
I have an RL Zeppelin II. Explosive wall shaking, grass killing sound! VG++ copy Agreed on LZ III not being a good-sounding recording. Something’s going on with Bonham’s cymbals, they have an unnatural shimmer to them.
If you think the Zeppelin is expensive look out for the Beatles Mono Boxset vinyl, it is between $800 to a thousand for the Boxset, I have the stereo box set, I hated that I waited, on the mono set at 400.00. I do have an earlier Mofi copy of Pink Floyd, Darkside of the Moon. Original Zeppelin 1 UK pressing is about 1500.00, but I can't see giving that up to anyone, especially on the Internet. I have all of the Atlantic green and red Zeppelins. Japanese pressings are almost always bright. Have you did anymore changes to your system?
Nice collection and I can understand why you didn't go past Physical Graffiti. Zeppelin is one of those bands where I probably over collected ;) Most of the Japanese presses have been a disappointment to me, sonically, but I haven't heard an AMJY press. I passed up on a couple due to previous disappointments but maybe I'll give one a try.
I don't mind the "Jimmy Paige" reissues, there not super great or anything, but they are really not bad! They were cut 96k/24bit, which is closer to the tape information than the standard medium resolution 44.1k/16bit!
It was Amid Urdeghen (I think I spelt his last name wrong) president of Atlantic Records who took the Zep II home to his daughter...and then ordered the shitty remaster. Mark Anthony K Projekt Gemineye
really nice records .. i have the hot master of the led z 2 and i can compare it with my the doors 2xlp 45 version or volta frances the mute (black vinyl) .. its in my top 3 best sounding records and i just payd 50 euro from denmark ..the jacket is in piss poor condition but the vinyl is in great condition .. so extremely happy with it :-) and thanks for showing some of the ledZ 1 im looking forward to buy one of these
both the regular black vinyl and the glow in the dark both back from the release day, all of the mars volta records and saw them 3 times live .. sadly i dont think this will ever happend and if it will sound as crap as the delused MOV pressing " horrible sound ""
i just checkd you could get one for around 150 from the EU .. i dont think any GSL record will get a proper repress ever ... i know the sound of the record and i would say its worth every penny
I was surprised that you praised the Japanese Zep II sound. BarakPDub did a great comparison between many Zep IIs on his channel and at least the Japanese copy he had, which is earlier than yours I believe, which might be the cause, sounds really bad. The same downgraded mastering that was used on mainstream releases after the Ludwig and Piros cuts were used on those early japanese pressings. But again, the later ones might be a different story. Just to give my 2 cents on the classics in general. I was mainly able to do a comparison between Zep 1 on Classic and the 2014 digital remastered vinyl. I only did 2 songs but that was enough. Let me explain. In general I dont like the remasters, but comparing Good Times Bad Times was not easy. Maybe if I could instantly switch it would be easier but overall they were still very similar I thought, with the exception of the first few sounds like the cowbell or whatever it is during the intro (more defined on the Classic). Next I did Dazed and Confused and thats where it really showed a difference. Bonham sounds so much more epic on the Classic with the great stereo imaging and separation, something which Grundman did great on all the Classics. I came away with 2 things. The Classics are just better, no arguing that, but at the same time I think Zeppelin is sort of a difficult band to strive for hifi in. Some of these early recordings can only be pimped so much. The Classics I can agree on are audiophile quality, for the most part, but I could be really happy with my old 70s issues as well. Granted I have a more moderate and humble setup, RP1 with a Nagaoka MP110 just to give some perspective.
I have 2, 3 and my personal fav Houses. But I have no fkn idea which pressings. My 2 is REALLY thin. They all sound good. Better than digital imo. 2 has a lot of noise though.
I use LP sleeves by a company called clearbags that sell direct from their website. People in the VC tend to refer to these sleeves as "blake sleeves" although I'm not really sure why.
Thank you! Been an audio and music nerd for years and finally took the vinyl plunge about 6 months ago and its been incredible thus far. Building up both my system and collection currently and took quite a lot of inspiration from your setups. Keep up the good work!
hi there i got an RL LZ2 ,and i also have a frenche original,i must say the robert ludwig pressing does not sound that great on every song,for example the song Heartbreaker sounds wow wtf is that amazing,,then Whole Lotta Love sounds kinda strange like not well mixed..etc... do not expect to much from the RL hot mix, i like the french pressing more
Hi Michael have a question for you not related to Led Zeppelin I just bought the analogue productions the.beach boys pet sound mono version 45 RPM I played it on my project debut carbon turntable with the ortofon 2M red stylus and it doesn’t seem to sound very good. I seem to recall you buying the same record and was wondering if you had any issues with the sound. Do you have any advice should I be buying a mono stylus I only have two mono records at this time thanks for any advice you can give really appreciate your expertise cheers
Hi Wunhwa, I don't have the 45rpm version of the AP mono Pet Sounds, but I do have the 33rpm version. Does your amplifier/receiver have a mono button on it? When you play mono records with a stereo cart, the stylus ends up reading more info than the mono grooves give out (thats an oversimplified explanation but w/e). I have a mono button on my Mac preamp and I always use it when I play mono records (as I only have stereo carts). If you don't have a mono button, you may want to look into something called a "Y" cable. Mono records will sound good on a good stereo cart like the 2m red, but they sound their best when the signal is in true mono, either through a mono cart, a mono signal button, or a mono Y cable. I hope that helps. On the other hand, you may just have a defective pressing. Maybe you could give acoustic sounds a call and ask for their advice?
poetryonplastic Once again thanks for the great advice I will look into the Y cable as I don’t have the mono button on my amp. Keep putting out these great videos Michael I really enjoyed them
Great, exhaustive Zeppelin collection. I'm really not trying to brag and probably showing my age (54) but like you I'm kind of proud of my stash and have c. 125 mint Zep albums, with maybe 80 to a 100 being minty bootlegs from way back in the day (mid 80's) when I luckily happened upon a seller. What I don't have (and you do) is all these different remasters and editions of the same album on differing labels from different countries on different vinyl weights and grades. Very impressive and you clearly know your specs and stuff. It's really nice to see other people with great collections so you don't feel like a lone voice in the wilderness speaking to others who have no idea or interest in what you're talking about. All the best and enjoy your wax.
A few weeks ago I visited my local goodwill and occasionally I will glance through their record selection but It's VERY RARE that they have anything worth picking up but I noticed the selection was quite large this time and I felt like it was good idea to look and I'm glad I did! Literally every record was a gem. I couldn't believe how great the condition was and all were original releases. I ended up picking up 25 in total for $1 a piece. I couldn't be happier. A guy overheard me telling my friend about it on the phone in the store at the time. He stopped to ask me "Is that really an original led zeppelin 2? It looks brand new!" "Why, yes it is!" I found out he was local teacher and shares his love for music with his wife. He ended up buying at least 50 records that day.
Great video and amazing collection! What I could afford are remastered CDs plus I and IV on the newest Jimmy Page LP reissues. I have such a great time listening to those albums!
You're missing out on Presence. Give it a try. My favourite record at the moment. Great video again, i agree on your opinion on prices. My most precious item is a first press of the BBC Sessions.
Presence is a great album! The last great Zep record.
Enjoyed your video. Based on your recommendation I just bought an AMJY LZIII, near mint. $50.00 , lookin forward to it.
Bonham on Physical Gradditti on the Classic Records is explosive!
I found an RL Zeppelin 2 for $20 yesterday, it had a lot of light scratches, but the loud parts completely drown out the noise. It's noisy in the quiet parts, but still an amazing listen.
That is a cool Zeppelin collection you have there. I have to limit myself to one pressing of any album in my collection due to space issues. So here is what I have narrowed it down to for my collection. For zep 1 I have a Jap pressing. You mention the pioneer press but have you listened to the early Nippon Grammophon (teal label) presses? I think they sound better. But I haven't listened to any classic pressings yet. For Zep 2 I have a Ludwig press and that will never be topped. Zep 3 is another Nippon Grammophon Jap pressing. Zep 4 is an early UK plum. Just so dynamic. Had a porky press, sold it the minute I heard the plum. Houses I have the Jap pressing. First I had the RL but it wasn't that great. Then I bought the same jap press that you have, the 1976 edition and i was very happy with the sound. I later sought out the earlier 73 jap press. The P8828A, while it sounds awesome, it was a waste of money because it doesn't sound any better than the 76 press. I also think that No Quarter is the best track on the album. I also like the song remains the same version. Page owns that song live. Physical Graffiti is also a Jap pressing that sounds great but I would love to check out the classic pressing. Anyway, cool video, keep it up.
The Canadian red label atlantic pressings of Zep II sound amazing too, apparently very close to RL to many ppl
any brightness would help "Houses" - Jimmy experimented w/ the Leslie cabinet in that record and to me it (THE ORIGINAL) sounds muddy.
Nice video! I agree with you on several things. First, I too think Zep II is their best record. I bought a NM 1977 Club record which was the first record to my collection a year ago after winning my Denon DP-62L TT on eBay. Since then I've added a NM - VG++ (vinyl) RL SS (both sides), VG+ (sleeve) to the mix. I enjoy comparing both records to each other. My second favorite album is Houses Of The Holy and my favorite song is also No Quarter! I found an RL pressing at a record store. It looked clean but it skips several rotations just as the song gets going again from the quiet part. That's been very annoying. I just ordered a NM RL pressing off Discogs.
I really love anticipating an album coming in the mail! I've had mostly good luck with the mail. The first issue that I did have was with an initial RL Zep II album I ordered. My heart started to sink when it arrived in a bubble envelope. Then it was very loud and it skipped because of a scratch. It was graded VG+ and was not even close for vinyl or sleeve. I sent it back. The 2nd RL Zep II came double boxed and was everything as described. It is the best rock album in my collection.
I do have Physical Graffiti but I haven't looked at the pressing yet. I bought it at used record store. I like to try and buy original pressings of albums but in some situations I'm not apposed to buying later pressings, I may look for the classic records pressings for 1, 3 & 4.
I appreciate your detail on these Zeppelin pressings. Unfortunately, I got back into vinyl very late into the game. The prices are very high. Last year I got a Japanese Zep II 70’s, and the last few months I got a RL Houses of the Holy, George Piros Zep 1 pressing, and a Canadian Zep 3. I have a ways to go, but it’s a good start. I bet the UK plum pressings are fa! I enjoyed your video, I’m really curious of that 90’s Japanese pressing of Houses. I love No Quarter!
Appreciate your videos and all your time you put into making them. Always learn something new. What brand of outer sleeves do you use?
Thanks, I use sleeves from Clearbags!
Michael, I have the RL, of course, and it lives up to the hype. A good US pressing of 2 can be the 1977 record club edition. Not so punchy but incredibly clean and detailed
Since this video was made I've scored a nice RL/LH that I'm very happy with.
@@poetryonplastic that’s great to hear! This record really lives up to its reputation.
You drew some excellent comparisons in this video, and I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately I haven't had any possibility to hear a Classic Records pressing so far, but you seemed to be very convincing how good the sound quality is. I've got two German pressings (reissues) the first one by TELDEC (Led Zeppelin III) and the second one by WEA Musik (Led Zeppelin II). So very interesting - thank you.
Have an RL of LZ II, also have several other early US pressings of it but I would love to compare my RL to a classic just to see...
Hi there. I watched some pressing comparisons of Zep 2 on BarakaPDub channel and (oddly enough) i was amazed by how good the Jimmy Page's remastered sound. I mean, not only me, but almost everyone did coment there telling the same. Baraka used the Bob Ludwig as the one to be compared to. So, he compared the RL with a standard American pressing, a Japanese one, a Classic Records one and the Jimmy's remastered. The original Bob Ludwig was the winner, no questions asked. But the second spot on the bill was a tough one. Jimmy's pressing and Classic Records pressing fought side by side - and it is still unresolved (lol). The Japanese and standard American finished last. People were really disapointed with the japanese one. Have you seen this video?If so, what's your take on it? Cheers!
Having compared the Classic records pressings on Zep 1 and 3 directly to the Page remasters, I can say without a doubt the Page remasters are vastly inferior. The dynamic slam is gone, and the drum sound is very artificial. I really cannot stand the remasters, but that's just my opinion. I agree that the 70s Japanese pressings are not very good overally (although I do like my Pioneer pressing of Houses), but the AMJY pressings from the 90s are another story completely. Paul did not include any AMJY pressings in his shootout, if you run across them, I highly recommend giving them a try. In my opinion they are a budget friendly alternative to the classic records pressings.
i have Led Zep 2 SD8236, the "LW" mix. back then, i was big fan, i must have bought it the first week out. Jacket is in good condition, no writing on it. Still have the paper sleeve. and "LW" is stamped on both sides. i would like to sale it.
Awesome spotlight man I love your Led Zeppelin collection I'm still after Led Zeppelin 1 classic 180 or 200 or UK Plum maybe one day. It took me some years I love Led Zeppelin 2 200 gram it has some KILLER punch it one my favorite sounding record. I have 2 to Physical Graffitti 200 gram. Thanks for your honesty I'm going to check out the AMJ early 90s Japanese pressings . Lovell Carter
lovell andrew 2 Physical Graffiti ;^0 Id love to get one, for a reasonable price of course ;^)
Many people say that one of the best vinyl Physical graffiti is the 1987 cut by Sam Feldman at Atlantic Studios. I have had 3 first Japanese pressings, they sound very bright and I do not hear differences. It would be great if someone commented on Sat Felman's version.
a close friend and i got the led 3 classic 200g too , but we both agree the start of the first song is a too low volume , just wondering if this is only on the classic BG cut or on the other pressings also ... i´m a big led z fan too , got the most of the classics versions but in one case i sold my led z 2 classic R. version and cap´d my RL version its barely in vg+ and was just 50 bucks but even with lots of scratches , the groove´s are soo deep you can barely here a pop/click and the sound is soo much more alive ... but yea i have the classics of led 1 , 3, 4, 6 and coda .. rest is first uk stuff i say ther good enough for thees albums ..
Love this video! Your comparison between the analog Zeplin 1 record and the digitally remastered version of the same album is really interesting to me. If Bernie Grundig did master the first record that the you like, I'll bet he could have used any signal processing chain and achieved awesome results on the second one, too. I think the corporate ($$$ driven) nature of some remasters is most of the problem.
Bob Sykes This might be very true, its hard to know for sure though. But this is what differentiates the big companies from smaller audiophile ones. They get good sources, good people, good material and give the process the amount of time needed to make a great product. Therefore its often in limited quality and commends a higher price.
Here are some of my opinions of this matter. The new pressings are really, really good......they are absolutely much better than their reputation. My Led Zeppelin II new pressing is only beaten by my RL pressing. It is way better then my japanese pressing, even better than my UK and my other US pressings. This general opinion that is flourishing among vinylgeeks about analog vs digital sources and the analog is always better is really tiresome.......the recording, the mixing, the mastering are components that is really more important than analog vs digital.
Hi Tim, I actually agree with your broader point, that the mastering is the most important factor. There are a number of albums where I actually like the digital version. The Who's Tommy, the recent hires digital pressings sounded way better than the original US pressing I had before it. I also enjoy the recent rolling stones mono box, and those are mastered digitally and done really well. However in this case I really do not enjoy the JP zep remasters, I find them very lifeless. I'd take my UK plums over them any day.
My overall point is that you're right, analog does not always trump digital. BUT, in my experience, if all other things are equal (good mastering, good pressing, etc) analog will win hands down. If you went to bernie grundman today and had him master the same album in both 192/24 and in AAA, I think most would bet on the AAA sounding far superior.
I do agree with you that analog is the way to go, that is the biggest reason why we are doing this. My other main reason why Im a vinylnerd is the mastering for the vinylmedia, it sounds way more natural than the masterings for digital media. Go Vinyl and Go poetryonplastic!
poetryonplastic completely agree with you here, I didnt like the new 2014 remasters, even my late 70s repressings were better, but when I got the Classic Records issues I could feel satisfyed for real, except for maybe Zep III.
One thing Id like to add is the difference between the 2001 Classics and the 2007 200gram releases. Through weeks of research I found that the 200 gram versions are generally more risky when it comes to surface noise. Classic Records was starting to die out and they were cutting expenses towards the end of the 2000s. Some jackets are even missing inner sleeves like me HotH copy, and the noise floor is higher. Great sound still of course, but Id always take the 180 gram issues.
I agree 100%, I like the new remasters! They sound very "tape like", although tape is better hands down!
I have RL ii / German RL II side A (keep your eye out for it), first German III and sefveral 70s of each I bought in the 70s as they came out (Houses onwards)
Classic I IV HoTH PG and Presence
Like you, who cares afterwards
I bought a few of the 2014s - Sper Deluxe for the nice boxes/books yeah they sound terrible
Outstanding
I have an RL Zeppelin II. Explosive wall shaking, grass killing sound! VG++ copy
Agreed on LZ III not being a good-sounding recording. Something’s going on with Bonham’s cymbals, they have an unnatural shimmer to them.
PRESENCE!!!!!!!!!!!
If you think the Zeppelin is expensive look out for the Beatles Mono Boxset vinyl, it is between $800 to a thousand for the Boxset, I have the stereo box set, I hated that I waited, on the mono set at 400.00. I do have an earlier Mofi copy of Pink Floyd, Darkside of the Moon. Original Zeppelin 1 UK pressing is about 1500.00, but I can't see giving that up to anyone, especially on the Internet. I have all of the Atlantic green and red Zeppelins. Japanese pressings are almost always bright. Have you did anymore changes to your system?
Nice collection and I can understand why you didn't go past Physical Graffiti. Zeppelin is one of those bands where I probably over collected ;) Most of the Japanese presses have been a disappointment to me, sonically, but I haven't heard an AMJY press. I passed up on a couple due to previous disappointments but maybe I'll give one a try.
I don't mind the "Jimmy Paige" reissues, there not super great or anything, but they are really not bad! They were cut 96k/24bit, which is closer to the tape information than the standard medium resolution 44.1k/16bit!
It was Amid Urdeghen (I think I spelt his last name wrong) president of Atlantic Records who took the Zep II home to his daughter...and then ordered the shitty remaster.
Mark Anthony K
Projekt Gemineye
Ahmet Ertegun.
really nice records .. i have the hot master of the led z 2 and i can compare it with my the doors 2xlp 45 version or volta frances the mute (black vinyl) .. its in my top 3 best sounding records and i just payd 50 euro from denmark ..the jacket is in piss poor condition but the vinyl is in great condition .. so extremely happy with it :-) and thanks for showing some of the ledZ 1 im looking forward to buy one of these
You have Frances the Mute on vinyl? Lucky man. I'm still hoping that it will get a decent reissue one of these days.
both the regular black vinyl and the glow in the dark both back from the release day, all of the mars volta records and saw them 3 times live .. sadly i dont think this will ever happend and if it will sound as crap as the delused MOV pressing " horrible sound ""
i just checkd you could get one for around 150 from the EU .. i dont think any GSL record will get a proper repress ever ... i know the sound of the record and i would say its worth every penny
I was surprised that you praised the Japanese Zep II sound. BarakPDub did a great comparison between many Zep IIs on his channel and at least the Japanese copy he had, which is earlier than yours I believe, which might be the cause, sounds really bad. The same downgraded mastering that was used on mainstream releases after the Ludwig and Piros cuts were used on those early japanese pressings. But again, the later ones might be a different story.
Just to give my 2 cents on the classics in general. I was mainly able to do a comparison between Zep 1 on Classic and the 2014 digital remastered vinyl. I only did 2 songs but that was enough. Let me explain. In general I dont like the remasters, but comparing Good Times Bad Times was not easy. Maybe if I could instantly switch it would be easier but overall they were still very similar I thought, with the exception of the first few sounds like the cowbell or whatever it is during the intro (more defined on the Classic). Next I did Dazed and Confused and thats where it really showed a difference. Bonham sounds so much more epic on the Classic with the great stereo imaging and separation, something which Grundman did great on all the Classics.
I came away with 2 things. The Classics are just better, no arguing that, but at the same time I think Zeppelin is sort of a difficult band to strive for hifi in. Some of these early recordings can only be pimped so much. The Classics I can agree on are audiophile quality, for the most part, but I could be really happy with my old 70s issues as well.
Granted I have a more moderate and humble setup, RP1 with a Nagaoka MP110 just to give some perspective.
He has so many copies of IV that he gave me a mexican pressing copy even.
For god sake listen to presence, ITTOD as well. There is no bad zeppelin album. I bet he is a Rolling Stones fan.
I have 2, 3 and my personal fav Houses. But I have no fkn idea which pressings. My 2 is REALLY thin. They all sound good. Better than digital imo. 2 has a lot of noise though.
Love your videos! What clear outer sleeves do you use by the way?
I use LP sleeves by a company called clearbags that sell direct from their website. People in the VC tend to refer to these sleeves as "blake sleeves" although I'm not really sure why.
Thank you! Been an audio and music nerd for years and finally took the vinyl plunge about 6 months ago and its been incredible thus far. Building up both my system and collection currently and took quite a lot of inspiration from your setups. Keep up the good work!
hi there i got an RL LZ2 ,and i also have a frenche original,i must say the robert ludwig pressing
does not sound that great on every song,for example the song Heartbreaker sounds wow wtf is that amazing,,then Whole Lotta Love sounds kinda strange like not well mixed..etc...
do not expect to much from the RL hot mix, i like the french pressing more
Truly missing out on Presence and also In Through the Out Door
Hi Michael have a question for you not related to Led Zeppelin I just bought the analogue productions the.beach boys pet sound mono version 45 RPM I played it on my project debut carbon turntable with the ortofon 2M red stylus and it doesn’t seem to sound very good. I seem to recall you buying the same record and was wondering if you had any issues with the sound. Do you have any advice should I be buying a mono stylus I only have two mono records at this time thanks for any advice you can give really appreciate your expertise cheers
Hi Wunhwa, I don't have the 45rpm version of the AP mono Pet Sounds, but I do have the 33rpm version. Does your amplifier/receiver have a mono button on it? When you play mono records with a stereo cart, the stylus ends up reading more info than the mono grooves give out (thats an oversimplified explanation but w/e). I have a mono button on my Mac preamp and I always use it when I play mono records (as I only have stereo carts). If you don't have a mono button, you may want to look into something called a "Y" cable. Mono records will sound good on a good stereo cart like the 2m red, but they sound their best when the signal is in true mono, either through a mono cart, a mono signal button, or a mono Y cable. I hope that helps. On the other hand, you may just have a defective pressing. Maybe you could give acoustic sounds a call and ask for their advice?
poetryonplastic Once again thanks for the great advice I will look into the Y cable as I don’t have the mono button on my amp. Keep putting out these great videos Michael I really enjoyed them
Wunhwa Huang I was just looking into this record. Did you solve the issue at some point?
How can you tell the differences
By listening!
How do you tell what gram the record is?
You weigh it 😂
Too many Zep records? Lemme give you my mailing address. ;)
ruclips.net/video/NOW3Ep_T_Jw/видео.html here is the story from the man himself
No Presence, In Through The Out Door, or CODA? You are not a true Zeppelin Fan, Sorry.
Did I claim to be? I'm just a guy that likes some Led Zeppelin albums. I have no problem with other people being more of a "fan" than me.