"Court of the Crimson King" is out...but is it hi-rez?

[ssully]

Title says it all. The new remaster from the recovered original master tapes is now out in Europe, according to DGM -- and will be released her ein Feb 2005. But I can't seem to determine whether it's the promised SACD or not.

 

[timbre4]

Doubtful; Fripp is probably fulfilling a dream of having a proper release out there on CD. Then in 6-18 months, DGM will drop a hi-rez version they prepared at the same time.....

 

[Quadzilla]

Doubtful; Fripp is probably fulfilling a dream of having a proper release out there on CD. Then in 6-18 months, DGM will drop a hi-rez version they prepared at the same time.....

I will probably by the new CD anyway. ITCOTCK is one of my all-time favourites ... I still cherish my MFSL vinyl copy. Excellent cover design too! Mike.

 

[kstuart]

Doubtful; Fripp is probably fulfilling a dream of having a proper release out there on CD.

So, you are saying that the "Definitive Edition" and the subsequent "30th Anniversary 24-bit Remaster", both done by Fripp, are not proper releases ? Here is a portion of someone's review of the latter disk:

This third reissue was well worth the wait. The first edition in the early 80's used the LP master and sounded thin, hissy and had poor definition. That's because the master tapes were lost and the label had to make do with a third or fourth generation LP master.
In 1989 Fripp went back to remaster the album and found that all the masters were missing (again, with the exception of the LP master which, at that point, was a third or fourth generation master). He used his copy of the master tapes (quite an improvement) to redo the album.

Using (presumably) his master again, Fripp has produced the best version of ITCCK in print. The CD doesn't suffer from the tape hiss, poor stereo separation and detail of the first master and actually is a sonic improvement over the second edition. Using 24 bit mastering Fripp has recaptured the album's original luster in all its glory.

 

[ssully]

The original stereo masters for "In the Court' were only recovered in the last few years, after having been lost for decades. I think a span of a year or three separated the recovery of side one and side two original masters...apparently they'd been stored in different places.

The previous two releases under his supervision were as 'proper' as Fripp probably felt they could be, at the time. It is curious, though, that the 30th-Anniversay remaster wasn't HDCD encoded, while all the others in that series were.

 

[timbre4]

It's always a case of doing the best that can be done at the time.

In 1989-91 Fripp was saying "the remastered CDs will have to do for now", so SACD, DVD-A or DualDisc should be an exciting proposition one would think.

 

[Patrick Cleasby]

The original stereo masters for "In the Court' were only recovered in the last few years, after having been lost for decades. I think a span of a year or three separated the recovery of side one and side two original masters...apparently they'd been stored in different places.

The previous two releases under his supervision were as 'proper' as Fripp probably felt they could be, at the time. It is curious, though, that the 30th-Anniversay remaster wasn't HDCD encoded, while all the others in that series were.

As I've posted over at SH - I spoke to Simon Heyworth about this a year ago, and his response was "it was my fault, we ran out of time".

 

[kvadro]

I did borrow the CD "In the court of the Crimson King" '30th Anniversary 24-bit Remaster', well in comparaison with the 'Definitive Edition' it sound very very good. A MUST untill a sacd (?). I wish they made the SACD at MFSL, this will be the top of it !!!!

 

[kvadro]

So, you are saying that the "Definitive Edition" and the subsequent "30th Anniversary 24-bit Remaster", both done by Fripp, are not proper releases ? Here is a portion of someone's review of the latter disk:

Quote:

This third reissue was well worth the wait. The first edition in the early 80's used the LP master and sounded thin, hissy and had poor definition. That's because the master tapes were lost and the label had to make do with a third or fourth generation LP master.
In 1989 Fripp went back to remaster the album and found that all the masters were missing (again, with the exception of the LP master which, at that point, was a third or fourth generation master). He used his copy of the master tapes (quite an improvement) to redo the album.

That's strange !! Where did Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab got their master for the ORIGINAL MASTER RECORDING vinyl ??? They NORMALLY use ONLY VERY good masters, strange strange

 

[timbre4]

MoFi is more than the source tape; their fine tooth comb processes make the difference.

All this discussion means is that NOW we can enjoy a master even closer than all previous efforts, MoFi included.

 

[radiodaddy]

The MoFi vinyl has a checkered history. It's one of the scarcer issues from the label. Reasons I've heard for its rarity include: the metal mother cracked early in the run and was not recast; a substandard "half-speed" master was released shortly after the MoFi by EG, leading MoFi to withdraw theirs because of fears of mistaken identity; or MoFi learned after beginning production that the tapes were not early generation masters, and ceased production.

If anyone thinks he knows the real reason for the limited run, please chime in.

peace,
yrd.