Rush “Permanent Waves” 40th box set (No Surround this time...)

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Is it too soon to start a petition to have Steven Wilson remix Moving Pictures in 5.1 for the inevitable 40th anniversary box for 2021? We know he has expressed an interest in doing it and we know they have the multis for that one. And they would sell a hell of a lot more boxes with a brand-spanking-new SW mix than the 5.1 mix that already exists.
No, it's not too early. Lmk how Life in Surround can help.
 
My project, this morning, is to EAC my current Rush CDs. I want to begin comparing through good headphones, so I can determine if it's worth hunting down rare/expensive versions or not.

First up: Caress of Steel.

I have an early (?) US silver, early W. German atomic, '97 remaster and the Sector 1 disc. Any prediction?

Based on blasting a Moving Pictures silver and a Signals atomic in the car yesterday, I'd say the atomic is going to win, silver likely 2nd place...
 
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Will be interesting, to me at least, to see if the St. Louis disc sounds better than my awesome-sounding boot. And same goes for the album proper. Can the new master beat my US atomic?
I am a firm believer in these early press CD's. They come from a fresh source and they are rarely "futzed" with. The 1990 CD release you mention had a DR of 14.
Highly crankable.....and very hard to beat.
 
My project, this morning, is to EAC my current Rush CDs. I want to begin comparing through good headphones, so I can determine if it's worth hunting down rare/expensive versions or not.

First up: Caress of Steel.

I have an early (?) US silver, early W. German atomic, '97 remaster and the Sector 1 disc. Any prediction?

Based on blasting a Moving Pictures silver and a Signals atomic in the car yesterday, I'd say the atomic is going to win, silver likely 2nd place...
Early West German Atomics are legendary. That's my vote.
 
The HD digital editions of all the classic Rush albums are the real deal. They sound like the recordings the vinyls were mastered from. (ie. All the fidelity and dynamics of the vinyl releases but clearly lower generation.) All the CD editions are stepped on something awful! We actually got treated to the real deal with the 24 bit Rush remasters. :)
Happens every once in a while!

Those "Sectors" bait n' switch boxes do NOT have the HD masters. Not even the one album on the DVD. That copy is the same volume war slammed copy on the CD.

The HD masters are on HDTracks.
 
The HD digital editions of all the classic Rush albums are the real deal. They sound like the recordings the vinyls were mastered from. (ie. All the fidelity and dynamics of the vinyl releases but clearly lower generation.) All the CD editions are stepped on something awful! We actually got treated to the real deal with the 24 bit Rush remasters. :)
Happens every once in a while!

Those "Sectors" bait n' switch boxes do NOT have the HD masters. Not even the one album on the DVD. That copy is the same volume war slammed copy on the CD.

The HD masters are on HDTracks.
You feel that the 1st pressing CD versions were stepped on?
 
You feel that the 1st pressing CD versions were stepped on?
Yes. Inferior to even US vinyl pressings.
It's a moot point now. The HD masters are available. Those CDs (love em or hate em) are generational copies. You can have the master stereo mixes now that all the vinyl and CDs were made from. :)

Anyone else collected the Holland pressings for 2112, Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, and Rush Through Time? Those were a nice upgrade at the time. Expensive on Ebay now I think. The HD masters better those too.
 
All the CD editions are stepped on something awful!
Is this your idea of "stepped on something awful"?
Would you care to privately share the HDTracks Bastille Day, so I can compare and determine whether it's worth $25 per album to upgrade from my $5 German Atomic CD (1st waveform) or later US Silver (2nd waveform)?
4 CDs.jpg
 
To be fair, the early gen CDs were inferior to the vinyl but it was that slightly anemic kind of thing common to early gen CDs. It was later editions with the piercing high end boost and heavy squashing. All of them were a disappointment. The latter was offensive.

* Some of those "anemic" early gen CDs still do in fact sound better than old vinyl editions in some cases (general comment, not Rush). Some vinyl pressings sucked really really bad! I'll always prefer one of those to a volume war mastering FWIW.

PS. You know to normalize the volume between the different editions before you compare them right? (ie turn the louder ones down to make them all match) Louder always sounds "better" to humans.
I think the HD masters are all down around -16 to -13 LUFS. Those CDs are going to be screaming about 12db louder!
 
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I remember my Signals vinyl being a muddy mess. The US atomic I rocked yesterday sounded amazing. There was nothing I wanted to hear, but didn't.
It rocked outrageously.
Now, that can be accounted for by the quality of my car's system relative to the quality of my former Hifi setup.
Yet, Signals compared to my other Rush LPs was a muddy mess, on the same system.
 
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Here is the HDTracks of Bastille Day (1st waveform) and the West German Atomic CD (2nd waveform)
The HDTracks is .3 db louder, for the loudest peak. Not sure how to do the DR thing.
They sound remarkably similar on my Sennheiser HD 380 Pro headphones. The HDTracks, perhaps sounds a tad clearer. But it's louder!
HDTracks vs WG Atomic.jpg
 
Regarding the new cover: another reason for me NOT to buy this, lol (I like the lady;))

(Although I DO appreciate the sentiment with the "Blah Blah Blah" on the front page of the paper... a nod to the current state of journalism and Alex's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame acceptance speech?)

(It's like releasing "No Secrets" with Carly wearing a bra :p )
 
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