voltisubito

The ARP synth in The Empire Strikes Back is missing in this new mix - not only (most noticeably) in The Magic Tree, but in other cues too.

Yes, it's quite noticeable how forward the piano is in the mix for the whole concert (on both CD and Blu-ray). The CDs have the same running order as the concert video with introductions between pieces. It's just the digital release that has the applause and introductions edited out.

You are correct. The source reveals that first link is the 2 CD jewel case version (EAN 0028948620036). The second link is the 2 CD + 1 Blu-ray Video + 1 Blu-ray Audio version (EAN 0028948617135). This is the 2 CD digipak version: https://www.nl.fnac.be/a16401778/JOHN-WILLIAMS-IN-BERLIN

DG 4862003 (UPC 028948620036) is a 2 CD jewel case set. DG 4861710 (UPC 028948617104) is a 2 CD digipak set with "gold foil".

Whoops - the editor of that video added in a extra quaver to the final bar (immediately before the final triplet), which is why it sounds out of kilter. Happily it's correct on the streaming/download version of the album.

Brilliant performance of Star Wars by the LSO tonight at the Royal Albert Hall. Not sure if this is part of the standard Live-to-Projection programme, but the Fox Fanfare was played live together with the Fox logo immediately before the "A long time ago..." title. Edit: Ah, apparently it is.

The longest serving LSO members on stage (going by the programme listing) were: Colin Renwick (1st violin) [Tne Empire Strikes Back (1980), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)]; Jennifer Brown (cello), Noel Bradshaw (cello) and Patrick Laurence (double bass) [Return of the Jedi (1983)].

Wonderful concert full of highlights: Loved how menacing the low horn statement was at the beginning of Close Encounters, Katy Woolley (principal horn) was consistently brilliant, as was Juliana Koch's oboe solo in Dracula. A real shame then that, as predicted, Classic FM's compressor completely obliterated the dynamic range of the performance heard in the hall and scuppered any attempts that were made to mix the audio. The station has much to learn from how BBC Radio 3 broadcasts live music. Laurent Ben Slimane (Philharmonia) I believe. Not sure who Oboe 2 was (she wasn't Rosie Jenkins as listed in the programme), and Rebecca Gilliver was principal cello on the night.

Assuming you mean 60 kHz, would overtones reaching that far up and beyond be present on analogue tape? In fact, the 24/192 transfer in the 2016 release of this cue rolls off at ~45 kHz. The real indicator of the problem lies in the audible range. The problem seems to be inherent to the right-channel of the affected cues, rather than a perceived effect by the listener caused by the channels being out of phase. Take, for instance, the cue mentioned by @Jay ("Battle in the Snow"). The bottom image here shows that the mid- to high-range of audible frequencies are attenuated compared to the left-channel, hence the muffled quality: Much better balanced previously. The 2016 release is my favourite ESB release in terms of sound quality.

Spectral comparison of the various releases of The Asteroid Field over the years:

I've now listened to TPM, ANH and ESB on CD. A New Hope sounds fantastic, with lots of detail revealed in this mix. Empire, on the other hand, is all over the place. Heavy handed use of reverb and incorrect stereo panning on certain tracks as mentioned by others (I thought there was an issue with my headphone's right speaker initially!). Hyperspace might be the most noticeable improvement. Disappearing cymbal still present in The Imperial March, and various other oddities.

When downsampling for CD (44.1 kHz sample rate), any part of the audio signal above 44,100/2 = 22.050 kHz frequency (the Nyquist frequency) will be removed by a low-pass anti-aliasing filter. This is the highest frequency at which audio can be reproduced without error. If there's a high-resolution release of these remasters, you shouldn't see this cut-off.

This remastering is certainly a new listening experience, and a very enjoyable one. There is more detail revealed, but I don't think that's simply due to the tracks being mixed/mastered to higher level (loudness wise, and some more so than others). On a side note, I hadn't noticed before how the timps are mixed hard left on some cues, and centre/right on others. By far the most marked difference is in Augie's Municipal Band, which now sounds more bizarre than ever. The synthesized sound of this cue is more apparent, is quite dry and has minimal reverb in comparison to the 1999 OST. For those of you who are interested in such things, here are the waveforms/spectrograms of the first two tracks:

Sure, here's the credits page: