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Sony Classical to release Ultimate Star Wars Soundtrack Collection (January 8, 2016)


TownerFan

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The RCA release of ESB is actually somewhat salvageable. Careful EQing, artificial stereo widening, and a little reverb can bring it to life quite a bit. Even ANH can be improved a bit with a little EQ and reverb. ROTJ is the only one that's truly beyond help on album. No way to make that one sound decent without access to the original elements.

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2 hours ago, Datameister said:

ROTJ is the only one that's truly beyond help on album. No way to make that one sound decent without access to the original elements.

 

My old Polydor album sounds quite good, btw. Filling that up with some choice cuts from the Anthology you've got a pretty good-sounding selection.

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There's no possibly way that Disney won't have new sets commissioned once Sony's license is over.  Whatever mistakes / shortcuts / whatever you want to call it that were done for the 1997 sets surely won't be done again.  There's at least 3 reasons for this: 1> The technology available to restore old analog recordings has vastly improved in the last 18 years 2> The producer they'd likely hire has another 18 years of experience under his belt 3> Better elements than what was used in 1997 have clearly surfaced since, as evidenced by the ROTS OST bonus DVD and various video games.

 

Man, I can't wait for new sets!

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If they don't think the financial return is worth the effort/time/money, they won't do it.  Just because the possibility exists doesn't mean that it will definitely happen.

 

I'm hopeful though.

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They fact that commissioned a 2 year, 12 title Legacy Collection series certainly gives me hope, and Star Wars is currently a much bigger cash cow than those old animated score are!

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Well since Williams and Spielberg personally elected to hire Mike Matessino as the exclusive producer of all of their future CD expansions, I have to imagine Williams would be keen to recommend him for the Star Wars job too.

 

At least we know Mike will do the Indiana Jones titles, if Disney ever decides that's worth their time.

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As I said,

 

1 hour ago, Jay said:

Star Wars is currently a much bigger cash cow than those old animated score are!

 

 

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9 hours ago, Jay said:

Well since Williams and Spielberg personally elected to hire Mike Matessino as the exclusive producer of all of their future CD expansions, I have to imagine Williams would be keen to recommend him for the Star Wars job too.

 

At least we know Mike will do the Indiana Jones titles, if Disney ever decides that's worth their time.

 

Jason, do you happen to know where the Indy soundtrack rights are at? Concord's property until their box set goes OOP? 

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I hope Disney isn't going to look at the sales of these 3 Ultimate Soundtrack Editions that are being released and judge it on whether they should release anything in the future. 

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Hey here's a video showing of the new vinyl set

 

 

It's been online for 3 weeks and I just found out about it now!

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They look beautiful! 

 

I'm getting mine on Friday, so i'll post on here what I think to it all. My review will be based on the digital download, not the Vinyl as I don't have a working turntable yet. 

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19 hours ago, Jay said:

Hey here's a video showing of the new vinyl set

 

 

It's been online for 3 weeks and I just found out about it now!

 

Nice! I have all the originals from the time of the release, but my SW copy didn't come with the poster...

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Jesus Christ!

Who out there in "La La Land" thinks that I'm going to spring for a "Vinyl Collection" when I already have Return Of The Jedi's original one lp release? Not to mention the complete Special Edition?

I am a sturdy fan yes! Of 4-6. 

I'm just not a *sucker*. ( Of 1-3 )

Good luck with this!

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It's better than believing a JWFAN poster doesn't realise Sony are the ones holding our complete prequel scores hostage.

 

Benefit of the doubt and all. :)

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On 1/6/2016 at 11:41 PM, crumbs said:

I think he was using the term colloquially, although the capitalisation of L's and inverted commas confuses the statement.


First off Crumbs, correct!

I WAS using the term colloquially!

Secondly though, those are quote marks and not inverted commas.

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Looks like this was released digitally this morning. Prices vary wildly on the high res versions.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019DDE6U4?ie=UTF8&keywords=star%20wars%20ultimate%20soundtrack%20collection&qid=1452269669&ref_=sr_1_6&sr=8-6

320 kbps mp3 $49.99

The individual scores are also available for $10.99 a piece

 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/star-wars-ultimate-digital/id1041511949

256 kbps m4a $49.99

I assume the individual scores are also available, but don't have iTunes on my work computer to confirm

 

https://play.google.com/store/music/album/John_Williams_Star_Wars_The_Ultimate_Digital_Colle?id=B3nm3tcjbxcsg4fvy53cknl2yg4

320 kbps mp3 $49.99

The individual scores are also available for $10.99 a piece

 

https://us.7digital.com/artist/john-williams/release/star-wars-the-ultimate-digital-collection/

320k mp3 $49.99

16-bit 44.1 kHz FLAC $65.99

24-bit 192 kHz FLAC $79.99

The individual scores are also available for $17.99 a piece

 

http://www.hdtracks.com/star-wars-the-ultimate-digital-collection-277034

24-bit 192kHz AIFF/ALAC/FLAC/WAV $99.99

The individual scores are also available for $24.99 a piece

 

https://www.ponomusic.com/ccrz__CCPage?pageKey=product&oId=of%3A1ad6696c15e5498ca4d2380fc73f4b7f&type=Album&artistId=of%3A2929413bfe9a49b6b97177e245656122

24-bit 44.1 kHz FLAC $169.99 (clearly a couple things wrong with this listing...)

Their search engine sucks, but the individual scores ARE also available (and in proper 24/192) for $24.99 a piece

 

This collection is not yet listed at ProStudioMasters.

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2 hours ago, amh1219 said:

Looks like this was released digitally this morning. Prices vary wildly on the high res versions.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019DDE6U4?ie=UTF8&keywords=star%20wars%20ultimate%20soundtrack%20collection&qid=1452269669&ref_=sr_1_6&sr=8-6

256 kbps mp3 $49.99

The individual scores are also available for $10.99 a piece

 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/star-wars-ultimate-digital/id1041511949

256 kbps m4a $49.99

I assume the individual scores are also available, but don't have iTunes on my work computer to confirm

 

https://play.google.com/store/music/album/John_Williams_Star_Wars_The_Ultimate_Digital_Colle?id=B3nm3tcjbxcsg4fvy53cknl2yg4

320 kbps mp3 $49.99

The individual scores are also available for $10.99 a piece

 

https://us.7digital.com/artist/john-williams/release/star-wars-the-ultimate-digital-collection/

320k mp3 $49.99

16-bit 44.1 kHz FLAC $65.99

24-bit 192 kHz FLAC $79.99

The individual scores are also available for $17.99 a piece

 

http://www.hdtracks.com/star-wars-the-ultimate-digital-collection-277034

24-bit 192kHz AIFF/ALAC/FLAC/WAV $99.99

The individual scores are also available for $24.99 a piece

 

https://www.ponomusic.com/ccrz__CCPage?pageKey=product&oId=of%3A1ad6696c15e5498ca4d2380fc73f4b7f&type=Album&artistId=of%3A2929413bfe9a49b6b97177e245656122

24-bit 44.1 kHz FLAC $169.99 (clearly a couple things wrong with this listing...)

Their search engine sucks, but the individual scores ARE also available (and in proper 24/192) for $24.99 a piece

 

This collection is not yet listed at ProStudioMasters.

 

I've just got my Ultimate Vinyl Collection in the post, the digital download they put in the collection for you to download is 320k MP3. I'm very disappointed as it made it kind of made it out like you would get the 24bit 192kHz Digital Download. The Vinyl packaging is beautiful! I want to buy another set just to frame them! I am returning/exchanging mine back to amazon as 4 of the six soundtracks are damaged at the top. 

 

Which one do you think will be the best quality for digital download? from your descriptions is looks like hdtracks.com is the way to go. 

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Assuming there are no artifacts/defects on the high res versions like there were on The Force Awakens, then 7digital, HDTracks and PonoMusic all have the highest quality versions you can get (24-bit, 192 kHz). Of those three retailers, 7digital currently has the cheapest price.

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6 minutes ago, amh1219 said:

Assuming there are no artifacts/defects on the high res versions like there were on The Force Awakens, then 7digital, HDTracks and PonoMusic all have the highest quality versions you can get (24-bit, 192 kHz). Of those three retailers, 7digital currently has the cheapest price.

 

I was going to buy The Force Awakens, should I not bother?

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And... ?  For the Digital Collection, what about the sound of these brand new HD transfers from the LP masters?

 

And just for recap, here are the particularities of ESB double LP... 

 

Quote

STAR WARS (MAIN THEME)
Take anthology disk 2 track 2 (Main Theme), cut it at about 03:34 and fade out from just after the flourish.
Take RCA disk 1 track 10 (Mynock Cave) and delete up to 3:15 and apply fade-in for about a quarter of a second, just to take off a harsh start.
Then overlay part two at about 3:32. using the following as an exact timing reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr1enECJxbI&index=1&list=PL5B01440C91658655

THE HEROICS OF LUKE AND HAN
Take anthology disk 2 track 3 (Luke's Escape) and rapid fade out after timpani roll at 03:23.
Overlay anthology disk 2 track 8 (Rebel's Escape Again) such that the timpani roll sounds like it's rolling in to the second track.
Use this for reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsS66mfHfpA&index=4&list=PL5B01440C91658655
(Depending on taste you may wish to amplify the second half by a few dB to match the LP)

REBELS AT BAY
Take Anthology disk 2 track 4 (Luke's Rescue) and fade it out after 1:38
Overlay anthology disk 2 track 7 (Luke's First Crash) at 1:37
Overlay the latter at 1:36 of the former, which you may need to fade out to avoid mixing issues
Use this for reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b7cBx6y1zY&list=PL5B01440C91658655&index=12

DEPARTURE OF BOBA FETT
Take Anthology disk 4 track 17 from 07:46 with a fade-in
Use this for reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8_JivawjcA&index=6&list=PL5B01440C91658655

Source: http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?pageID=5&forumID=1&threadID=40632&archive=1

 

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I can't listen to the Vinyl's as I haven't purchased a proper player yet. I've just bought the Empire Strikes Back in 192kHz 24bit Wave Files. I'd say its a 20-30% improvement on the original Empire CD (the original single disk with the LP programme) not the Anthology. I was expecting it to just be turned up but that's not the case, i've compared them side by side and they are the same level. The high resolution one is much brighter. 

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20 minutes ago, Jay said:

I think all mp3s sold by Amazon are 320kbps, not 256kbps

 

Shows when I last bought from them! :lol:

 

Original post updated.

 

1 hour ago, aj_vader said:

I was going to buy The Force Awakens, should I not bother?

 

Depends. If you have or want the CD, I'd just go with that. Otherwise, I understand the best files out there to be the 16/44.1 FLAC files on any of the high res sites as they have slightly better range than the CD.

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