Remasters of the First 6 Star Wars Soundtracks now available (Shawn Murphy / Disney Records 2018)

[phbart 609]

3 hours ago, voltisubito said:

...in the new remaster, the line seems entirely different (not sure if it's been remixed or from another take)...

3 hours ago, Jay said:

I'm not surprised to hear some wrong takes got put in.

 

The prequels using wrong takes? Can't imagine what they prepared for us with the original trilogy...

[Jay 37,281]

18 hours until it's Friday in New Zealand and we all find out! (assuming there'll be a digital version sold that day)

[voltisubito 42]

3 hours ago, Jay said:

Is there any way you can take some pictures for us?

 

The front artwork is as the press release:

 

 

The back:

 

 

The fold out poster is an image of a slightly puzzled-looking Qui-Gon Jinn holding his lightsaber.

[Jay 37,281]

Huh, the cover art somehow doesn't look as bad when printed and in a jewel case.

 

Fold out posters, so 90s!

 

Would you mind taking a picture of the page that shows the credits?  Thanks in advance

[voltisubito 42]

16 minutes ago, Jay said:

Would you mind taking a picture of the page that shows the credits?  Thanks in advance

 

Sure, here's the credits page:

 

[Jay 37,281]

Oh that is fantastic, thank you so much!!

[phbart 609]

4 hours ago, voltisubito said:

Editing: Mark Willsher and Timeri Duplat

So these are the sloppy guys? Good to know.

 

4 hours ago, voltisubito said:

Transfers from analog masters to Hi Res digital: Dann Thompson

I really thought they were gonna use the digitally edited masters for the prequels. I'm surprised they went back to the analog sources (we all know Murphy recorded the prequels in the analog domain). But it COULD BE a standardized text used on all six CDs.

[Jay 37,281]

It's absolutely not surprising whatsoever that they transferred the analog tapes from '99, '02, and '05 rather than using any digital media created at the time.

 

That was a transitional period when digital technology wasn't as perfected as we have now.  There's just no way that what was done back then, especially in '99 and '02, would be better than starting anew from a fresh, proper, high res transfer of the original tapes and doing all the edits all over again with today's technology.  I am sure these will sound great.

[Faleel 5,330]

1 hour ago, phbart said:

The prequels using wrong takes? Can't imagine what they prepared for us with the original trilogy...

Its not so much a wrong take, as that they didn't replicate tracking done for the OST.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

6 hours ago, phbart said:

2 days! Isn't Trumpland's Amazon famous for shipping items before the official street date?

Merkelland's Amazon mostly does this!

[phbart 609]

12 minutes ago, Jay said:

It's absolutely not surprising whatsoever that they transferred the analog tapes from '99, '02, and '05 rather than using any digital media created at the time.

 

That was a transitional period when digital technology wasn't as perfected as we have now.  There's just no way that what was done back then, especially in '99 and '02, would be better than starting anew from a fresh, proper, high res transfer of the original tapes and doing all the edits all over again with today's technology.  I am sure these will sound great.

I'm sure they'll sound great. I have nothing against analog recordings, even though I tend to prefer digital. It's just that regarding SW music releases after 1997, everybody seemed unwilling to do any effort to make a proper and decent sounding release. They just took the short way all the time (recycling old masters over and over again, transfering decades old album masters). So yes, it is surprising.

[voltisubito 42]

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:

 

Spoiler

(wouldn't read too much into them)

 

Star Wars Main Title and The Arrival at Naboo (1999)

 

Star Wars Main Title and The Arrival at Naboo (2018)

 

Duel of the Fates (1999)

 

Duel of the Fates (2018)

 

[Manakin Skywalker 4,890]

I noticed that they took down the "Ultimate Digital Collection" as well as the individual albums of the original 6 films on HDTracks.com. Could mean nothing, but could also mean they plan on replacing them with the new masters.

[phbart 609]

It's been quite a while since they were removed from HDTracks. I went there to look for them sometime last year, around July I think, and it was already out. Have no idea why.

 

35 minutes ago, voltisubito said:

For those of you who are interested in such things, here are the waveforms/spectrograms of the first two tracks

They look mighty good! 

[Manakin Skywalker 4,890]

1 hour ago, phbart said:

It's been quite a while since they were removed from HDTracks. I went there to look for them sometime last year, around July I think, and it was already out. Have no idea why.

Ah okay. I'm hoping that is the case, and they aren't releasing them in HiFi right now, since I'd be pissed I already ordered the CD's.

[phbart 609]

I could be wrong, but I believe Sony made them available there. Once the rights were shifted to Mickey Mouse, they were removed. I don't know how that interfered (or not) with Deezer or Spotify because they're still there, only the copyright notice changed. Could be there's a difference in contract between service who sells the music with streaming only services. Maybe it has something to do with one being sold in lossless HD format and the other being offered (not sold) in lossy standard definition format. Anyway, just theories.

[Manakin Skywalker 4,890]

Has anyone else (in the US) had the delivery estimate for ANH shifted to May 8 instead of May 4? All of them say May 4 for me except ANH now (just happened today).

[Tiburon 1]

18 minutes ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

Has anyone else (in the US) had the delivery estimate for ANH shifted to May 8 instead of May 4? All of them say May 4 for me except ANH now (just happened today).

Mine still says May 4 but is separate from the other 5 and hasn't shipped yet. Fully expecting it to get changed though.

[Manakin Skywalker 4,890]

58 minutes ago, Larsonator said:

Mine still says May 4 but is separate from the other 5 and hasn't shipped yet. Fully expecting it to get changed though.

Yeah mine is separate as well, while the others are lumped together. I haven't gotten any shipping notices yet for any of them unfortunately.

[rough cut 1,714]

7 hours ago, voltisubito said:

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.

 

Oh no... I don’t WANT to spend more money on that damn Star Wars music... I’ve bought it enough times already!

 

There should be free upgrades for anyone who’s bought every single re- and re-re-release since 30 years ago, including re-recordings.

 

Bah! Humbug!

[Holko 9,499]

So to distract you guys from the insufferable wait, how good are the prequel OSTs? I'm torn between buying them with the OT ones or the facsimile first edition of the Hobbit (I have a mental budget limit, don't ask). How good of a listening experience are they, do the cue combinations in individual tracks work? If this could help, I've been listening to the LotR CRs for years, then when buying the OSTs, I fealt they were a great breath of fresh air and fun presentations, and I also really love the TFA album, the TLJ a tiny bit less. I know the (mostly) complete versions of all 6 of these scores and am sure to buy the OT ones, I'm just not 100% sure about the prequels.

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

I doubt it's necessary to buy the prequel OSTs once more. The original releases sound fine as they are, unless you're actively looking for faults in the sound.

[Faleel 5,330]

Original AOTC OST release has loads of hiss.

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

Only at the very start and end of tracks, right? I never paid any attention to it before you pointed it out. 

[Holko 9,499]

Oh, I'll clarify then: I do not own any of these 6 scores in any form yet, haven't even listened to any of the OST presentations all the way through. I used to think the inevitable proper complete releases would be the only ones worth owning, but now I'm more intrigued. But of course if they're not that good on their own, I don't need them just to have them, I'll have the complete ones for that.

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

22 minutes ago, Holko said:

So to distract you guys from the insufferable wait, how good are the prequel OSTs? I'm torn between buying them with the OT ones or the facsimile first edition of the Hobbit (I have a mental budget limit, don't ask). How good of a listening experience are they, do the cue combinations in individual tracks work? If this could help, I've been listening to the LotR CRs for years, then when buying the OSTs, I fealt they were a great breath of fresh air and fun presentations, and I also really love the TFA album, the TLJ a tiny bit less. I know the (mostly) complete versions of all 6 of these scores and am sure to buy the OT ones, I'm just not 100% sure about the prequels.

 

For what you'll have to pay for the "complete" Fellowship you could buy all six of the remastered SW OSTs for about half the price, and the music is even better!

 

And I'd like to add that in the case of SW it's worth owning the OST presentations, which have really good programs.

[Holko 9,499]

What does that have to do with anything? Already have the new Fellowship CR by the way, and I think only STAR WARS is better.

[Bilbo 3,709]

15 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

For what you'll have to pay for the "complete" Fellowship you could buy all six of the remastered SW OSTs for about half the price, and the music is even better!

 

 

This is subjective but you’re still wrong.

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

37 minutes ago, Holko said:

What does that have to do with anything? Already have the new Fellowship CR by the way, and I think only STAR WARS is better.

 

Ah, a simple misunderstanding.

 

24 minutes ago, Bilbo said:

This is subjective but you’re still wrong.

 

It's not subjective that you can get the six remastered SW OSTs for half the price of the Fellowship CR.

 

8 hours ago, voltisubito said:

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:

 

  Hide contents

(wouldn't read too much into them)

 

Star Wars Main Title and The Arrival at Naboo (1999)

 

Star Wars Main Title and The Arrival at Naboo (2018)

 

Duel of the Fates (1999)

 

Duel of the Fates (2018)

 

 

Great comparison! I notice that the frequencies on the 2018 remaster are abruptly cut at 22kHz. That's not a good thing.

[1977 1,743]

3 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

And I'd like to add that in the case of SW it's worth owning the OST presentations, which have really good programs.

 

Agreed, except for ROTJ, that album does not do the score justice.

 

But I guess we're stuck with what we have, so better than nothing.

[Manakin Skywalker 4,890]

Hey guys, we get another awesome remaster of Lapti Nek! Also Yub Nub as well!

 

Edit: CANTINA BAND!!

[bollemanneke 3,337]

I'm not buying Any SW until Matessino has another go. And even then I'll proably not buy the prequels, the OT won't even be considered.

[Manakin Skywalker 4,890]

Ok.

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

46 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

I'm not buying Any SW until Matessino has another go. And even then I'll proably not buy the prequels, the OT won't even be considered.

 

Why won't you consider complete OT scores in improved sound?

[bollemanneke 3,337]

Because the released material is more than enough for me.

[Holko 9,499]

You really are content with the horrifically bad sound quality of the SEs?

[Nick1Ø66 4,687]

It’s amazing how many soundtracks I always thought sounded fine and was satisfied with. Then I found this place!

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

There's always room for improvement. Now, write that a hundred times.

[bollemanneke 3,337]

16 minutes ago, Holko said:

You really are content with the horrifically bad sound quality of the SEs?

Well, no, but they'll never sound like the prequels, right?

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

4 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

Well, no, but they'll never sound like the prequels, right?

 

They'll sound better (because the music is better).

 

[Bilbo 3,709]

19 minutes ago, Nick1066 said:

It’s amazing how many soundtracks I always thought sounded fine and was satisfied with. Then I found this place!

 

I am still unsure why I should be unhappy with the Fellowship CR!

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

Because it's not complete?

 

[Holko 9,499]

Some of the choir is drowned out, it reproduces film tracking and snips out some portions, the way the tracks are separated between the discs is... interesting (why not finish D2 with Khazad-Dúm? Same problem with the RotK CR, who the hell decided to separate For Frodo from all the rest of the cues of the same scene and strech by making it the last track of D3 instead of the first of D4?). The CDs have plenty of space to present some alternates and so on and so on. These are all mostly incredibly minute nitpicks, of course.

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

Well, you're the one who's nitpicking - I was only stating it's not complete.

[1977 1,743]

My biggest nitpicks regarding the CRs are the flimsy packing that gets dinged up in the post and fact that only ROTK is available for download purchase/streaming (how the heck does that work?)

 

Oh, and the fact that I still haven't gotten around to listening to them

[Holko 9,499]

2 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Well, you're the one who's nitpicking - I was only stating it's not complete.

 

I am completely (heh) aware of that (see the last sentence and my status) and never suggested otherwise.

 

Just now, JTWfan77 said:

My biggest nitpicks regarding the CRs are the flimsy packing that gets dinged up in the post

 

What? The Fellowship CR I got is one of the nicest and sturdiest cases I've ever seen! A shitty flimsy jewel case is much more likely to break than this sturdy, thick cardboard. Did they just slap an address sticker on it and send it without any packing?

[1977 1,743]

2 minutes ago, Holko said:

 

I am completely (heh) aware of that (see the last sentence and my status) and never suggested otherwise.

 

 

What? The Fellowship CR I got is one of the nicest and sturdiest cases I've ever seen! A shitty flimsy jewel case is much more likely to break than this sturdy, thick cardboard. Did they just slap an address sticker on it and send it without any packing?

 

Well to be fair, my FOTR came from CD Universe in a (gulp) padded envelope and my ROTK was not properly packaged either. Both boxes had been compressed in the post so I had to do some fixing with paper glue and a toothpick. Fortunately the "antique book" concept helps so that the tears are less noticeable.

[Nick1Ø66 4,687]

25 minutes ago, JTWfan77 said:

My biggest nitpicks regarding the CRs are the flimsy packing that gets dinged up in the post and fact that only ROTK is available for download purchase/streaming (how the heck does that work?)

 

Actually, FOTR is available now to download as well, which leaves only TTT for people who either didn't buy the CR's, don't have a friend with the CR's, or have chosen to not avail themselves of one of the myriad of ways which exist to hear these scores.

[Chewy 2,372]

4 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Great comparison! I notice that the frequencies on the 2018 remaster are abruptly cut at 22kHz. That's not a good thing.

Like many new releases, nothing so bad about this when downsampling is done properly.

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

Just now, Chewy said:

Like many new releases, nothing so bad about this when downsampling is done properly.

 

As far as I know, the way the frequency spectrum is cut off at the high end has nothing to do with the sample rate.