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


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I've never understood why AOTC was so hissy!

 

I hope Mike gets to work his magic on these some day. They don't just need a proper editing and sequencing (and completeness), but reworked audio too.

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20 hours ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

Here is a spectrogram view of "Return to Tatooine". All of that purple is hiss. I've never seen anything like this before.Untitled-1.jpg

 

For comparison, here is a track from ROTS. This is how a normal spectrogram should look.Untitled-2.jpg

 

I believe you're using the 192kHz/24bit digital release against the standard 44.1kHz/16bit CD.

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1 hour ago, phbart said:

 

I believe you're using the 192kHz/24bit digital release against the standard 44.1kHz/16bit CD.

Nope, they are both the new 192/24 releases.

 

THIS is the 44.1/16 CD rip. It's not as clear, as the frequency is obviously cut off at 22kHz per channel, but it's still visibly noisier than ROTS. (The top one is AOTC):

Untitled-1.jpg

 

In addition, here is the original 2002 release versus the new remaster. Yikes.Untitled-2.jpg

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The 2002 version has just less hiss because there are just less high frequencies. The new version has more accuracy (in terms of fidelity), but too bad they just didn't care about the hiss for these new releases...

 

image.png

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On 7/22/2018 at 4:30 AM, Jurassic Shark said:

Haven't you heard Karajan's early 60's Beethoven symphony cycle on Deutsche Grammophon? Say what you like about the interpretations, but the sound is still top notch!

 

 

Whoah! I've been looking for something like this. Thanks Shark!

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43 minutes ago, Chewy said:

The 2002 version has just less hiss because there are just less high frequencies. The new version has more accuracy (in terms of fidelity), but too bad they just didn't care about the hiss for these new releases...

 

image.png

 

The CD has tinnitus.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...

So I'm pretty sure they did not use new transfers from analog tapes for Revenge of the Sith, here is why!

I noticed that tracks coming from analog sources have high frequency sounds that look more grainy on a spectrogram view. Here are some examples :

 

Across the Stars (AotC 2018 Remaster, coming from analog tapes)

unknown.png

 

David's Arrival (A.I. 2015 release, coming from analog tapes)

unknown.png

 

To the Island (The Lost World 2016 release, coming from analog tapes)

image.png

 

And now for comparison, tracks coming from a digital source:

 

Call of the Crystal (from KotCS, coming from a digital source)

image.png

 

Dumbledore's Caution (CoS 2018 release, coming from a digital source)

image.png

 

 

And now let's look at some tracks from the 2018 remaster of RotS:

 

Palpatine's Teachings

image.png

 

Anakin's Betreyal

image.png

 

My conclusion: RotS tracks seem to be sourced from a digital source! So after all, was RotS only recorded digitally? Did they lie when saying that the six scores were re-transferred from analog when they announced these new releases? What do you think?

 

 

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I've never really gotten around to listening to these sets in full. I've mainly just been listening to bits and pieces here and there, comparing them to the original releases.

 

The prequels sounded relatively good until I got to 5:46 of Love Pledge and The Arena. Dafuq is that? Some weird phasing going on. How did no one in QA notice that?

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8 hours ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

 

The prequels sounded relatively good until I got to 5:46 of Love Pledge and The Arena. Dafuq is that? Some weird phasing going on. How did no one in QA notice that?

I'd never heard it until you pointed it out. Strange, but not that noticeable. 

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The prequels sound awesome. There are some occasional anomalies, but nothing too major. If anything, they just add to the charm of the OSTs. I like those awkward clunky analog edits on classic OSTs and you don't really hear that sort of thing since the advent of digital editing techniques. These were a nice surprise!

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24 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

ROTS sounds... inconsistent!

 

It sounds better than any other version. II and III sounded muddy on the OSTs and "leaked" tracks, which I never understood.

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  • 11 months later...

Going to pick the Prequels now because the prices are so reduced and understandably so. The current upgrade with its many demerits may certainly help as a case to Disney to redo these albeit as complete and definitive proper error free editions (under Matessino's guidance) and specially now that the entire saga has wrapped up. 

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On 1/19/2019 at 1:28 PM, Stefancos said:

The 4 CD Anthology is the best release of ROTJ.

 

No it’s my SE Remastered version.

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  • 1 month later...

Hello,

May i ask a question related to the 1993 4CD box ?

On the "Main Title" from EP4 (CD#1 track#2), the volume is low/distant on left channel from 0:08s.

Is this a mistake during mastering ? Or a wrong cue

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6 hours ago, crumb said:

Hello,

May i ask a question related to the 1993 4CD box ?

On the "Main Title" from EP4 (CD#1 track#2), the volume is low/distant on left channel from 0:08s.

Is this a mistake during mastering ? Or a wrong cue

 

The volume is correct, it's just that the trumpet (which is the most prominent instrument from 0:08 to 0:16) is panned to the right channel. That isn't an error, just how the score was mastered. It's the same case for the SE, but it's not as noticeable primarily due to leveling. The original albums sound the same as the '93 Anthology.

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Hi guys !

 

I got a lot of star wars soundtrack and lost on what is good or not.

 

I have episode IV V VI original Vinyl releases. Those ones are wonderful (they crack a little but i love the raw sound without too much reverb). However It lacks a lot of music from ROTJ.

 

I have the 4 CD Box set. I l have not really listened to them a lot (except the original ewok final which is far more better than the new version) because...

 

I have the three complete soundtracks which were released at the beginning on 2000 I guess (with the hologram cover).

These are the CDs I am listenening the most. I have heard there were some issues with ROTJ. Is it true ?

 

And for the Prequel I have the original CDs (and complete bootlegs).

 

If I understand well, I can skip without a doubt the other releases ?

 

Thanks :)

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4 hours ago, Jar Jar said:

Hi guys !

 

I got a lot of star wars soundtrack and lost on what is good or not.

 

I have episode IV V VI original Vinyl releases. Those ones are wonderful (they crack a little but i love the raw sound without too much reverb). However It lacks a lot of music from ROTJ.

 

I have the 4 CD Box set. I l have not really listened to them a lot (except the original ewok final which is far more better than the new version) because...

 

I have the three complete soundtracks which were released at the beginning on 2000 I guess (with the hologram cover).

These are the CDs I am listenening the most. I have heard there were some issues with ROTJ. Is it true ?

 

And for the Prequel I have the original CDs (and complete bootlegs).

 

If I understand well, I can skip without a doubt the other releases ?

 

Thanks :)

 

That's about the best you can currently do as far as Star Wars albums go. If you want, you can check out the remastered prequels (I haven't).

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6 hours ago, Jar Jar said:

Hi guys !

 

I got a lot of star wars soundtrack and lost on what is good or not.

 

I have episode IV V VI original Vinyl releases. Those ones are wonderful (they crack a little but i love the raw sound without too much reverb). However It lacks a lot of music from ROTJ.

 

I have the 4 CD Box set. I l have not really listened to them a lot (except the original ewok final which is far more better than the new version) because...

 

I have the three complete soundtracks which were released at the beginning on 2000 I guess (with the hologram cover).

These are the CDs I am listenening the most. I have heard there were some issues with ROTJ. Is it true ?

 

And for the Prequel I have the original CDs (and complete bootlegs).

 

If I understand well, I can skip without a doubt the other releases ?

 

Thanks :)

 

In terms of sound quality, the 4-CD Anthology boxset is usually the go-to. The 1997 SE's are basically complete, but due to human error the sound (especially for ROTJ) is a bit muffled and flat.

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I don't know what kind of headphones you guys are using to come to the conclusion that ROTJ is the worst-sounding one of the SE set. Empire is the worst-sounding remastered album I have ever heard, period. It sounds like they converted it from stereo to mono and then sold it.

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57 minutes ago, Drew said:

I don't know what kind of headphones you guys are using to come to the conclusion that ROTJ is the worst-sounding one of the SE set. Empire is the worst-sounding remastered album I have ever heard, period. It sounds like they converted it from stereo to mono and then sold it.

 

I don't use headphones. I use floorspeakers.

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1 hour ago, Drew said:

I don't know what kind of headphones you guys are using to come to the conclusion that ROTJ is the worst-sounding one of the SE set. Empire is the worst-sounding remastered album I have ever heard, period. It sounds like they converted it from stereo to mono and then sold it.

 

They both sound terrible. ANH is okay, but sounds a little off.

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I'm not gonna waste any more money on Star Wars until we get the complete I-VI. 

I'm not interested in re-print after re-print. 

It's as if Fellowship Of The Ring was never released in complete form, and instead we got re-issue after re-issue of the OST. 

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4 hours ago, Drew said:

I don't know what kind of headphones you guys are using to come to the conclusion that ROTJ is the worst-sounding one of the SE set. Empire is the worst-sounding remastered album I have ever heard, period. It sounds like they converted it from stereo to mono and then sold it.

 

ESB is more salvageable. You can get it to a very listenable state by artificially widening the stereo field, adding a touch of reverb, and adjusting the EQ a bit. ROTJ is what is...those higher frequencies are just gone, full stop. Nothing you can do to unmuffle that album.

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