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An "RL" first-press "Led Zeppelin II" LP....

96.238.9.137

In Reply to: RE: Led Zeppelin digital recordings posted by grantv on March 27, 2023 at 18:08:54

A "RL" first-press "Led Zeppelin II" LP recently broke $4000 on eBay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/374420617809

$4,295.55.

That's the Robert Ludwig cutting that was too "Hot" for Ahmet Ertegun's daughter's cheap bedroom stereo... which I guess was one of those "suitcase stereos."

So, Ertegun had a bit of a fit and had all the Hot LPs recalled and destroyed.

He then had his house engineers cut new lacquers from a reference analog cassette tape, with a bass cut, and dynamic compression.

Hence the premium for the RL cut.

The link is to Bob's Oral History, as recorded by the AES project.

As Science Officer Spock would say: "Fascinating."

ciao,

john
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOW3Ep_T_Jw (Open in New Window)

Follow Ups:

OK - grantv 14:41:57 03/28/23 (3)
Looking for a good digital copy for a reasonable price...
- Just trying to provide context... - John Marks 16:23:40 03/28/23 (2)
  If there is one Classic Rock recording that should rank beside Dark Side of the Moon in terms of its release history, it should be either LZ II or LZ IV.
  
  Which is to imply, BY THIS TIME, they should have gotten it right in terms of a digital download.
  
  You can buy the Qobuz 24/96 at the link. I have found it best never to jump to conclusions about remasterings. With every passing year, the technology supposedly gets better; but there is no question that the master tapes are getting older, and in some cases, moldier.
  
  The Qobuz 24/96 of "Livin' Lovin' Maid" sounds to me INFINITELY better than the 45 rpm Promo Copy I spun as a DJ in our illegally boosted AM radio station that without question sent a signal beyond the confines of my prep school's large campus. Had I stolen it and held on to it, today I could gross $35 on eBay.
  
  And please don't hate me for having been shoved against my will into a legendary New England prep school. I begged not to be sent there.
  
  john
  - https://play.qobuz.com/album/0603497920099 (Open in New Window)
  - Now we're getting somewhere. :) - grantv 21:16:57 03/28/23 (1)
    Do you know if Qobuz DL's are the same quality as HDtracks? Specific recordings to look for?
    Thanks! Definitive Collection for example...?
    - It's hard to tell. - John Marks 06:39:49 03/29/23 (0)
      The Qobuz remastered track of Livin' Lovin' appears to have a copyright date of 2012, but the HDTracks track appears to have a copyright date of 2014.
      
      I don't know if that is real, or is a data-entry artifact.
      
      Both tracks are 24/96.
      
      So, I would question why they would make two different 24/96 remasters, two years apart.
      
      {John does some research.}
      
      Well, it seems that the Deluxe Edition with extra tracks was 2014, please see links. So, 2012 is likely an error... OR! they FIRST did a "Straight" 24/96 of the commercially-released LP, and then they assembled the Deluxe Edition Digital "Boxed Set," so to speak.
      
      Now here's puzzlement! The Pro Studio Masters download is available in MQA, but its source appears to be the same 24/96 transfer.
      
      https://www.prostudiomasters.com/album/page/36310
      
      So, my guess is that that MQA started with the 24/96 MQA PCM, and then whoever did it used "MQA De-Blurring" on it, and then perhaps they used "MQA Origami" on it, to make the file smaller?
      
      Dunno.
      
      Best of luck,
      
      john
      https://discography.ledzeppelin.com/lz2.html (Open in New Window)

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