Kraftwerk remasters

[Zarquon]

Have you heard any of the 2009 "remasters" of the albums from Autobahn to Tour de France Soundtracks? Comments on how they compare with previous versions would be appreciated.

I ask because I have the soon-to-be-released German boxed set on order but, having received the new (English) edition of the Computer World CD today, I am so disappointed in the sound that I am thinking of cancelling my order...

[balhoon]

Yes, their excellent. When 'Tour De France', was released in the UK the cd had copy protection as most did in 2004/5 and had an adverse affect in sound quality. And the new version is substantially better.

[MattC]

I've seen reviews that suggested the remastered versions of the earlier albums were generally significantly better - but with some strange artifacts - and the later (post Electric Cafe) digitally recorded albums almost indistinguishable from the most recent CD editions...

...none of which is stopping being unfeasibly excited for the arrival of the German language box set from amazon.de AND the English Language heavyweight Vinyl set direct from mute records!!

Yes - i AM a big Kraftwerk fan!

[Zarquon]

(2009-10-24 16:31)balhoon Wrote:  Yes, their excellent. When 'Tour De France', was released in the UK the cd had copy protection as most did in 2004/5 and had an adverse affect in sound quality. And the new version is substantially better.

Thanks - that's encouraging. Strangely enough my CD of Tour de France, bought from Amazon.co.uk in August 2003, isn't copy-protected, and it sounds good to me.

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(2009-10-24 19:04)MattC Wrote:  ...none of which is stopping being unfeasibly excited for the arrival of the German language box set from amazon.de AND the English Language heavyweight Vinyl set direct from mute records!!

That's the spirit! I should be more positive.

[MattC]

....i've heard the UK release CD's (ripped using EAC) of these now - and i (...or rather the reviewer whose suggestions that the later albums sounded no different...) was wrong - they sound superb; with the more recent albums in particular sounding much more muscular and rhythmically snappier....

The Older albums are similarly transformed from being slightly thin sounding, into the ballsy syncopated techno klassics we all knew they really were!

Electokardiogramm from Tour De France is one of my benchmarks - and its never sounded better; much MUCH better than the initial release...

Forget The Beatles - THIS is the remastering event of the year...

[Zarquon]

(2009-11-03 21:51)MattC Wrote:  The Older albums are similarly transformed from being slightly thin sounding, into the ballsy syncopated techno klassics we all knew they really were!

I'm glad you like them. I'll post again when I've had a chance to listen to Der Katalog.

[delto95]

They are remarkable!! The finesse and production skills of the Kraftwerk boys has never been so noticable... MAGIC!!!

[Zarquon]

Der Katalog arrived today, and I have listened to at least one track from from each CD. I wasn't going to post, today, since I have been listening with one ear almost completely blocked, but one ear seems to have been enough!

In terms of overall sound it was hard to separate Computerwelt (the song) from the remastered Computer World. In terms of music, though, Computerwelt flows like the English LP while Computer World does not. It just sounds wrong, and I can't say I understand why.

As for the rest of what I've heard so far, the overall feeling is qualitatively (but not always "subjectively quantitatively") comparable with an upgrade from Valhalla to Lingo. In the few cases where I have compared songs on the remastered CDs with previous English CD versions, instruments on the remasters have seemed more focussed in terms of time, space and pitch, with more vivid tonal colour.

Die Mensch-Maschine (CD) does sound bass-heavy, to me, but in this case it's easier to believe that this is how it is meant to sound, even though I prefer a leaner sound. In other respects it sounds significantly better than my old Man Machine CD.

Re Elektro Kardiogramm: I didn't compare it with the original but the new version is an obvious improvement, although I'm not sure how much (if any) of this comes from re-working rather than remastering alone because the overall sound is so different from my memory of the original.

I can't say that there is obviously more "rhythmic snappiness" than before, on this or on other TDF tracks that I skimmed through, but I'm prepared to believe that my modest CD player is probably the limiting factor in this regard. The Mix (German remaster), which I'm listening to as I write, seems to be a different matter but I don't want to interrupt my listening to find out for sure!

Anyway, the bottom line is that Computerwelt is the only CD in Der Katalog about which I have any reservations, although unlike with Computer World - or at least my particular copy of it - these are purely sonic reservations rather than musical ones.

[mesajoe]

Is this re-issue sonically any different from the 12345678 (The Catalogue) 2004 boxed set?

[Evo]

I received the 8 CD UK box set from Amazon this morning. (complete with LP sized cover art, a great collectors piece!) All 8 CD's ripped to flac, and being played on the KlimaxDS, they sound absolutely fantastic - definitely agree on a more vivid tonal colour.

Have listened to only a few tracks so far, but Trans Europe Express, the tonality on this track is richer; and the following track Metal on Metal and AutoBahn, I have heard nuances in the mix just not heard before on the LP versions - excellent!

The sound from the original LP's was always on the lean side, with a 2 dimensional feel to the recordings - the remastered versions definitely get a thumbs up from me!