I wish more musicians would follow this philosophy. Especially rock bands. I've been turned off by the whole "loudness war" thing. IMHO the music really suffers when it is over processed and dynamically crushed. I've purchased "Long After Dark" and "Full Moon Fever." So far I really like what I'm hearing. My Bottlehead/Blumenstein setup including my new BottleheadDAC really shines with these recordings.
From the download source.
The Hi-Res (24bit 96K) remastering of the Tom Petty catalog reveals a level of detail that was only previously heard by a select group of musicians, producers and engineers in the studio. It’s as close to the sound of original stereo master as you can get. We’re very happy with the way it came out, and believe it’s an important way to preserve the legacy of this great body of work.
If hearing the highest possible sound quality is important to you, then this is where you’ll get it.
The remastering was done in the fall of 2014 by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. (Brian Gardner did “Highway Companionâ€.) I supervised it and Tom approved it. Great care was taken to find the highest quality masters and transfer them with minimal EQ and little or no dynamic range compression. We went with whatever tape sounded the best –mostly the original first-generation masters but in a few cases, second-generation “EQ copiesâ€*.
To allow for full dynamic range, and to let the music “breathe†the Hi-Res versions have about 6-8db less digital level than a typical “loud†peak-limited CD or mp3. To enjoy these albums to their fullest extent, play them back though a good system and turn up the volume.
With this increased level of detail and sonic impact, we hope you'll enjoy rediscovering these great albums as much as we did!
Ryan Ulyate
April 2014
* Everything in the catalog was generated from the original first-generation masters except: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, You’re Gonna Get It, Pack Up The Plantation (reels 1-3) and Southern Accents. These were mastered in Hi-Res from second-generation “EQ Copiesâ€. These source tapes include any EQ, level and dynamic processing added (with the approval of the album’s producers) during the original mastering sessions.
Tom talking about this release.
