How does this 2012 edition measure up sonically to the reissues of David Bowie, Space Oddity, and Station To Station? Are the compression levels similar?

I concur with Matt on the 2003 stereo, it almost sounds like Iggy's attack on Raw Power. Alan kindly sent me samples of Moonage Daydream to compare to Matt's test in the other thread and you can actually hear the clipping in some places. Brrr.

http://blackartspr.com/roster/?davidbowie
Here you get a few high resolution pics and a biography

i don't think we saw too much if any compression on the earlier titles. it's not proving a popular opinion but the new Ziggy CD is the most compressed version to date, but it's important to remind people of the distinction between compression and peak limiting.

music has always been compressed, especially mono recordings and especially singles as they were intended for radio play. compression works by fattening up the sound, and filling it out. it can be done in both the analog and digital realm. peak limiting on the other hand means pushing the volume up to a point where the loudest points go beyond 0dB and would normally distort. to prevent this the peaks are trimmed at 0dB (or a predetermined point, usually between -1 and 0). what was once above that point has now hit a ceiling, so the dynamics are squashed. this can create a sound similar to analog compression but what might be punchy and enjoyable for short periods soon becomes fatiguing when listened to for the length of an album or more. this is because our ears are being presented with reduced dynamics (i.e. the distance between the quietest and loudest parts have been compromised, sometimes considerably) and there's literally no space or air in the music. from time to time we do hear digital distortion in heavily limited recordings, but i'm not sure this is evident on any bowie titles.

back to ZS40 then. the new CD uses compression to fatten the sound, along with a fair amount of EQ to bring the midrange (where the vocals lie) to the fore. peak limiting is applied but sparingly. the most obvious instance of this is on Suffragette City where the two channels are evenly matched when the percussive right channel has previously always peaked higher than the left. even on my modest system this was apparent even without visual aids. sometimes you can feel compression and this is one such occasion.

the DVD-A included with the LP has the same CD master in hi-res. unfortunately it is the very same master, so the compression, limiting and EQ are identical. the 2003 5.1 and 2.0 remixes and bonus tracks are, as mentioned and illustrated earlier, pretty heavily peak limited. personally i think this is a real shame, a wasted opportunity. it is of course consistent with the STS DVD-A with its heavily limited Harry Maslin mixes.

as with the STS box, the star of the show is the LP with ZS40. free of added compression and any limiting (we're told it's an all-analog cut) it really lets the music shine through. the biggest disappointment for me is that the hi-res on the DVD-A wasn't a digitised version of the LP master. this new LP is being described as "definitive" in certain quarters and i wouldn't argue with that assessment.

Matt, I'm unable to digitize vinyl but if you can could you add a rip of Moonage Daydream to the poll thread? To be honest I found it pretty hard to pick a best sounding version among the eight digital editions you provided and I'm curious if my untrained, not too hifi ears can pick the difference. If it's true what you are saying about the best version available only on vinyl, it's a pretty sad story.

I will add the 2003 stereo version to the same poll. In certain vocal sections you can actually hear distortion. Quite unacceptable that this ended up on the DVD.

i was sticking to 16/44 cd versions for the poll as it would get even more unwieldy if we added the hi-res versions (there's also the 2003 SACD to consider), let alone vinyl. actually vinyl editions show more obvious differences than the CD options, and i recently tried a similar experiment with 13 different vinyl copies... i know, too much time on my hands. i'd also think twice about adding the 2003 as it's a remix and thus not a fair comparison IMO.

no reason to be hard on yourself for not finding it easy to choose. three of the discs are the early RCA discs and there's little to choose between them.

I didn't mean as an extra option to choose from in the poll, just to verify with my own ears that the vinyl really sounds better. I hadn't played LPs for a decade or so and was actually surprised that my copy had a few pops when I first played it. Vinyl nostalgia surely but also slightly deterring from the listening experience.

I will take your advise and leave the 2003 stereo from the DVD. Anybody can hear that's not an improvement on anything

i just finished my rip of the new LP. pops and clicks are sadly inevitable with vinyl but removing them is part of the ripping "experience" and this new ziggy is cleaner than most.

Thanks for the reply. Oddly enough I like the stereo fold down by Maslin for STS. I'll give the fold down on the Ziggy DVD a go...

The clips are a little hard to tell the difference between, I think for Ziggy, I'm just looking for the sound to be beefier, and the drums to sound less brittle. Might give the Moonage remix from the 30th another listen.

it's easy enough to get a beefier sound but it won't be true to the recording, so it's always a trade-off. personally i want it to sound closest to the master tape, the sound of 1972. the zs40 is the most bass-heavy cd, so it'll probably be your best bet. remember that the samples were volume adjusted and the zs40 had to be reduced the most to sit with the others.

Got my 40th vinyl from Amazon in the most OTT packaging ever - and they couldn't fit the CD in the same box, that came separately!!

Mine was shipped to Australia the same way. Must have cost them a fortune to post the album overseas in such a large box!

Check your vinyl!

Although I love this "vinyl" update pressing problem means I can only get so far through It Ain't Easy. Going back to Amazon to get replacement.

I can't have the only bad pressing so beware if your keeping it mint it may be there in the future when you give in one day.

I'm not going to be able to play my vinyl at the moment. Hopefully if Amazon gets enough notifications that there is a manufacturing problem with the disc, they'll arrange a replacement for everyone who bought it from them.

have heard reports of skipping problems elsewhere. no problem with mine i'm relieved to say.