Prince - Purple Rain Extended SQ?

[millifoo]

Does anyone have the low-down on this yet? I see that it's a mostly 96kHz/24bit and a smattering of 44/24, but I'm mostly wondering how the mastering sounds for the "new" extended material. 

 

The main "disc" appears to be the 2015 mastering which appears pretty squashed from the DR report, but again, I'm mostly curious about the bonus content. Here's what's on loudness-war.info:

 

DR         Peak         RMS     Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR5        0.00 dB    -7.51 dB      4:38 01-Let's Go Crazy (2015 Paisley Park Remaster)
DR7        0.00 dB    -8.64 dB      3:53 02-Take Me With U (2015 Paisley Park Remaster)
DR6        0.00 dB    -8.53 dB      5:13 03-The Beautiful Ones (2015 Paisley Park Remaster)
DR7        0.00 dB    -8.78 dB      3:59 04-Computer Blue (2015 Paisley Park Remaster)
DR5        0.00 dB    -7.66 dB      4:15 05-Darling Nikki (2015 Paisley Park Remaster)
DR8        0.00 dB    -9.55 dB      5:53 06-When Doves Cry (2015 Paisley Park Remaster)
DR9        0.00 dB   -10.35 dB      2:49 07-I Would Die 4 U (2015 Paisley Park Remaster)
DR8        0.00 dB    -8.76 dB      4:23 08-Baby I'm a Star (2015 Paisley Park Remaster)
DR7        0.00 dB    -9.24 dB      8:45 09-Purple Rain (2015 Paisley Park Remaster)
DR9        0.00 dB   -10.37 dB     11:29 10-The Dance Electric
DR10       0.00 dB   -12.34 dB      4:58 13-Electric Intercourse (Studio Version)
DR10       0.00 dB   -11.56 dB      7:57 15-Possessed
DR9        0.00 dB   -10.32 dB      6:27 16-Wonderful Ass
DR9        0.00 dB   -11.28 dB     10:18 19-We Can Fuck
DR13       0.00 dB   -15.37 dB      5:30 20-Father's Song
DR11       0.00 dB   -12.88 dB      3:56 22-17 Days (7" B-Side Edit)
DR10       0.00 dB   -11.61 dB      3:48 23-Let's Go Crazy (7" Single Edit)
DR9        0.00 dB   -11.34 dB      7:36 24-Let's Go Crazy (Special Dance Mix)
DR10       0.00 dB   -11.02 dB      3:56 25-Erotic City ("Let's Go Crazy" 7" B-Side Edit)
DR10       0.00 dB   -11.08 dB      7:24 26-Erotic City (Make Love Not War Erotic City Come Alive) [Extended Version]
DR11       0.00 dB   -13.35 dB      4:05 27-Purple Rain (7" Single Edit)
DR11      -0.07 dB   -14.71 dB      4:03 28-God ("Purple Rain" 7" B-Side)
DR10       0.00 dB   -13.42 dB      7:58 29-God (Love Theme from Purple Rain) [U.K. 12" B-Side]
DR9        0.00 dB   -11.09 dB      4:54 30-Another Lonely Christmas ("I Would Die 4 U" 7" B-Side Edit)
DR9        0.00 dB   -11.74 dB      6:48 31-Another Lonely Christmas (Extended Version)
DR10       0.00 dB   -11.49 dB      2:58 32-I Would Die 4 U (7" Single Edit)
DR9        0.00 dB   -11.45 dB     10:18 33-I Would Die 4 U (Extended Version)
DR10       0.00 dB   -11.12 dB      2:49 34-Baby I'm a Star ("Take Me With U" 7" B-Side Edit)
DR10       0.00 dB   -12.08 dB      3:43 35-Take Me With U (7" Single Edit)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[tmtomh]

I'm not a high-DR absolutist, but the main album on this reissue sounds really squashed, just terrible IMHO. The DR ratings on the main album tracks are like 6-8 dB lower than the original 1980s CD mastering (which has to be cranked but is really good once you do that).

 

As for the "new" extended material on discs 2 and 3, it actually doesn't sound bad for the most part. The better DR numbers partially corroborate this. But it is worth nothing that Warner Bros does not (yet) have access to Prince's vault. So these are all likely not to be taken from the true master tapes and lowest-generation sources. On other forums, several die-hard Prince fans have said that some of the tracks sound the same or slightly inferior to copies on the best bootlegs. And some also have said that some Noise Reduction is evident on some (though not all) of the tracks, presumably because they're from copy tapes with more hiss on them.

 

Again, I'm not a real negative or critical person when it comes to these things, but IMHO this release is a studio cash grab and not the type or quality of release Prince's work deserves.

 

Just my $.02.