Worst Audiophile remaster ever !!!
T. Holthouse | Campbell CA | 05/22/2010
(1 out of 5 stars)
"As you can tell from the title I'm more than disappointed in this reissue.
Let me begin by saying that I have one other Audio Fidelity release as well as several DCC gold CD's and they are all excellent (all mastered by Steve Hoffman).
I have had this album in 3 versions since 1979:
a. The original A&M record (was not too bad as I recall).
b. The Mo Fi half speed mastered album (Oh how I wish I still had that !!).
c. The horrible A&M (1989 or so) CD (which until now has not ever been re-mastered).
I also have several of these songs from the 2 disc "Gold" best of.
This disc is only a mild step up from the standard CD but both are terrible !!
They are flat, one-dimensional and totally lacking in any drive or punch.
I would have expected more even from the dim-witted record companies re-issue ???
I'll be kicking myself another hundred times that I ever got rid of my 300+ vinyl records back in the 80's. I have poorly made copies of the Mofi 1/2 speed record that make this gold CD sound like a 1960's transistor radio.
Don't buy it.....
Todd
P.S. I'm listening to this on over $10k of hifi equipment including a high end player with HDCD capability. HDCD is NOT 24/96 but uses a trick (I won't go into it) to get closer to 20bit resolution (still @44.1khz sampling) in the middle frequencies !!
"
2 stars for the remastering,not the album.
B. J O'Connor | Holmdel,NJ USA | 05/25/2010
(2 out of 5 stars)
"I love this album by Styx very much.That out of the way,this 24-karat gold remaster(by Kevin Grey) offers little,if any,sonic upgrade over the A&M 1980's CD.The volume level is still low and while there's a bit more detail (in the quieter moments) and a bit less muddiness,it still sounds rather flat and lifeless.In fact,if you are new to this album and haven't heard the old CD,you might come under the impression that this disc wasn't remastered at all,just something thrown into the marketplace to cash in on the 80's CD reissue craze.On the plus side,it does contain the poster that was included in the original 1977 release,though the colors look a bit off.All in all,the Audio Fidelity "The Grand Illusion" gold CD isn't horrible,but it's certainly not worth forking the extra money over. (P.S: For those who need a sonic upgrade,try getting the 2009 Japanese SHM-CD remaster(UICY-93921),which IMO destroys both the A&M and the AF ones,sounding crystal-clear,powerful and minty-fresh.Yes,it's pricey and hard to find,but you won't regret it in the end.)"
Good Re-master of a Classic Styx Album
K. Schafer | Delaware USA | 05/24/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"If you are looking for a re-master of this Styx album that sounds radically
different from the original A&M CD release or the A&M vinyl release, you won't find it here. What you will find is a very good re-master of this Classic Styx album. The engineer that re-mastered this recording did a good job of pulling out some of the detail that was not present in A&M's original CD release. The engineer has not messed with the original mix to any major degree. So, the average listener may not hear or feel any difference to other releases of this recording. In my opinion, the original recording and mastering of this album was not the greatest and at times has left me disappointed. It would be interesting to see if an engineer could make this recording sound better then it's original release.
Audio Fidelity's goal with this release was to bring out the missing detail from the previous releases while not affecting the feel of the original recording and they have done a very good job with this one. The other thing that impressed me here was that they have included the original liner notes and design including a "mini" version of the poster that was included in the original vinyl release. This was sadly not done with any of A&M's original CD releases of Styx's catalog previous to 1984. If your looking for a release of this album that gives you more of the detail of the original recording without "coloring" the original sound, then this is the CD for you."
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1