Having only quite recently started to download music I was convinced by this thread to download the Wilson remix Yes tracks from HD Tracks.
A bit of a mistake as it turned out. I should have listened to my now nearly 50-year-old copies of these 5 albums first & paid more attention to my, often fulsome, praise of my LP12 on numerous posts throughout these forums.
From the off, Yours is No Disgrace was lacking Tony Kaye’s keyboards coming in over the top of the intro guitar riff & was instead relegated to a polite & recessed sound in the background. This effect was noticeable on several other tracks.
The overall mix was clear, detailed & acceptable but not as I remembered parts of it to be. Maybe it was my rather more than 50-year-old memory playing tricks?
Only one way to find out. Play my ancient copy of The Yes Album to confirm it is a muffled, thin sounding, badly mixed analogue relic of the past that I should never have wasted money, that I didn’t have at the time, on.
From the first moment two things were apparent. Firstly the volume on the download was far too quiet compared with the LP, which sounded pretty normal to me. Listening at 20 (LP) needed to be turned up to 30 for the download. Most of my other downloads are about the same volume as their LP/CD equivalents.
Secondly, the LP sounded superb. Crystal clear, full-bodied , each instrument clearly heard in the mix & Kaye’s keyboards coming in powerfully, as I am sure was originally intended.
I have only compared the one track so far & will try a couple more over the next few days to see if my view of a single track is repeated.
Turning up the volume, the HD download sounded OK but, so far, definitely no better than my vintage album copy &, on the basis of the first track, undoubtedly second to it.
Next time I am temped to download modern versions of albums I already have, I will play my copy first before deciding whether to purchase or not!
In conclusion, not a bad download if you don’t have the original albums but I think it could have been rather better & I can’t help wondering if Steve Wilson actually listened to the originals first?