RL Hot Mix Vs 2005 Classic Records of Led Zeppelin II Which Sounds the Best?

[@alisonoconnor8661]

Hi - great video- as usual! I bought the first classic pressing in '98 (180g), then the 200g in '03. Sound amazing both of them- no discernable difference between them. Then in 2012 I found a nm RL Creswell of Zeppelin 2. Wow! It is heads and shoulders above the classic. I don't say this lightly! Unbelievable! ( I also have a spare set of the Zeppelin albums 69 to 82 if you're interested on classic records label) . Enjoyed your comparison. Thanks - Kevin.

[@markorchard2272]

The Tori Amos covers of 'Thank You' and 'Whole Lotta Love' are simply astounding!! As I'm disabled and can't use Vinyl/turntables I get crazy at your (superb) comparisons. I must be satisfied with a CD. Although I've just bought some 5000€ speakers. They are awesome and all my CDs sound like RL/BG remasters 😂😂😂

[@toddbromgard5211]

Thanks for your review. I have several RL SS pressings VG to VG+ including a Monarch. I also have the Classic. As good as the Classic is, I completely agree with your conclusion that the RL is superior, regardless of which RL pressing. Also the Monarch is the best of the RL SS pressings. It is totally awesome even when compared to other RLs. Cheers

[@top5records796]

Awesome! I would love to find a Monarch some day!

[@onsenkuma-l2p]

If AP were to release the first four LZ titles (by a long stretch the best) in UHQR then they would do well to format them like the recent 'Morrison Hotel' UHQR box. It looks and sounds great, and doesn't take up too much space on the shelf. Some years back AP released Creedence Clearwater Revival boxes in both 33 rpm and 45 rpm formats (I have the 33 rpm version - amazing sound). With the LZ catalogue they could probably do the same and quickly sell out BOTH runs.

[@top5records796]

@@onsenkuma-l2p I completely agree! (Though it was LA Woman if I am correct, right?). These UHQR boxes are taking up more and more space.

[@onsenkuma-l2p]

@@top5records796 Oops! My bad - LA Woman to be sure!

[@top5records796]

What do you btw think of that UHQR? I haven’t heard it but I am really happy with the AP 45 RPM.

[@onsenkuma-l2p]

@@top5records796 I bought both 'Infinite' sets (LP and SACD) as pre-orders some years ago, when the price was good. While it's great to have tracks like 'The End', 'When The Music's Over' and 'Riders on The Storm' on single sides I find the 45 rpm format cumbersome, and I mostly avoid it. All things being equal though (Clarity vinyl included), a 45 cut does have somewhat better dynamics. You've got to weigh that against the loss of 'flow' that comes with having the music interrupted as a result of getting up more often. IMO the 33 rpm of LA Woman UHQR is preferable for this reason alone. Not that I plan to unload the 45 rpm!

[@andrew.drobyazko]

1969-'73 German pressings also can have the RL. 1969 ones have 'SD 8236' on the cover and the 1970-'73 ones have '40 037 SD 8236'; all have GEMA on the label on the record. some of the '69 ones are double RL, but as far as i know none of the later ones ('70-'73) have double RL (worth checking tho if you find one). you can realistically find these pretty easily in Europe / outside the US, but most of them won't be RL a quick giveaway to wether is it the RL or not - just look at the grooves and the distance from the last groove to the label. if you see that there is a big gap between the last groove and the label don't bother checking the matrix it won't be the RL. all RLs run pretty close to the label i had a '69 German NM-/EX double RL but sold it for $900 sound wise... i mean yeah it's so good, it hits you right in the face and blows you off of the chair. it's insanely good, but the price is just as insane for a worthy copy. overall tho if we put price aside imo it's a perfect cut of a perfect album as of December 2024. as you said closer to the end of your video, i'm also waiting for a quality repress which i think can in theory sound as good as the RL and will cost a fraction of the RL price

[@patrickvantooren6723]

Leuke video weer man! Ik wil je toch nog even “teasen” met het feit ,dat ik afgelopen November de Monarch persing heb gescored,in Den Bosch. Kostte me €275,-……. VG+. Na zes keer checken of de ss in de deadwax er wel écht in stond.

[@top5records796]

Wow! Dat is echt gaaf. En stond alleen de SS er of ook de RL? En hoe klinkt hij?

[@patrickvantooren6723]

@ RL staat er zeker bij: op kant A,en B! Ik kan hem alleen vergelijken met een Duitse persing met RL op kant A. ,en een Engelse reissue uit 1974. Het verschil is immens (zelfs met de Duitse RL,waarvan kant B overigens belachelijk slecht klinkt)

[@R3TR0R4V3]

The "SS" = Sterling Sound, not nearly as important as seeing "RL" etched there.

[@peterlaffey6328]

I much prefer the UK plum over the Classic , it's just got more rock n roll swagger about it . Still looking for the RL over here in the UK . Wish me luck 😂😂😂😂😂

[@ralfwalter3923]

I had my choice of 5 one day for the OG hot at my favorite record store. I grabbed the best one for about $250. It had a minor skip that was able to resolve (phew!). It sounds amazing. It's also in EX condition, CTH pressing. Very happy to have it. I have seen 20 to 25 in the wild over the past 15 years when paying attention, and they always get a lot of attention.

[@guitarwolftmge]

I have 4 RL s, 2 Presswell , a Monarch and a Terre Haute along with the Classic. If you want as quiet as possible, get the Classic. If you don't mind a certain level of vinyl noise, get the RL. IF you want to go crazy and your boss just gave you a big bonus to blow, get an EX- NM RL ( my Terre Haute is). Just, OMG...

[@top5records796]

Sounds like a dream to me!

[@guitarwolftmge]

I bought it while on vacation and after 3 margaritas. I was scared it would be no better than my other 3 VG pressing s. It was just GLORIOUS! Sometimes drinking and going on ebay actually is a GOOD thing, lol

[@larryh8072]

Didn’t know Good Times Bad Times was on LED Zeppelin II🙄

[@top5records796]

Slip of the tongue there!

[@alexshkoditch4593]

and when did they omit What is and What Should Never Be?

[@scott3744]

There is one more Led Zeppelin II for you to compare, the Mobile Fidelity / MFSL, half-speed mastered by Stan Ricker, from 1982. The master tape was 18 years fresher than when Classic Records made their release, and MFSL was still using the Japanese super vinyl formulation in 1982, which is better than any vinyl Classic Records (or maybe anyone since) has used. Yes, the new Mo-Fi's are nearly all cut from digital files, but not the old Mo-Fi's. And yes, many of the old Mo-Fi's have a reputation for smiley-face EQ, but not all. The original Mobile Fidelity pressings of Rickie Lee Jones (self-titled), American Beauty (Grateful Dead) and Deja Vu (CSN&Y) among others are still very well regarded on music forums like Steve Hoffman's. I remember back in the early 2000s on the Hoffman music forum, the Classic Records issues of Zeppelin II and III were almost universally disliked, for being too bright, while Led Zeppelin I and IV were loved. The 180g was preferred over the 200g, because Classic Records was having a lot of warping problems with their 200g pressings. So you might try the MFSL Led Zeppelin II. It should have the quietest vinyl by far, it's all-analog from when the tapes just 12 or 13 years old, and many people on the music forums say it's one of the really 'good' old Mo-Fi's. Like the Classic Records pressing, the MoFi of Led Zeppelin II isn't cheap, around $150-$200 for a clean used copy, and $400+ for a sealed example.

[@LetThereBeSound1]

Stop referring to the OG Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab/Original Master Recording titles as “MOFIs” would you?!?! They are technically not “MOFIs”. They are more accurately to be referred to as “MFSLs” ONLY products made after Music Direct bought Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab should be referred to as “MOFIs” IMHO. Thank you!

[@scott3744]

@@LetThereBeSound1 It's just short for Mobile Fidelity, a term that everyone who has collected these albums for the last 20+ years knows and recognizes. I use both terms interchangeably (MFSL and MoFi), instead of saying the same thing over and over (and over) again, that's all. I wasn't trying to upset anyone! 👍 😁 Music Direct bought Mobile Fidelity in 2001. Here is a May 6, 2001 excerpt from Stereophile magazine, where they referred to the company as MoFi: "The shuttering of the company last year was a shock to many who had come to rely on Mobile Fidelity for excellent-sounding discs. "Mobile Fidelity broke open the market for audiophile recordings," MoFi's former director of new technology John Wood stated. The introduction of gold discs put MoFi on a expansion path, but last year the label's major distributor went out of business, owing MoFi a substantial amount of money." www.stereophile.com/news/11033/index.html There must be hundreds of examples, before and after 2001, where MoFi is used interchangeably with MFSL by lots of audiophile magazine writers, and millions of times by people on the music forums. I have never heard of a distinction between 'MoFi' and 'MFSL' before. Do you have a link to anything like that? I'm always eager to learn! Thanks!

[@LetThereBeSound1]

@@scott3744 When the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab itself started referring to themselves as "MOFI" printed in the product, on literature and their marketing - which again coincided with the purchase of the company by Jim Davis owner of Music Direct - that's the marker IMHO. Look it up. Not even during MFSL's second coming when they were releasing their Anadisq 200g series products do you see anything being called MOFI in the jackets. Even in Discogs they clearly state that "ANADISQ 200™ is a special audiophile LP series by MFSL" (not MOFI) Cheers!

[@renatopasqualini5989]

I was also wondering if Analogue Productions would release any Led Zeppelin albums with the Atlantic 75 series. They’d def would be UHQRs if they did.

[@michaelrogers8126]

I have a 1982 pressing I bought in jr high and I have the 2014 Page/Davis remaster which I think sounds excellent. Never heard the RL hot mix in person but everyone seems to rave about it but it’s out of my price range. 🤣🤣🤣

[@top5records796]

I can understand it is incredibly expensive. You don’t happen to live in the USA right?

[@lpc1231000]

I understand the Atlantic folks group said at the outset the LZs were NOT getting permitted for the 75 series. Sorry about that.

[@realjaxon]

I have 1 RL pressing. It's 'In The Begining' Beatles vinyl record.

[@michaelrogers8126]

Yes, I’m from the states.

[@top5records796]

Then you might get lucky! I get messages from people once every now and then about finding copies for a couple of bucks.

[@dozo99]

Can't we stop using "Hot mix". it's not a different mix. Bob Ludwig just cut the lacquer real HOT. It's all in the EQ'ing

[@R3TR0R4V3]

Right, that kind of drives me nuts too.. It's not the mix, It's the mastering - calling it the _"RL Hot Master"_ or the _"RL Hot Cut"_ would be a more appropriate term. 👍 Also, the other thing that people always seem to get wrong is that Ahmet Ertegun never had a daughter! Lol. Maybe it was his niece or something? 🤷😅

[@R3TR0R4V3]

The _RL Hot Master/Cut_ is by far the best I've ever heard this record.. I have a Monarch, maybe VG condition and it's incredible. I don't really feel the need to search anything else out besides what I already have. 👍 You could call it good there honestly, as you're really just splitting hairs.. a Presswell vs a Monarch isn't going to be much difference. I'd be happy with what you got, unless you really want to go down that rabbit hole and have money to burn. ;) The Piros XX cut from '77 is also very good, maybe %90 of an RL. Definitely worth picking up, as it's usually cheap. Just so you know though, Ahmet Ertegun from Atlantic never had children, so it must've been a relative, perhaps a niece or something like that. ;-)

[@lucullus6127]

I would be surprised if Jimmy Page allows anyone to license the old versions of the albums now he has had them all remastered to his taste. They were junk anyway, with the exception of the first album, which should be clearly better than the newly remastered version .

[@top5records796]

They were junk anyway?

[@alisonoconnor8661]

What do you mean they were junk? Clown!

[@R3TR0R4V3]

I assume he meant the 2014 pressings? They're alright as starter copies, but I wouldn't necessarily call them "junk" either. 🤷

[@alisonoconnor8661]

@R3TR0R4V3 yes you're probably correct-

[@lucullus6127]

@@alisonoconnor8661 Led Zeppelin II on Classic Records - Seriously, What Could Be Sadder? An unmitigated disaster - ridiculously bright and ridiculously crude. In short, a completely unlistenable piece of garbage, and, along with the MoFi pressing from 1982, one of the worst sounding versions of the album ever made. Can anyone need more proof that a great many audiophile systems are failing to accurately reproduce records such as this ridiculously bright one? If this record does not sound ridiculously bright on your system, it’s time to make some changes, and fast, before you waste any more money on bad audiophile vinyl.

[@rumpill4skin]

The new press is better. I can really hear the plagiarism.