The Doors Vinyl Box [180 Gram Vinyl]
![The Doors Vinyl Box [180 Gram Vinyl]](/Images/B000LRY9P4/medium.jpg) | Average Customer Rating: Recommend The ultimate collectible: a limited edition (12,500 copies worldwide), 7-disc vinyl box covered in faux lizard skin with 12-inch 180-gram HQ vinyl re-issues of the original stereo mixes of the band's six Morrison-era studio albums, plus a copy of the '67 debut ("The Doors") in mono. Includes "The Doors", "Strange Days", "Waiting For The Sun", "The Soft Parade", "Morrison Hotel", and "LA Woman". Product details and pricing info |
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10 Customer Reviews Posted
- Digitization robs analog musicality
- On a good vinyl system you can hear grain and lack of musicality.
Digital grain and antiseptic sound that lacks what brings us to vinyl, really wish they hadn't gone through a digitization stage.
I'm not sure they had to have a digital stage. If they "had to" it means equlization had to be done which, of course, means that precious history has been lost to deteriorization. Too bad.
Worth buying to have all the lp's in perfect condition. But not the sound that delights vinyl devotees.
There are better (more musical) original issues to be had (and the hunt is part of the fun). - 2008-08-26, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Six stars
- This collection is everything I could hope it to be: A quality vinyl remastering with reproductions of the original packaging. Despite the negative comments of a few reviewers, I find the sound quality to be superb. It isn't perfect, but this is the best I've ever heard this music sound.
If anyone was to re-issue the Doors catalogue, who better to do it than Elektra founder Jac Holzman, original Doors engineer Bruce Botnick and master of mastering Bernie Grundman? I have read all the criticisms but if the critics were to read Bruce Botnick's liner notes they would be more forgiving.
This was not a simple re-mastering, but a restoration project. Some of the tapes were deteriorated which necessitated the use of digital equipment in the process. Sure, it isn't 100% analogue, but I certainly can't tell any difference.
The choice to remaster at half-speed, as Mr. Botnick explains, had a tradeoff. The sound quality is superior throughout the frequency range, with the exception of the lowest frequencies. The 1960's vintage equipment was not able to reproduce those frequencies accurately at half-speed so there is an apparent lack of low end. I did A/B comparisons with two of my original albums, Strange Days and Soft Parade. The low end on this remastering was as good as the originals - it just wasn't as improved as would be expected with a re-master. All things considered, they made the right choice to master at half speed.
Ideally, I want to hear a remaster sound exactly like an original release played on audiophile equipment. Isn't that why we listen to records instead of CDs? We want to hear it like it was originally meant to be heard. This collection is an accurate reproduction with an improvement in clarity.
My copy of the first album, side two, was defective. I contacted Rhino by e-mail and got a quick response. I was told I would be sent a replacement copy for that one record along with a 7" copy of the Light My Fire single. I believe they have, or are in the process of, correcting un-sold copies, which may explain why they have raised the price about $20.00
The individual album covers are exact copies of the original album covers, possibly digital photos of the originals. The color is too dark on a few of them but I'm being picky here. They aren't as heavy as the originals, but they need to be lighter to fit into a box set. The inner sleeves are quality static-free sleeves. As a nice touch they included reproductions of the original paper sleeves over the static-free ones. They even made the LA Woman album cover with the clear front and yellow sleeve inside. They only missed one tiny detail: The original Waiting For the Sun cover had the slot on the left so the record would be inserted from the inside of the cover instead of on the right.
I've played each of these records on a quality system through and through, over and over and over. I think they are as close to perfect as anyone but a critic could expect. Buy it now. - 2008-07-13, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Great Product !!!
- Every fan must have this product. I am a sound man and I'm telling you that this sounds great!! There are several bad reviews but don't pay attention.
These people made a fantastic job !! - 2008-07-03, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Worth The Wait?
- As most of us know, this box has generated a tremendous amount of press in the audiophile vinyl collecting circles. It was produced and mastered by the loving and legendary hands of Bruce Botnick, Jac Holtzman, and vinyl guru, Bernie Grundman. The plan was to present the definitive Doors vinyl set that would capture the original magic of mint 1st run editions. They sold the set as replicas of the originals down to the packaging and would pack it all in a faux lizard skin box, with a hand numbered limited edition of 12,500. Doors fans and audiophiles alike relished the prospect of replacing their old, mostly inferior Doors vinyl with a set that should become legendary and highly collectible.
For the most part, they got the pressings right. Played on good turntable, these sound full, crisp and completely un-colored. For many of us, we have never heard an original Doors vinyl album, and certainly never the "mono" 1st lp. For me, these are the holy grail of Doors vinyl.
Now the cons: Seems that a number of people are having problems with scuffed lps and "worn" looking album sleeves. My box has a "crackly" sounding stereo 1st lp, and the outer jackets look like they have been sitting un-sealed in a record rack for 5 years. Plus the inner sleeves are not sleeves at all.... merely cheap repro's that fold-over around a white-sleeved lp. Not what I come to expect from deluxe audiophile boxed set editions from a band this acclaimed. Rhino needed to take a page out of the book of Classic Records, who have produced an extensive catalog of truly indispensible rocks titles from the 50's, 60's and 70's, complete with perfect reproductions of the original album packaging.
Now the silver lining: Rhino is backing their product. They have a program in force to replace damaged, defective or otherwise unacceptable components from your box, free of any charges including shipping. They also have a plan in place to cease distribution of any more sets in order to make the fix at the warehouse. So do not despair. This set will still be available.
Tempers are surely frayed because of all the confusion and inconvenience, but in the end, it's the music that matters most. These are the best Doors records I have ever heard. If you are a Doors fan and a vinyl collector, this is a must have set. Once they get the wrinkles ironed out at Rhino, this should be a highly sought-after package. I know, in spite of the glitches, I would never part with mine. - 2008-05-27, 1 of 1 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- expected better quality
- overall this set is just ok. i expected better from 180 gram vinyl. the very first lp has a loud pop and skip on "20th century fox" (and i clean my lp's and stylus before play),and a few more low "cracks" throughout the other songs!! the sound, though, is outstanding! i have only listened to 2 other lp's from this set, "morrison hotel",and "l.a. woman",these had very few "cracks" and were overall excellent. i just dont expect any skips,pops,or cracks from audiophile vinyl, or, i would have rated this a 5.
- 2008-05-26, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
