Currently I only downloaded the 3rd disc to get an overview of the work done. The files I put on my Cowon S9, and plugged in my Sennheiser Headphones.
Cowon S9 ? Does it mean you listened to this as mp3's ?... Just curious.
Most of the cuts are invisible, only one cut (at the end of Jedi Master, Mynock Cave) was a bit abrupt.
Yes, the "clack", I see. As far as I remember the SE has the same. I fixed it in the same time than correcting the pitch on the RSO parts. You can hear the complete version in the "Imperial Edition", or grab the Mynock sequence as a sample in the IE thread.
For comparison I used the Anthology versions and especially compared my favourite tracks "Hyperspace" and "Lukes first Crash". Both of them got a much clearer instrument seperation. Also some noticable volume changes were done, especially in "Lukes first Crash".
... Hard to compare LPs versions with the Anthology. Only 40 sec on the 1st minute of Luke's First Crash is a pure Anthology part.
It would be very interesting to get to know what was the ideal ABC had in mind, to know how ABC decided what kind of sound is to be achieved and when to stop equalizing ... Any inputs on this, dear ABC?
I presented 4 versions before on these boards. They were in good shape but they weren't called "Audiophile Edition" but "Optimum". Only it occured when I decided the "Optimum" finished, that I just had a declic about how it should really sound depending on the source recordings. Also I understood what was to be taken into consideration (see post 1). If you want to name my ideal for this work then, perhaps I'd think "respect" towards all the particularities of the different sources.
As you said, all my concern was to get those tracks to sound the more natural as possible. All those recordings are rather limited in order to do that and the more I tried to make these powerful in the past, the more it revealed to be the wrong way. Funnily, they look somehow more dynamic to me now, I think.
Anyway, I will download the other 2 CDs very soon and only expect the best. Soon this set will shine in my soundtrack collection.
If you began by CD3, you've already heard the best (excepted for the "Imperial March" I think). However you may be surprised by what some of the Anthology and SE tracks can give, though I messed up with a couple (CD2, tracks 4 & 6 notably).
But my best effort remains on the Imperial Edition, no matter what. There has been a lot of corrections I already summed up on the previous page here + notably the use of a 20Khz parametric EQ to deal with most of the Anthology tracks. And notably, the "IE" focuses on the CD3 slight alternate equalizations (for a big half of tracks), less bright, just what it needs.
Every one who saw that DVD may tell you how much "Drawing The Battle Lines" or "Carbon Freeze" sound great now. But they will sound good already on the AE.
Thanks.