LZ1 - best digital version?

I have a couple of CDs of the first Led Zeppelin album, but I'd rather listen to my scratchy G+ A1/B1 Polydor pressing than either of them - both the CDs sound rolled off with overly boosted bass.

What is the best digital version of this album? And do any of them come close to the first press UK vinyl?

cheers

 

I have the 96k/24b lossless copy from 2012 (Quboz) which sounds pretty good

 

The Barry Diament masterings sound the best to my ears…

 

Yeah, I didn't get those for 1 or III, for some reason. I'll see where they're available from.

I have the Barry Diament master and the 1995 Japanese remaster. Neither quite touch the sound of the first press vinyl, even in G+ condition.

 

There was a thread on Hoffman with a blind listening test between the 3 digital masterings. I think the Diament won but I would need to check. I like the Diament best, but I don’t have any vinyl copies to compare.

 

I just checked on Hoffman. Out of an admittedly small sample of 44, 80% chose the Diament mastering in a blind listening test between the 3 digital masterings.

 

If you're talking about the Japanese releases in the card sleeves, I didn't think these were remasters. If they are, who did the remastering?

 

Those are the Marino remasters. Some like them, but I'm yet another who far prefers the Diaments. They are superb.

 

I prefer the Diament master. My Classic Records vinyl certainly tops it though.

PS, "rolled off with overly boosted bass"? Really? LZII and Presence are the only Zeppelin albums with a particularly meaty bottom in my experience.

 

Relative to A1/B1 UK vinyl, yes.

 

Well, I have now ripped an compared the Diament, Marino and 2014 Page CDs.

None sound like the A1/B1 UK vinyl, which has it's own charm, or are bad in any way. The Marino version is much more in your face, the Page and Diament are very similar, softer and closer to the vinyl, with the Page having a smidge more detail. I think the Page version will be my go to.

 

I really wouldn't credit Page for the remaster. He probably popped into the studio for an hour to sign it off and he's most likely half deaf anyway.