HOL re-issue

[Karen Newcombe <kln@staralliance.com>]

Alan,

I found the HOL re-issue CD to be very crisp sounding -- it is incredibly
clear -- even moreso than the UK and Japanese CD's.  The background vocals
and sounds have popped distinctly into hearing range, and the master tape
hiss, which is quite apparent (even annoying in some spots) on the earlier
pressings, is successfully suppressed.  

I have recently found myself wanting to go back to the vinyl and hear it
again -- we all know there is more audio information on the vinyl than on
the CD's, and I'm curious as to how the vinyl sounds now after years of
conditioning my ears to CD's. I'm also curious about Kate's take on this --
she put a lot of work into HOL, especially all the mixing for the Ninth
Wave, and I'm wondering how much of it was intended to be somewhat
submerged in the background, how much of it was intended to be clearly in
the foreground.  

I have every intention of buying both TKI vinyl reissue and the HOL vinyl
when it comes out, and setting them aside.  Some electronics firm is
working on making an inexpensive consumer version of that laser thingey
that reads vinyl without a needle, so I suspect someday in the
not-too-distant future, record companies will be reissuing new,
high-quality, full-sound-range vinyl again.  

At a premium, of course!

Karen  kln@staralliance.com