Hawaii: For God And Country Delayed

TCB1, what does that have to do with anything? The point was on sound quality. And on the basis, they don't deserve any congratulations, not that they wold have anyway. It is estabished howJoseph Pirzada runs his business (and has his 'associates' post here under various names inc John Burrows) - it's not surprising there was little money for audio imporovements given its settlement with EPE last year over the Boxcar debacle.

Kind of confirms what I posted under the Such A Night in Pearl Harbor topic.

What I meant is that those having both editions mention a slight improvement to maybe none. But that was to be expected. So exactly as you stated: new source? etc. It remains to be seen whether their add will lure me into it.

I have the Boot LP version, The Box Set Release and now this release and it is clear to my ears that the sound if better, and to me thats all that matters, packaging is stunning and almost worth the money in its self, why winge about something that was far from perfect to start with, there is no mirical sound difference just an improvement.. I wish people would moan more about the bootlegs that release re-issues with such great sound imrovements. then we may not see as many..

Living Room Hifi: Meridian DSP 8000 (speakers) plus Meridian 800 V4 DVD (around £50k) Hifi / Home Theatre: Meridan DSP 7200 x 4 (front and rear speakers), DSP 7200 Centre X 2, Meridian DSP3200 x 4 (used as side effect speakers, Meridian SW5500 x 2 (subwoofers), Meridian 800 V4 DVD; Meridian 861 V6 Surround Sound Controller (around £100K) Send me a message and if you live near by (or want to travel) then no problem. I'll show you how the Silver Box version of Pearl Harbor sounds superior to the MRS one and how you can make it sound as good as it's possible to make it! And the very best of Elvis from a recording quality viewpoint - early 60s, particularly the 'Elvis Is Back' sessions - will blow you away! They are stunningly recorded!

Just compare the covers. I'll give the nod to MRS. It will be interesting to hear the various opinions when 3764 Blvd is released. As the saying goes you can't make a silk out of a pigs ear 9or something to that effect. So unless they found a new tape source which I doubt I will remain skeptical.

Davrid - without sounding like a smart arse, I'm really amazed that you feel the sound on the 1980's mastering of this show (from the silver boxed set) sounds better than MRS's set after some equalizing and sound stabilizing adjustments. My equipment is nowhere near the quality of yours, but the MRS set sounds good coming from the window of my summer house - which I purchased instead of stereo equipment. OK, now I'm being a smart arse.

yawn!! Please keep talk about speakers, woofers and other material private: we have a mail option for this kind of talk!

orion, I too have a 'summer house', well two actually - a villa in Malta (where I grew up) and an apartment in Istanbul for when I'm there ;) Anyway, getting back to the point! As I've mentioned before, the MRS set is a very nice package but from an audio point of view it's aveage at best. They have boosted the midrange to make Elvis' vocal 'clearer', but in reality its not, it's just louder compared to the rest of the frequency response. Variations in pitch and drop-outs have not been fixed although it seems MRS have tried to fix the latter by artifically extending the decay on the previous notes - it hasn't work and it makes for a horrible artifical sound, actually worse than the drop-outs on the Silver Box Set. As for the pitch variation, I can correct this myself on my hifi. The top end is simply horrible on MRS. As I've also said before, some people may prefer the artfical boost to Elvis' vocal but that doesn't mean it's better sound, just presented differently and undoubtedly less accurately. Now, you can argue forever more does it really matter on such poor source material but that's subjective, a matter of personal choice. On my hifi's the Silver Set version does sound better -if I wanted to articfically raise the midrange, again I can do that on my hifi -and I don't mean adjusting a 10 bar grapic equaliser but digitally through the best DSP in the world, well, at least availale on a hifi!

Ian - when you state that "it's not better and many people could have saved their money", I have to disagree with you. It's obvious that with the CD from MRS, you get a nice book with some interesting pictures and detailed of his involvement with the memorial. That's much better than the silver boxed set or a poppy, clicky vinyl representation. As far as the sound, I like the adjustments that were made. It's obvously that only so much could be done to try to improve the sound and I feel that that was done. Therefore, I appreciate the efforts and am satisfied with the upgrade. If you do a side-by-side comparison, you'll hear where the adjustments were made. As Davrid calls it "a boast" to the vocals. For my money, I like the leveling of the vocals in the set. Oh, Davrid, Malta, huh ? 'touche.'

Orion, I bought the MRS set and I think they did a good job on the packaging and, yes, I can easily see why others would/will buy it, especially if they don't have the Silver Box Set. My only issue with it is that I don't buy into the sound improvements rhetoric. That doesn't fundamentally make it a bad product, just not the one which has been pushed and praised so much, well, at least not to me. Ultimately, it's all down to person choice but I think sometimes many so-called audio improvements are simply 'vapourware' - when people are led to believe there are improvements, well, they convince themselves they hear them. But saying that, in this instance, there are changes, just no improvements! That some people seem to prefer the changes, still doesn't make them 'improvements'. Subjectivity and perspective!

Just reread the 3764 Blvd advert. Notice what they are saying about the recording. They have revealing information about the show & the way it was recorded. All that does not translate to improved sound. The advert sounds very dubious & misleading to me.

If its the same tape source, its the same sound. The publicitiy machines are working overtime on this concert man, first MRS and now this! They know the Elvis fanbase well.

Personally I don't care if it's the same source, a different source or lifted from the EAP CD release. Anyone who can't hear a difference must be deaf ! Just take for instance the last 30 seconds or so of A FOOL SUCH AS I ? If you haven't done a comparison to judge for yourself you might like to listen to Elvis Express Radio this Friday (13th April) I'm sure you will hear THE TRUTH there for yourself, only then can you comment and judge.

OK I played the EAP boxset and the MRS back to back and now I can hear the sound improvement. I thinks its mimimal but I can hear it. Its sounds cleaner. I would be interested to see if this new release is any better. I am waiting for the reviews before I purchase.

Steve, that's exactly what I'm gonna do too : wait and see. I have my doubts about a better source, it already would have surfaced a long time ago I think. Always El.

I did my own restoration on this show using the little known Quansac system developed in Bulgaria. Basically it uses dual spindel compression heads coupled with diverted perpetual flanges. The whole system cost around £57K as it utilises four DFPT 9178 subwoofer converter surround sound speakers. Just hope nobody thinks I'm pretentious sharing this info.

I do have my reservation on what is being announced here. Too many vague details, nothing concrete; more photos, more audio, etc.. I think this new label should indicate clearly what they have that’s different from the MRS released. Here are my reasons why: 1 - This is the second time it has been delayed. No a good start for a new label, especially if you are releasing the same kind of product as another well established label (MRS). The ‘bonus’ items (ticket repro, vinyl, bonus photo) may be nice items to have, but not essentials in determining what to buy. 2 – MRS has already released their product. The reviews are in, and if people want to buy it, they better get on board. Therefore, if you have something more than they have (exclusive Elvis interview, the other performers, etc) anything else then say what it is. Don’t keep us guessing. There are way too many ‘new contact’, ‘new data’, ‘other sources’ and ‘more audio’. All these statements are too vague for my taste. It did not stop me from buying the MRS, and so far the package is impressing (I haven’t listened to the CD yet). 3 – Comparing yourselves to other labels (obviously MRS) and saying that you’re not another ‘quick money grabber’ and that your release will be better, bigger, etc…. MRS is an established label with good products. Just with the titles, they already beat you to the punch. ‘Such a night in Pearl Harbour’ says it all; ‘Hawaii: For God and Country’ could mean anything (Aloha from Hawaii, the November 1972 concerts). As for the sound, it has to be better than the 1980 release, simply for the advance in technology alone. I do realise that they are working from primitive recordings, so they can only improve so much. But any improvement of this outstanding show will be appreciated by the Elvis fans, and again, it’s now available by MRS. So my advice to this new label is to do another quick announcement, and say exactly what will be better, new, improved, whatever, that will be on your ‘summer’ release (if it’s not delayed again) and stop the guessing game. By this summer, there will probably be more ‘new’ Elvis products out there, and your release may get lost in the shuffle. TCB

I think this label has missed the boat by a long shot.... but knowning whos behind it this is no surprise at all

Sounds like a marketing ploy. MRS beat them in putting out the concert first. Now all of a sudden they have mind blowing information. This reeks of damage control. Put doubt into the consumers minds so they don't buy the MRS product. What else can they do? I could be wrong but don't bet on it.

I have no idea at all who's behind all this and I don't need to know. Yet, just for some photos and a little intel (which will be on the internet anyway) this is uninteresting. Only when there are reports of a stunning new source this willlure me in reconsidering. Everybody agreed that MRS did the best they could and I doubt whether these gys can do better. One cannot repair what is not there.

"Everybody agreed that MRS did the best they could ... " Actually, there is no such consensus. MRS did not improve the sound-they merely created a slighly different artifical one. As I've said before, I can do a better job using my Meridian DSP8000 speakers - on my hifi (all Meridian) the Silver Box version actually sounds better. Whether 3784BLVD have been able to improve it or indeed have found a new source (extremely unlikely) remains to be seen - but I'll judge that when I actually hear it, rather, than like some, dismissing it before it's even been released. However, the rhetoric and lobbying surrounding the MRS release has become ridiculous and such nonsense has to be dispelled.

Perhaps you should have released it in all its glory, and get it to NO 30 in the Independant UK Chats like MRS have just done, they need to be congratulated not dismissed..