[Ron D]

anybody grab this one yet and if so what are your impressions?

[ted_b]

This strikes me as a very odd choice for hirez.  A live 70's rock concert, not tremendously recorded in the first place.  I attended this tour; great stuff but...24 bit?  C.mon.  I wonder if the studio overdubs (because of out of tune backups) will be hirez too. 

The video, Rockshow, has been recently remixed for 5.1 and maybe might be fun...

This album, however, was due to be re-released, as it had been over four years since doing the last time (for like the 8th time).

From wikipedia:
Wings over America was another success for Wings, reaching number 1 in the US in early 1977
The album was repressed a month later, in January 1977
It was issued as a double-compact disc in 1984 on Columbia
The album was first released in the UK on compact disc on 26 May 1987 by Parlophone
The album, along with McCartney's Ram and Tug of War albums, was reissued in the US on compact disc on 18 January 1988
The album was issued by EMI two more times on CD, in 1989and on 19 February 1990.
A 1999 reissue of the album by Toshiba-EMI in Japan reinstated the three-disc format from the original LP issue, and is the only edition of the album to do this.
On 14 April 2008, the album was released as a digital download on both iTunes and Amazon.
It was removed for some time off of digital music sites in 2010 and 2011, but as of August 2011 it is available for sale on iTunes.
The album was reissued on 27 May 2013 as part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection.
Rockshow will also be reissued, this time on DVD and Blu-ray, with its audio remixed into 5.1, on 10 June 2013.

And that's not even mentioning this new hirez version, wherever the heck it cam from. 

I love Paul!  I really do...but c'mon!!!!!!

[firedog]

This strikes me as a very odd choice for hirez.  A live 70's rock concert, not tremendously recorded in the first place.  I attended this tour; great stuff but...24 bit?  C.mon.  I wonder if the studio overdubs (because of out of tune backups) will be hirez too.

+1.

 Like the album, but the LP was only OK sounding, nothing more. Unless someone tells me this sounds WAY better than other versions, I'll probably pass.

On the other hand, we should all be happy that McCartney has embraced hi-res, and is releasing all his catalog this way. Most so far is also out in versions without added volume compression. Wish more artists would do this.

Later edit: just illegally downloaded a few tracks from the standard CD version of the remaster to see how they sound. Good. Especially notable that the bass and drums are more audible and have more "meat" to them. But even the improved sound still is nothing special. Hard for me to believe that this is worth the bucks for a high res version. Maybe $15 at Amazon for the 2 CD set makes some sense, especially if you don't already have a copy. And the CD price will probably go down.

[rhandmj]

Firedog, the deluxe box set is worth every penny of the $130 I paid for it just for the 3 books and the swag. Best package overall I have ever had the pleasure of purchasing. The music is almost a kind of bonus. That it includes a download of the whole thing in 24/96 is even more amazing. a download file of over 4GB. It is indeed not the most ideal recording by more modern standards but at the same time it is an analog recording transferred from the original master tapes and the tonality and usual the hi-res transfer makes the best case possible for it. I enjoyed it tremendously and actually listened to the album all the way through, a rare thing for me, I enjoyed it so much. A great 24/96 time machine, worth every penny.

[firedog]

Glad to know it is good SQ.The swag just doesn't interest me. I have the original LP, and to my taste the poster etc. are sort of cheesey looking anyway. So for me, the $130 for the hi-res isn't much of a deal. I would certainly like to find someone who has the new hi-res download and the new CD, and compare the two. The CD sounds good, I'm doubtful in this case that the hi-res is much better.

[rbbert]

...Hard for me to believe that this is worth the bucks for a high res version. Maybe $15 at Amazon for the 2 CD set makes some sense, especially if you don't already have a copy. And the CD price will probably go down.

I'm not really a McCartney fan, but at less than $20 (currently) the 24/96 is definitely worth it.

[firedog]

I'm not really a McCartney fan, but at less than $20 (currently) the 24/96 is definitely worth it.

I've only seen it for $22.98 at HDTracks; the discount no longer applies. In any case, the question is how does it sound vs. the Redbook version of the remaster.

[rbbert]

I've only seen it for $22.98 at HDTracks; the discount no longer applies. In any case, the question is how does it sound vs. the Redbook version of the remaster.

I'm pretty sure the code "newhires15" is good until June 3.  As to how it sounds, I don't have the CD.  DR values posted on the Internet suggest less compression than any of the CD versions.  As others have posted, it's obviously not the best recorded album in the first place.  If you like the album and can play back 24/96 files, it seems to be a no-brainer.

[rhandmj]

Since I bought the super deluxe (sucker for cool swag) I have both the CDs and the DLs, I suppose the CDs have some compression applied but not obnoxious, the DL do not and there is a significantly better tonality and sense of perspective. Even a modest recording benefits from higher resolution.

In this case, not an overwhelming difference, but still a worthwhile one. I doubt Wings Over America could sound any better.

[simon wagstaff]

Um, anybody download and listen to it yet???? :duh:I have it and haven't listened yet but I have never heard the original so what do I know?