Which Version of Viva Las Vegas Sounds the Best?

[jyroflux]

For those of you who have heard all three versions or at least the new Sony and FTD versions. This poll is only concerned with the sound quality of the music and nothing else.

[ColinB]

Are you talking about the song of that title, or the whole soundtrack ?

[jyroflux]

Are you talking about the song of that title, or the whole soundtrack ?

The whole soundtrack.

[jyroflux]

What, no opinions? Has no one heard all three or at least the FTD and Sony? I'm on the fence about buying the new Sony budget releases, but I won't do so on the comments of a couple of people. I was hoping for at least a dozen responses.

[drjohncarpenter]

Although the 2003 FTD has some loudness issues, it remains the go-to package for these sessions.

[midnightx]

FTD

[jeanno]

FTD for me.

[elvissessions]

Are you serious? The opening track alone on the FTD is painfully limited and clipped beyond belief. Good lord!

The whole thing is just ... wow ... seriously?

We're talking about the SOUND here, right? Not the inclusion of alternate takes, better packaging, whatever else.

The SOUND.

The FTD's dynamic range is crap, the amplitude is boosted beyond all reason, the clipping is atrocious.

I'm frigging appalled, folks.

[drjohncarpenter]

Are you serious? The opening track alone on the FTD is painfully limited and clipped beyond belief. Good lord!

The whole thing is just ... wow ... seriously?

We're talking about the SOUND here, right? Not the inclusion of alternate takes, better packaging, whatever else.

The SOUND.

The FTD's dynamic range is crap, the amplitude is boosted beyond all reason, the clipping is atrocious.

I'm frigging appalled, folks.

So, your choice is ... ?

[elvissessions]

Without a doubt, the new Sony disc. It's the first time the soundtrack has been done right.

The FTD disc certainly improved on the Double Features disc, which was plagued by several problems, most glaring of which was that notorious digital echo. (Why, Ernst, why?)

But to think the smooth, balanced, dynamic sound was trapped on those tapes all along ... it's rather sad in a way.

But at least we finally have it.

I hate to quote myself, but ...

http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=50308&p=716648&hilit=viva+las+vegas#p716648

[drjohncarpenter]

Thanks. I missed the post. Your review is convincing. Is the restoration confined to the soundtrack itself? The FTD had a number of terrific outtakes. Where may I find the new edition of VLV?

[elvissessions]

It's just the master takes, but there are a couple of nice points:

1) The outtakes were treated quite well on the FTD, in my opinion, better than the masters, so it's still the best place for the collectors in us all.

2) The new Sony disc is priced as a budget disc, and you can get it for about seven bucks from Amazon. It's pretty hard to go wrong at that price.

They've treated the material very nicely with this latest pass through the archives. They seem to have avoided the excesses that spoil so many reissues these days; in other words, they resisted the temptation to mash the loudness button constantly.

[keninlincs]

The FTD for me

[jyroflux]

Okay, I bought the Sony version of the soundtrack because the price was too cheap to pass up. The sound is very good and very clear. Way better than the Double Feature (DF) version.

Comparing the song Viva Las Vegas from this version to the 2nd To None version (after adjusting for the over-compression on the latter), they sound very similar but the 2nd To None version has a tad bit more warmth to my ears.

So, if you are on a budget, you can't go wrong purchasing the Sony version.