Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced (1967) [VINYL] {US Legacy 2010 + 4 Bonus - By Prof. Stoned}

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced? (US Stereo Legacy 2010 + 4 bonus)
16bit/44.1kHz (Redbook Audio for CDR burning)

01 - Purple haze
02 - Manic depression
03 - Hey Joe
04 - Love or confusion
05 - May this be love
06 - I don't live today
07 - The wind cries Mary
08 - Fire
09 - Third stone from the sun
10 - Foxey lady
11 - Are you experienced?
Bonus:
12 - Can you see me?
13 - Remember
14 - Red house
15 - Highway chile

Produced by Chas Chandler
Engineers: Eddie Kramer & George Chkiantz (Olympic Studio), Mike Ross (CBS Studio)
Dave Siddle (De Lane Lea)
Remastered by Eddie Kramer & George Marino at Sterling Sound, New York City

Line up:
Jimi Hendrix: Vox, Guitars
Noel Redding: Bass, Backing Vox
Mitch Mitchell: Drums

Sources:
Tr. 01-11 - Side 1: 88697623951-A STERLING 187631(3) / Side 2: 88697623951-B STERLING 187632(3)
Tr. 12-14 - Side 4: MCA-11608-LP2B-1 RJ (= Ray Janos) STERLING 17727.4(3)
Tr. 15 - Side 1: RTH 2016-A BG (=Bernie Grundman)

Hardware:
- Technics 1210mk2 Turntable
- Jelco SA-750D Tonearm (w/ JAC 501 cable)
- Audio Technica 150MLX stylus
- Yamaha CA-1010 amplifier
- RME ADI-2 A/D Interface (conversion to 24 bit, 96kHz)

Software:
- Audition 3.0 used for adjusting DC bias, editing, (incl. manual removal of clicks
and pops), adding gain and making the cue points.
- Click Repair used with setting Cl: 5, Cr: 0
- CueListTool v1.7 & Mediaval CueSplitter used for generating the .cue's & .m3u's.
- SOX Resampler for conversion to 44.1
- Mbit+ for dithering to 16 bit

Vinyl Transfer & Restoration by Prof. Stoned

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prof sez:

Finally after many years Experience Hendrix has offered us all-analog vinyl versions
of Hendrix first three masterpieces. So following my previous Hendrix drops, which I believe attempted
to present these recordings in their best sonic incarnation, I've now decided to tackle these three titles.
But not without extensively listening & comparing the sound quality with previous issue's, of course.
I have to say, considering the limitations of the source material, I'm very pleased with the Legacy's.
For the record, I'm talking about the US pressings only. The Music on Vinyl label that covers the European
market has not been using the same metal parts from Sterling Sound and apparently insisted on cutting
their own metal parts. The results are significantly less stunning than their US counterparts and the question
whether they used analog sources is debatable.

But back the Legacy's. This is the first time that 'Are You experienced?' has gotten an all-analog
vinyl cutting directly from the mastertapes, or so we are told.
When Universal/Back2Black did the vinyl reissues of AYE & Axis last year, a digital source was
used for AYE. The reason for this -Eddie Kramer explained- was that some of the individual mastertapes
had not been properly aligned during the recording and this was easier to correct in the digital domain.
But analog or not, the results for this new pressing easily outdo the otherwise fine sounding B2B version.
It is brighter and more hissy than all previous reissues but also more detailed in the high-end.
The highs do not sound unbalanced or boosted to me. Quite the opposite; I have a feeling that all previous
issues' had the highs slightly rolled off. Do keep in mind that this album was not an audiophile masterpiece
to begin with and so this new mastering reveals the limitations and flaws in the original recording
more evidently than ever before. Personally I applaud this bare bones approach but it may not be for everyone.
One minor critical point from me is that "Manic depression', 'Love or confusion' & 'I don't live today' are a bit
too heavy on the uppermids. I guess that's mainly how these songs were recorded & mixed because the mono
mixes have the same problem.

Because the Legacy replicates the original US configuration without the remaining UK album tracks
and the first three UK B-sides, I have added all the existing true stereo mixes from the best sounding vinyl
sources. Naturally, Tr. 12-14 were taken from the Back2Black pressing which was also cut at Sterling Sound.
Although this pressing was sourced from a 44.1 kHz file, it slayed my original US Smash Hits on which
these tracks appeared for the first time in stereo. When viewing the whole master wavefile for this release in
a frequency analyzer, these tracks appear to have somewhat less information above 20 kHz, which backs up
the claim that the Legacy is indeed all analog (or at least from a high resolution file).
The last track is the 1999 first-time-in-stereo remix of Highway Chile and this was taken from the vinyl
version of Voodoo Chile: The JH Collection on Classic records.
Although this 4 records box set was cut by mastering genius Bernie Grundman, it did not offer the huge
sonic improvement on the CD version I had hoped for. This has everything to do with the sources he was
provided with (probably digital). But still, it is marginally better sounding.

This was transferred from NM copies.
The records are breathtakingly quiet and after a light declick, folding the two mono channels together
and some manual restoration work, I think I've achieved an almost tape like quality.
Some tracks have some tape flaws. The title track for example has dropout on the right channel
in the beginning of the song. Because of the new clarity of this recording, this sticks out a lot more here
than on the older releases. But it was always there. 'Can you see me' suffers from glitches that were
induced by a panning knob. This is most clearly heard during the breaks with the 'flying' guitar notes.
The first 5000 copies of the Legacy are numbered. Mine is No. 3477.

Enjoy!