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Reviews: Elvis Presley: Elvis 24 Karat Hits!

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Reviews: 6

Review by Discspinner November 29, 2012 (7 of 8 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
Even after his death, Elvis continues to fascinate for his music as well as his career arc from premier Rock N Roll pioneer, to movie guy (I won't say "idol" because movies are not why he's an idol) to oldies/Vegas act to...well...you know how it ended. I was probably born 15 years too late to really appreciate much of his career and to have witnessed first hand the excitement of his ascendancy in the 50s. Despite that, I have a real fondness for his roughly 1960 to 1964 output.

Despite the weakness of not being a true fan, I have found myself over the years to always be in ownership of some of Elvis's work, usually in the form of a greatest hits compilation such as this one.

24 Karat Hits is a "warm" presentation. There is no excess brightness and the bass is representative of the era, a little light. This is very natural sounding in that one does not get the impression that technicians somehow extracted each instrument and vocalist and polished them up or tried to modernize them. There is plenty of distinctness to the instrumentation and backing vocals. At least in the early and middle years, Elvis's voice commands every song. There are few if any disappointments to be found in the remastering.

The song list of 24k is better than the DVD audio Elvis #1 primarily because it doesn't have that harsh remix of A Little Less Conversation and whatever that German sounding song is. The DVD audio is much maligned, which I think is due to the high expectations in advance of the release, and somewhat unfair. I did several A/B comparisons of "Marie's the Name (His Latest Flame)" and "Surrender" and in each case preferred the DVD audio surround mix just slightly. The DVD audio mixes seemed to have more bass, and better vocal/instrumental distinction. However, the mono mixes of the earlier recordings sound a little better on 24k Hits though I didn't compare those as often.

In summary Elvis's 24k Hits is a great sounding disc, and if you are an Elvis fan, or like me prefer to have a greatest hits compilation of his work rather than individual albums, then this is probably it. I feel like I am being a cheapskate ranking 4 stars on the sonics, but if I were to handicap for the recording era it would be a 5.

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Review by pontiac December 1, 2012 (8 of 9 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
Its been a very long wait for some elvis on sacd but at last its here! Being a major elvis fan i loved every minute of this disc. The tracks all sound so much better than any of the japanese paper sleeve collection or the shm/blu spec discs. The detail here is amazing. Certain tracks such as "love me" are just so crystal clear its like elvis is in the room. I felt "in the ghetto" was a massive step up in quality as i have always thought it was a rather muddy recording, not so here though its very clear indeed. "love me tender" always sounded like it was recorded on a portable tape machine to me, but on this disc the clarity is simply stunning! The only negative to the whole package is that somehow the rear cover art has been spoilt by listing "love me tender" and "a big hunk of love" in the wrong running order. This is still my disc of the year though!

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Review by raf72953 December 25, 2012 (4 of 5 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
The sound of this SACD is near perfect as I have listened to it. I have the DCC gold disc release of this title and I believed that that was the best I could ever hope to hear Elvis' voice and music, but from the opening notes of "Heartbreak Hotel" thru "Suspicious Minds" as I listened to the SACD release I now find that this disc is the next best thing to hearing a private concert from The King. If You love Elvis you owe it to yourself to buy this disc.

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Review by analogue December 27, 2012 (6 of 8 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
Elvis on Sacd. Who would of thought? I am a long time Elvis fan who always enjoyed his music. Unlike many others I never cared much for his showmanship.....his sex symbol magnetism......just his great voice.

I was always let down over the years listening to Elvis on regular cd playback. It was easy to suspect that the limitations of the 16 bit format would not allow for the majority of the information on the master tapes to be captured. After listening to this new sacd mastered from the tapes I am convinced I was correct in my assumptions. In a huge way.

Out of the 24 tracks on this sacd I would say that at least 14 are truly reference quality. Track 17....Cant help falling in love is so amazing in sound quality that anyone having heard only the cd's over the years would be converted to a true Sacd fan right away. The standout tracks on this disc are truly noteworthy and impressive. They capture his magic in phenomenal sound that is almost to incredible to believe.

I will try to explain why. Elvis had a true baritone voice and in later years it changed somewhat and had a golden sheen to it. The power of his voice has finally been captured perfectly on this new sacd. In addition........again finally.......the other band members and their instruments and their back up vocals have also been captured perfectly. In short this disc finally makes the whole studio affair totally musical ans enjoyable. The three dimensional aspects kept surprising me over and over again. Instruments like acoustic guitar strings and drums were so lifelike....the backing vocals supporting Elvis were stellar. ON the best tracks .to coin an overused phrase..its like he's in the room with you.

Several years ago I purchased the dsd mastered regular cd's of some Elvis albums. They were a real letdown to me. Non musical and flat. But this new Dsd mastered sacd is a true revelation.


Now to be fair there are some tracks that are not as impressive. Namely the 1st track on this disc. And truthfully there are about 3 others that are decent but not earth shaking. This is due to the tape and recording limitations. These are old recordings after all. Well over 50 years. But the best tracks sound unbelievably fresh and new.

The standout tracks..and there are a great many..including 3 bonafide audiophile cuts that will shock and amaze you are worth the price of admission.....well that's all I have to say.

If you are an Elvis fan you owe it yourself to purchase this disc.

Mr. MARINO DID A MAGNIFICENT JOB.

highly RECOMMENDED.

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Review by vonwegen June 4, 2013 (2 of 2 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
This release was a HUGE disappointment - compare this with the DCC gold CD and you will discover that the version of "Heartbreak Hotel" is an nth-generation dub copy that sounds like it's in a tunnel. This was Elvis's landmark breakthrough and they couldn't be bothered to locate the original mixdown mastertape?!

Even worse, when I try and crank it up, George Marino's mastering starts to hurt my ears. The louder you go, the shriller it gets. Beg, borrow or steal the DCC and compare!

As a result, even though the performances are top-notch throughout, I cannot give this more than 2-1/2 stars overall. It really is that big of a letdown and puts me off getting any of the other Elvis SACDs in this series.

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Review by siebrand November 30, 2015 (0 of 3 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
I have one disc, only one, from Elvis. I've got to feel ashamed? Just one? not a bit 'little?
it certainly is not much, but... certain songs, certain musicians, some voices ... are so well known that... almost not worth it to have them in the house ... so ... you hear them all the time on radio.
The Beatles, Sinatra, Elvis ...
Yet --- but I gave in and took Elvis 24 Karat Hits. I bought it a few years ago, so, just to have something of him.
I chose this version of Analogue Productions, a SACD with dim !.
The songs are all really nice, and this is NOT a surprise. What was new to me, which I did not expect ... is the sound quality. Superb! some heat as it should be with the music of that era, but without the annoying noise of the LP, no rustling, no ggtrx clashboom.
'A delicious one, listening to the voice of Elvis, with this SACD could may you surprise if you've never listened to a SACD of this caliber.
Absolutely recommended!

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