Some info re: the Petty release from Hoffman forums:
1) Everything was mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. 24 bit 44.1K and 24 bit 16K mastered at a higher level for streaming (Spotify, etc). 24 bit 44.1K specifically mastered for iTunes (MFiT) -for Apple streaming. Apple now tells us that they can accept 2496 files, but they were too late in telling us for this project, and, at this time, Apple has no facility for streaming at that rate. Happy to consider that for the future!
The CD was mastered at a LOWER level than the original (for more dynamic range). There is another big project that I worked on this year that will come out on CD at a lower level as well. This is how I'm going to do things from now on, in large part from all the comments on the Hoffman Forums about dynamic range. IMO, CD is now it's own ecosystem, and those that are willing to pay for physical media should be rewarded with good packaging and good sound.
24 bit 96K format was mastered at even lower level (most dynamic range) and available for those that currently offer hi-res streaming (i.e.Tidal) and for digital downloads (i.e. HD Tracks). The new vinyl of the original album was mastered from the 1/2" analog master. This was NOT the case in 1994, where the album was mastered from the 16 bit 44.1K CD files! In 2015 Chris and I resequenced the original 1/2" master so he could cut from that. If you bought the deluxe vinyl set Warner's put out in 2015, that is essentially the same (analog) source and EQ that we used on the new pressing. The other vinyl discs were mastered from 2496 Pro Tools sessions (the digital format I transferred from analog multitrack into and mixed the songs) or 2448 Pro Tools (for the Home Recordings, which were transferred from ADAT, a 48K digital recording system that Tom used in the early '90's).
2) Trust me, you will want Disc 5! Some great, earlier, more "rock" versions of some of the songs, some with Stan on drums. "Wake Up Time" and "Don't Fade On Me" are the same takes that were on An American Treasure. They fit in well with the sequence on this disc. "Lonesome Dave" was not included, so we could fit in some more unreleased material (i.e. "You Saw Me Comin'"). Girl On LSD is the same master as the b-side, but it was remixed to fit in with the other new mixes on this disc. (If you're into "hi-fi" and dynamic range, you'll like this mix.) I'm not sure if Disc 5 will be available for downloads. For sure it's not going to be on streaming services.
3) Disc 2: "All The Rest" was as Tom conceived and finished it in 2015. We did not want to alter it in any way. Climb That Hill Blues shares similar lyrics, but is a different melody and just guitar and vocal. Tom loved this and wanted it on the disc.
4) Disc 4 is all live material, mixed from multitrack sources from concerts as early as 1995 and as late as 2017 (no Saturday Night Live). Designed to flow together as one show, imagining the kind of set list Tom would come up with.
Finally, these discs are jam-packed with material. They are all sequenced to "tell a story". We all put a lot of thought into song selection and song order, as Tom was the master of the album art form.
