The ‘Hot Mix’ of the Led Zeppelin II (1969) by Robert Ludwig

Robert C. Ludwig is an American mastering engineer of great repute, handling almost all major recording formats for major record labels. He has dealt with recordings of some of the most incredible musical acts on planet earth including Jimi Hendrix, Rush, Megadeth, Metallica, Nirvana, Queen, The Police, David Bowie, Madonna, Radiohead, Daft Punk, etc. to name a few. 

Still to this day, he remains an active influence in the music industry but one of the most superlative examples of his prowess is the initial pressing he mastered for the Atlantic Records release of Led Zeppelin II in 1969.

Though there were many subsequent releases of the same record, the one Robert Ludwig did is now regarded as the ‘hot mix’ amongst collectors because of its capability to cause the needles on cheap record players to literally jump out of the grooves due to the sheer energy and hot dynamic range they possess. It was because of this feat the pressings were deemed defective and the Robert Ludwig version of the record ended up having a limited run. 

A new dialled-down version of the pressing was ordered by the Record executive resulting in a quieter (and as Ludwig would later put it, "puny") record. However, the record is now regarded as one of the best-mastered vinyl records in the history of the format & copies of it can fetch up to $1000 for its absolute capacity to invoke the legends of rock - Led Zeppelin, into the living rooms of the owners.

The phenomenon further establishes the fact as argued by studio engineers, technicians and serious record collectors that vinyl record pressings never sound the same, sometimes the difference is unrecognizable sometimes it's a lot. Copies, bearing different record labels, pressed in different countries, using different equipment and personnel, will impart different sonic flavours.

Though the quality of the stamper - the grooved metal plates used to press a lump of hot vinyl into a record album - matters, in the end, it is all in the hands of a cutting and mastering engineer to decide the fate of the sound of a vinyl record.

Available now at The Revolver Club - Check it out!