A friend who works at Warner Music Group might be able to get me the three recent Bowie CD box sets (Five Years, Who Can I Be Now? and A New Career In A New Town) at their employee price, which means all three for just over $100. I own all of the albums included in these sets (other than the bonus discs, of course) on CD, about half Ryko & half EMI. I've read good things about the first two boxes but I know a lot of people have problems with the new one. My question is, how much of an upgrade (sound & packaging) would I be getting compared to what I already have?

I might also be able to get these sets on vinyl but they will be significantly more expensive...yet a lot cheaper than retail. How good are these on vinyl?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Too bad you don't do hi-res digital, the 1st 2 are huge upgrades in that format.

Re vinyl: the mastering are very good on the 1st; the 2nd mastering (used for the 192's) is very good on the second; though the 96/24 & cd set used an inferior master. I am not happy with the mastering of the 3rd box; I am keeping all my old cd's from the 3rd box set; & I almost never keep duplicates.

In fact the new box is my disappointment of the year along with the Spirit SACD's, unless the 192 version I have not heard yet is an upgrade.

So cd wise, I would definitely recommend box 1 (other than "Live At Santa Monica", they used the AWFUL EMI master for that title) & box 2 as both being upgrades; I can not recommend box 3 in either cd or 96/24 format.

Thanks for the feedback, Geff. I have no interest in hi-res digital. For me it's either vinyl, CD or standard MP3. Based on my listening habits it works fine for me.

I checked with my friend about the vinyl box sets. He can't get the first one but could possibly get the second one for $75. Not sure I could justify that cost but will consider it next year.

Any idea how the latest box set sounds on vinyl?

It's got to be better than the cd; because the cd is too loud & bass heavy for most turntables to handle.

One of the issues with vinyl (& I have no idea on this one) is what is the quality of the vinyl used for a given pressing (you probably know this already).

I think you would be happy with the cd's of boxes 1 & 2, but not 3.

Rich,

At that price, get all three CD box sets. They're beautiful to look at and display (compact design, mini LP repro sleeves, vintage labels). For the first two sets, I would say that you'll be able to safely get rid of your individual CD pressings. The third, you might want to keep your prior pressings. But the three boxes look great on the shelf together, and at the kind of discount you'd be getting, yes, buy all three.

I don't do vinyl so I can't give you a personal opinion, but the reviews at Amazon for the vinyl version of the third box are about as negative as they are for the CD version:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073NXD2MD/?tag=imwan-20

Doesn't seem like a good option.

Thanks for the feedback, Geff & Linda. It's good to know that I could unload my original CDs from the first two batches and not miss them. Once my renovations are done (just over a month from now) and I figure out if my wife & I have any money left, I'll figure out if/when I can ask my friend to order these sets. It would be nice to have some of them on vinyl...the only Bowie LP I've ever owned is the Starting Point collection of his early material...but I might enjoy having three matching CD box sets even more.