Shenmue III The Definitive Soundtrack is coming to digital, CD & vinyl starting November

I can understand everyone argument toward Shenmue being a cash grab. Honestly though I don't think this is a bad thing. The owner of LRG(Josh Fairhurst) is a fan of the series, more exposure, more merchandise and more sales. Shenmue needs any and everything to stay a float. I personally hope that LRG gives Shenmue 1&2 the same soundtrack treatment and also release a Shenmue 1&2 collectors edition.

It feels good to be in a place where corporate entities and fans are not only talking about Shenmue but are actively finding ways to promote and sell the franchise: Shenmue documentary, Shenmue anime, Shenmue World magazine, LRG vinyls and collectors editions. The owner also listens and interacts with the fans. I've reached out to him several times on Twitter and gotten responses.


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I can understand everyone argument toward Shenmue being a cash grab. Honestly though I don't think this is a bad thing. The owner of LRG(Josh Fairhurst) is a fan of the series, more exposure, more merchandise and more sales. Shenmue needs any and everything to stay a float. I personally hope that LRG gives Shenmue 1&2 the same soundtrack treatment and also release a Shenmue 1&2 collectors edition.

It feels good to be in a place where corporate entities and fans are not only talking about Shenmue but are actively finding ways to promote and sell the franchise: Shenmue documentary, Shenmue anime, Shenmue World magazine, LRG vinyls and collectors editions. The owner also listens and interacts with the fans. I've reached out to him several times on Twitter and gotten responses.


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If this guy is such a big fan, maybe next time you talk to him, you can ask him why:
1)Most all other Vinyls sold through LRG are 180gr, why would he put Shenmue on 150gr and still charge $27-30 a disc?
2) Why did they not choose to remaster the audio for vinyl?

They remastered the audio digitally, then transferred that over to vinyl. In todays age, unless the audio is mastered for vinyl, there is no reason to own the recording on vinyl. And, I compare that with the data discs release(s), Shenmue 1 was remastered specifically for vinyl, and it shows, it sounds beautiful. Also, the DD release was in the $27-30 range...I have no doubt Shenmue 2 will sound just as good, when it gets released in Jan.

I agree, getting Shenmue out there and talked about is great. But, at the same time, putting out a subpar product just for the name, is not going to help in the long run. Vinyl collectors nowadays are striving for audio fidelity, selling the boxset for such a high price is a disservice to both collectors and fans of Shenmue. Data Discs proved it can be done right.
I'd really like to know his reasoning on these. I guess I'm just one of those audiophiles, and feel shortchanged that my favorite game isn't getting the right treatment.
 
If this guy is such a big fan, maybe next time you talk to him, you can ask him why:
1)Most all other Vinyls sold through LRG are 180gr, why would he put Shenmue on 150gr and still charge $27-30 a disc?
2) Why did they not choose to remaster the audio for vinyl?

They remastered the audio digitally, then transferred that over to vinyl. In todays age, unless the audio is mastered for vinyl, there is no reason to own the recording on vinyl. And, I compare that with the data discs release(s), Shenmue 1 was remastered specifically for vinyl, and it shows, it sounds beautiful. Also, the DD release was in the $27-30 range...I have no doubt Shenmue 2 will sound just as good, when it gets released in Jan.

I agree, getting Shenmue out there and talked about is great. But, at the same time, putting out a subpar product just for the name, is not going to help in the long run. Vinyl collectors nowadays are striving for audio fidelity, selling the boxset for such a high price is a disservice to both collectors and fans of Shenmue. Data Discs proved it can be done right.
I'd really like to know his reasoning on these. I guess I'm just one of those audiophiles, and feel shortchanged that my favorite game isn't getting the right treatment.
Why not reach out to him yourself? There may be a reason as to why they choose to do it this way. Personally specifications of vinyls are not a big deal for me I bought mine purely from a collectors standpoint. I listen to the digital version.

As I said before the owner does interact and listen to fans, ask him why.
 
I tagged Brave Wave Productions about this on Friday but given it was the start of the weekend, they probably haven't had a chance to see it.

The digital version of the soundtrack is based on the same bad copy of the master track for "Dragon Street Night" that Shenmue 3 used. There is an obvious skip in the song at 31 seconds (Track 30 in the full soundtrack) that doesn't happen in the original from when it was used in Shenmue 2. Also, later in the same song, after the first loop point, the same skip doesn't happen. They could literally fix it by just copying a few seconds from later in the song.

I'm hoping this can be brought to their attention so they can fix it before they start manufacturing copies of the soundtrack with the mistake intact. Obviously, the mistake exists in Shenmue 3 too which is reason not to fix it, but since multiple things point to it being a mistake it seems like they should try and fix it if they still have time.
 
I tagged Brave Wave Productions about this on Friday but given it was the start of the weekend, they probably haven't had a chance to see it.

The digital version of the soundtrack is based on the same bad copy of the master track for "Dragon Street Night" that Shenmue 3 used. There is an obvious skip in the song at 31 seconds (Track 30 in the full soundtrack) that doesn't happen in the original from when it was used in Shenmue 2. Also, later in the same song, after the first loop point, the same skip doesn't happen. They could literally fix it by just copying a few seconds from later in the song.

I'm hoping this can be brought to their attention so they can fix it before they start manufacturing copies of the soundtrack with the mistake intact. Obviously, the mistake exists in Shenmue 3 too which is reason not to fix it, but since multiple things point to it being a mistake it seems like they should try and fix it if they still have time.
LRG never sent a digital download code when I bought the signed definitive collection, but Brave Wave said all editions are supposed to get the code, so I haven't been able to listen to it yet...

Every track has been carefully remastered to the highest possible audio quality by esteemed Swiss engineer Dan Suter, allowing Shenmue fans both old and new to experience one of the most profound audio experiences in video game history.
If what you say is true, then even the digital remastering may be subpar:( Dan Suter runs a website for remastering, his rates aren't that high https://www.dansuter.com/rates.

I'll compare the digital tracks to the kickstarter soundtrack when it arrives. For the price paid, these should be audiophile quality, now I'm just hoping they aren't THAT bad. Makes me wish Data Discs outbid LRG for the rights to 3.
 
If what you say is true, then even the digital remastering may be subpar:( Dan Suter runs a website for remastering, his rates aren't that high https://www.dansuter.com/rates.
This is not what I was implying at all and it wouldn't be Dan's fault. An audio engineer who remasters a modern music track is typically just tuning it so that it sounds good on a wide variety of hardware. They're effectively doing things you could do with an equalizer in an audio player like WinAmp, only on a much more detailed level. For older songs where the "masters" were not digital, it involves cleaning up an problems caused by the hardware at the time - background noise, distortion, etc.

If he was given the same source file used in Shenmue 3, which has the same problem, then he would have no way of knowing that the skip was a mistake. Only we as fans can know this because we're familiar with the source material.
1. It was used in a previous game, just in AM2's Sequenced format instead.
2. The filename for that song internally in both games (0011_024) matches, which tells it IS intended to be the exact same song and not just a variation of it.

The fact that no one at YsNet noticed the mistake in the game before it shipped was kind of disappointing, (it also existed during the backer trial when they accidentally included extra files) but I think it would be nice for a soundtrack release to have a mistake fixed, that's all.

Also based on his current price list, at current currency conversion rates Dan would have charged $13,169 USD to remaster the entire album. Maybe in a certain context that would seem low, but he was already starting with digital tracks. I'm just saying it's probably not fair to blame him for this, since the problem happened somewhere up stream.
 
I preoredered from Big Wak the complete CDs and just the regular vinyl selection, and now I am done with Shenmue III merch.
 
For those in the US, Amazon now has the CD Edition up for pre-order at a price of $97.98. It will supposedly be released on April 9.

Maybe I should have ordered it from Limited Run Games after all, seeing as how Amazon's current price is about twice as much as LRG was selling it for. At least it looks like they kept their word about it being available through general distribution, so everyone should still be able to get a copy.

EDIT: I also see that two of the vinyl editions are available for pre-order from Best Buy's website now, both with release dates of April 9. That probably means that the CD set will also be available from Best Buy.
 
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Does anyone know if the whole Brexit farce will cause any difficulties when the soundtrack gets shipped in April or is it too early to tell? Bigwax is French based and i'm a little worried that we might end up paying additional fees down the line.
 
Does anyone know if the whole Brexit farce will cause any difficulties when the soundtrack gets shipped in April or is it too early to tell? Bigwax is French based and i'm a little worried that we might end up paying additional fees down the line.
I think unfortunately you will be paying additional fees. However, if you paid and ordered before 31st December 2020 I believe you should escape having to pay 20% VAT. You may have to pay customs/import fees though.
 
I think unfortunately you will be paying additional fees. However, if you paid and ordered before 31st December 2020 I believe you should escape having to pay 20% VAT. You may have to pay customs/import fees though.
That's what I thought! I knew anything purchased from 1st January was going to be a ballache, but hoped that anything ordered beforehand is OK. In a way, I wish I ordered it from Limited Run as at least I will have paid the fees upfront. Fingers crossed there's no nasty surprises!
 
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