Almost all re-releases and significant new releases of 80s and early 90s. Combo with a most different sound that I have is Micheal Jacson Thriller on usual USA lp (not even first press) and original 1982 CD. Lp - super good, cd - awfull.
I have a couple of lossless (CD) copies of "Thriller." Measuring the "1982" one using the "TT Dynamic Range Meter," the overall "DR" calculation comes out as 12, which matches some of the
1982 versions.
There is a fair bit of audible noise so I wonder if it's inherent or due to additional generational loss, albeit there is quite a lot of "space" in the arrangements allowing it to be unmasked. Overall, I'd say it sounds good; clear, well balanced, good transients on percussion--though it is obviously constrained by the equipment that was used at the time.
Incidentally, there is a good article about the recording process over on the
Sound on Sound website.
Here's a relevant quote:
"[Recording engineer Bruce] Swedien [circumvented] one of the deleterious side‑effects of tape‑based multitracking: that
repeated playback of the tape during the
overdubbing and
production process would progressively
dull the transients of previous recorded tracks. 'If you go back to the recordings I made with Michael, my big worry was that if those tapes got played repeatedly, the transient response would be minimised. I heard many recordings of the day that were very obviously done that way, and there were no transients left on those tapes. So what I would do would be to record the rhythm section on a 24‑track tape, then take that tape and put it away and wouldn't play it again until the final mix. And — holy cow —
what a difference that made! It was just
incredible.'"
Also, very specific techniques were used to acquire those (excellent) drum sounds, and use was made of (Blumlein pair) stereo mic'd recording. The sound FX at the start of the title track are a good example of "true stereo" microphone technique.
An absolute top-of-the-line production. In the "pop music" world, I don't think anything like it will ever be made again.