Excellent CD Masters

[Blumlein 88]

IMO, the entire "remastering" scene is more about mining the back catalogues, some clown fiddles with/ruins and then re-releases in order to get true followers to buy yet another copy of something they bought 20+ years before, sell to young people as something 'better' and simply capitalise on the retro/classic bandwagon.

The original releases are the standard. Anything else is usually a mess in my experience. The collector value is all in the original CD releases- nobody really cares about endless re-masters full of squashed dynamics, truncated lead-in/outs and spectral changes (EQ mostly). Sure, some 80s classic albums were a bit light on bottom end. That was until they worked out how far and deep digital recorded bass could be. Then it became an arms race.

Take Dire Straights for example. The original album CDs haven't been bettered. Apart from an early Love Over Gold with excess tape hiss (part of the charm), they've (remasters) made everything worse. And the compilation albums are trash. I wish they weren't but they are.

Jean Michel Jarre's Oxymore (2022) is an incredible sonic achievement. Mastered in multichannel/binaural/stereo/Atmos and the CD has a code to access the highest quality binaural download as a bonus (I haven't done that yet). If you like Jarre, it'll be a bit of a difficult one at first, but it's growing on me. Much like Zoolook broke the mold in 1984, but went on to be a favorite. Plenty of reminders of all his previous work buried in the soundscape of Oxymore.

I think that is the main reason. There have been the odd pieces that benefited. Overwhelmingly it is just selling the albums one more time as long as they can.

 

[tmtomh]

Had a question about one of your older comments in this thread. You were saying some releases were Remixes, but not remasters. Speaking about Steve Wilson Yes remixes. How can you have a remix without also doing a remaster? Perhaps you meant to differentiate between re-masters using original mixes vs remixes (which will require a new mastering as well).

Good question! Steven Wilson does artist-authorized new mixes from the original multitracks. So yes, my main intent was to differentiate a remix from the multis from the more common remastering from the existing 2-track stereo mixdown master tape.

As for a remix by definition being a remaster, of I totally understand what you are saying: once someone like Wilson does a new mix/remix, that new mixdown still has to be mastered. On the other hand, one could also say that a remaster logically means that a source has been mastered once again - but a remix is a mastering of a different source, because the source is a new mixdown master that's different from the original. So I would say that Steven Wilson's mastering is the first mastering of a new source, the new source being his remix.

I don't want to be pedantic - I just feel that at worst contrasting a "remix" with a "remaster" does no harm, and at best I would say that terminology correctly puts the "re" where it belongs in each case.

 

[Mart68]

Take Dire Straights for example. The original album CDs haven't been bettered. Apart from an early Love Over Gold with excess tape hiss (part of the charm), they've (remasters) made everything worse. And the compilation albums are trash. I wish they weren't but they are.

As with a lot of remasters they tend to vary from album to album

For the 1996 remasters, LOG. BIA and the debut are fine, Making Movies and Communique not so good to the point of being worth avoiding.

I'm still looking for an original release of those two.

For LOG the Sony SBM release is flawless in every respect.

As a general rule the compilations are always worth avoiding.

 

[Blumlein 88]

One compilation of sorts that bucks the trend, and are good are the more recent Jimi Hendrix CDs released by his family. Mostly recordings that were never released previously and are of good quality. Some are versions of things done elsewhere others are things done by him at Electricladyland and never released any time previously. Many were in the can when he died, and no one released them as ownership was in question for a long time.

 

[Mart68]

One compilation of sorts that bucks the trend, and are good are the more recent Jimi Hendrix CDs released by his family. Mostly recordings that were never released previously and are of good quality. Some are versions of things done elsewhere others are things done by him at Electricladyland and never released any time previously. Many were in the can when he died, and no one released them as ownership was in question for a long time.

You mean 'First Rays Of The New Rising Sun'?

I have that, nothing wrong with the mastering on that, although doesn't do it for me musically. I really only like his first two albums and the live album ('In The West').

 

[Blumlein 88]

You mean 'First Rays Of The New Rising Sun'?

I have that, nothing wrong with the mastering on that, although doesn't do it for me musically. I really only like his first two albums and the live album ('In The West').

Yes that is one of them. First released in that series I think. I quite like it myself.

 

[Mart68]

Yes that is one of them. First released in that series I think. I quite like it myself.

I didn't realise there were others, I'm so out of touch now.

 

[restorer-john]

For LOG the Sony SBM release is flawless in every respect.

Interesting. I'll have to dig out my 1996 copy which IIRC, said "remastered" down the tray edge (clear). I wonder if that's the same super bit mapping remaster?

 

[Mart68]

Interesting. I'll have to dig out my 1996 copy which IIRC, said "remastered" down the tray edge (clear). I wonder if that's the same super bit mapping remaster?

It does have that on the SBM, also on the back, bottom right it has the SBM logo.

I like it as a test disc as it has all the requisites - very quiet to suddenly very loud, sound effects, dense mixes. Sounds rotten on bad systems! Sounds amazing on good ones!

 

[raindance]

Jean Michel Jarre's Oxymore (2022) is an incredible sonic achievement. Mastered in multichannel/binaural/stereo/Atmos and the CD has a code to access the highest quality binaural download as a bonus (I haven't done that yet). If you like Jarre, it'll be a bit of a difficult one at first, but it's growing on me. Much like Zoolook broke the mold in 1984, but went on to be a favorite. Plenty of reminders of all his previous work buried in the soundscape of Oxymore.

I bought a collection of Jean Michel Jarre called "Essential Recollection" and it was enough to put me off his music. Cranked up to 12, crushed and harsh as shit. Are there any good collections someone can recommend?

 

[concorde1]

Off top of head some of my "best of the best sounding" CD's are:

Pink Floyd - Meddle (1st Japan Blackface Harvest; CD) [perhaps all early Harvest CD's are the same but level-altered - not sure]

The Alan Parsons Project - The Turn of a Friendly Card (HDAD 2006 ; DVD-audio/DVD-video)

Blue Swede – The Golden Classics Of Blue Swede (72438-19522-2-1 ; CD)

Men at Work - Business as Usual (CK 37978 ; CD)

Dionne Warwick - Anthology 1962-1969 (RNCD 75898 ; CD)

Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters (CK 47478 ; CD)

 

[formdissolve]

But what is the analogue source they used? From the site's "About Us" page, it appears they use "found" reel to reel tapes rather than, say, original master tapes.

For this Davis title, their web page identifies the source only as "Sourced from a 15ips 2-track tape." That could be anything.

From the URL:
"Sourced from a 15ips 2-track tape
Analog: Transferred using a modified Studer 810 tape deck feeding a Merrill Tape Preamp"

Must be a safety master or something? It sounds awesome to my ears, better than the MoFi SACD I have.

 

[formdissolve]

One example of a fairly recent (and excellent) remaster is the CD of The Chameleons album Script of the Bridge (1982). I have the original CD release of that from 1985 and it's incredibly bright and ear piercing, so much so that I thought de-emphasis wasn't working.. but I don't think it has pre-emphasis on it. To be fair, the original studio recording probably wasn't the greatest, but the LP from 1982 sounds so much better to me.

The remaster was done at Abbey Road Studios in 2012, with 2xLP and CD physical releases.

"The project was originally undertaken for the 2012 vinyl release of this album, but an extra run of 500 CDs were also produced... The CD has been mastered without the use of a ‘limiter’, which increases the dynamic range of the recordings."

 

[stoo23]

The CD has been mastered without the use of a ‘limiter’, which increases the dynamic range of the recordings."

Well, sort of,.. but not really,..LOL
Without a Limiter, it simply isn't 'limiting' the Peaks, thereby not compromising the Dynamic range

It sounds awesome to my ears, better than the MoFi SACD I have

Well ALL copies released, are ALL from the Same Session and actual 'Takes', so differences in Sound etc can Only be because of later re-mastering attempts etc

 

[restorer-john]

Well, sort of,.. but not really,..LOL
Without a Limiter, it simply isn't 'limiting' the Peaks, thereby not compromising the Dynamic range


Well ALL copies released, are ALL from the Same Session and actual 'Takes', so differences in Sound etc can Only be because of later re-mastering attempts etc

We don't know what noise reduction or dynamic range companding/expansion was used on the 15IPS tape in the first place. Maybe dbx.

 

[stoo23]

We don't know what noise reduction or dynamic range companding/expansion was used on the 15IPS tape in the first place. Maybe dbx.

??? What ??, do you mean in 1959 ???
Certainly NOT DBX
I'd seriously doubt there would have been much, if ANY dynamic range companding/expansion or Noise reduction technologies being used, ... back then .. (well for those sessions anyway), ... I might be wrong ofcourse ...

 

[levimax]

I'd seriously doubt there would have been much, if ANY dynamic range companding/expansion

Old school gain riding

 

[Albert Dagger]

The Alan Parsons Project - The Turn of a Friendly Card (HDAD 2006 ; DVD-audio/DVD-video)

I used to listen to this version as my go-to for The Turn of a Friendly Card, but I don't think it's the best mastering. It's very dark sounding and it also runs slower than all other versions available. I own all digital versions available to date, and I came to the conclusion that the 2015 DSD Download (which is no longer available for purchase) is the best mastering. It's followed by the 2015 Deluxe edition, the 2023 Blu-ray remaster, and then all the others.
When you compare the HDAD with the DSD mastering or any other mastering, it's shocking to hear how slow it is, and changes the pitch of the music.

 

[concorde1]

I used to listen to this version as my go-to for The Turn of a Friendly Card, but I don't think it's the best mastering. It's very dark sounding and it also runs slower than all other versions available. I own all digital versions available to date, and I came to the conclusion that the 2015 DSD Download (which is no longer available for purchase) is the best mastering. It's followed by the 2015 Deluxe edition, the 2023 Blu-ray remaster, and then all the others.
When you compare the HDAD with the DSD mastering or any other mastering, it's shocking to hear how slow it is, and changes the pitch of the music.

Interesting, I have the 2015 Deluxe 2CD and find it too bright, whereas the HDAD sounds good to me.

 

[Multicore]

Robert Fripp – Washington Square Church​

https://www.discogs.com/master/2664728-Robert-Fripp-Washington-Square-Church