MASTERS: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

[Philbo King]

One album I've used as a reference mix is 'Gravity' by Out Of The Grey. The mix and mastering are outstanding. It is christian pop, a genre that usually makes me nauseous, but it is *that* good...

 

[Mart68]

One album I've used as a reference mix is 'Gravity' by Out Of The Grey. The mix and mastering are outstanding. It is christian pop, a genre that usually makes me nauseous, but it is *that* good...

 

[pagan84]

I've seen it come up in a discussion on buying CDs, that remasters often are not the recommended versions for high fidelity listening. I'v heard about this in a couple of examples before, but I wasn't aware that it is such a common complaint. Since I am very interested what is regarded as quality audio production, I'd love to hear your perspectives on what makes a master great and what makes it bad. Sometimes it's hard to put into words describing the qualities or it is just personal preferenaces, but I'd like to hear all of it.

Contrary to popular beliefs I think that 2012 Black Sabbath remasters are superior to old CD and even SACD releases.
Available on HDTracks (as 2014 remasters) and CDs (2016 US releases).
Often described as 'too bright' IMO they have better separation, a feeling of space around Ozzy and instruments. Black Sabbath with that 50-years-old yellowing varnish removed.

Also my Led Zeppelin CDs from 2003 (WPCR) are better (I think) than the original CD releases but I would have to compare directly to confirm.

High profile bands usually get good remasters (or at least interesting; non-brickwalled, with high dynamic).

 

[nerdemoji]

the Kaipa album Sattyg (Symphonic Prog Rock) has just an amazing master, so punchy and detailed