[mick23]

have just purchased eagles the very best of on cd, remastered vertion,
i have the same cd but about 8 years older, and have always noticed with older vertion that cd is recorded at quite a low level,with volume of 3802 set at -30db remastered cd is modest volume, with older cd vertion i need to increase to -20 to get same output of sound , not to sure which cd sounds better if at all as regards sound quality,

any other forum members have views on same cd remastered better or not than original and if so why.

on simular note had demo sometime ago dire straights brothers in arms track was played,demo guy imediatly said is cd a compilation cd, i stated i have no idea, he found same track on another cd and played that vertion and one was much better quality of sound at same volume level, unfortunately cannot remember what the relevant dire straights cd were called.


thank you all

[gringottsdirect]

Compilations may not be mastered using absolute best original source ? With vinyl too many tracks so squashed grooves compared to typical 40 minute album, loss of fidelity obvious.
Re-mastered CDs are hit and miss, often depends how good / bad original release was. Re-mixed and re-mastered same scenario.
SACDs / DVD-As too, how much different sound is down to re-mixing and stuff rather than inherent advantage of hi-resolution whizz-bang ?
Record companies must love people like me, buy original vinyl, buy CD, buy re-mastered CD, then buy again on SACD / DVD-A, we are nuts !

Personally I hate remastered CD's, yuk, yuk and more yuk! (This is just my personal opinion based on the ones I have listened to!!) I dunno they just sound so clinical and most seem to have a far greater tinniness to them.

I brought a remastered level 42 CD and you could notice the differences in the sound, you lost most of the sound of Mark King's superb bass and gained more high end. Same went for Sting's 'Soul Cages' CD, the remaster didn't sound as good as the original recorded in Q-sound technology.

If you're a real audiophile try and get MFSL 24kt Gold CD's these sound superb and beat any recent remasters.

Anyway waffling over!

[the_pauley]

I think with the previous posting comment about remastered CDs sounding worse, one should bear in mind that the more revealing the sound becomes, the more it will reveal any inherent nasties inherent in the original recording.

In other words if the original is crap, remastering will reveal what was previously obscured.

Overall I've found the current crop of 20/24 bit remasters to be markedly superior when comparing them to the original CD releases.

[dood]

I have an early CD of PF's DSOTM. Extremely bright, the clocks on time are unbearable. I also have a remastered version (the one in the dark grey box) which is a lot less bright - certainly more listenable. However I can see that if this was done on an original that was not too bright the remaster could be dull and lifeless.

[Crocodile JD]

I realise that this thread is from a long way back, but I thought it was worth asking the question here before opening a new thread since it is relevant. Any way here it is: I've just bought some remastered Genesis CDs (Wind and Wuthering, Seconds Out and Trespass) they sound pretty good although it's been a long time since I heard the original releases so I can't compare. The question is are they good remasters or have they been doctored god forbib in any way. Does anyone have both original and remaster of any of these in order to make a comparison.

The remasters are certainly more readily obtainable and I was thinking of going for more, but didn't want to find out that they were flawed like shortened tracks or other

cheers

Croc

[huwg]

the Led Zeppelin remasters are excellent, you can hear the famous squeaky drum pedal in the intro to 'Since I've been loving you' much more clearly than the original CD release. - I suppose Jimmy Page really knew the music when he did the remaster job so he could get the best out of it.

Pink Floyds The Wall is also rather good.

Jethro Tull's Aqualung still sounds very muddy, shame is it is a great album.

I generally would buy the remastered version over the original, but wouldn't buy the remaster if I already owned the original on CD.

The only genesis CD I have is the Lamb..
but the chances are thay have not altered the music, just cleaned it up.
You often also get extra tracks (like Floyds 'The Final Cut')

Originally Posted by Mattk

Same went for Sting's 'Soul Cages' CD, the remaster didn't sound as good as the original recorded in Q-sound technology.

Totally agree: original sounded outstanding.

[Crocodile JD]

The main reason I asked was because the opening track, Eleventh Earl of Mar from Wind and Wuthering, shows a run time of 7:08 on my Arcam CD player at home when I know the run time should be 7:44. However, I have since played the CD on my PC at work via Foobar and Foobar clocks it all the way to 7:44 which makes me happier. I think the Arcam is playing it all, but the clock does something funny at the end. On 7:08 it goes to minus 0:04 and counts back to zero then the new track starts and clock goes back to normal. Maybe the original would do exactly the same, I might never know.

Anyway thanks guys

The only genesis CD I have is the Lamb..

One of the very few that I haven't got

[karkus30]

Originally Posted by Crocodile JD

One of the very few that I haven't got

I got them all on vinyl I dont really think I like Genesis now, it just sounds daft and has really aged. I still like bits from different albums, mainly Foxtrot, Selling England and Lamb lies down. There again Im off to see Van der Graaf Generator at the Sage in Gateshead so how sad am I

Anyway back to the topic. I think in general they are recorded at a higher level and cleaned up, sometimes this works.........Led Zep sounds better than the original vinyl recordings IMO and I have a special (very hard to find) edition of King Crimson - Court of the Crimson King on CD which is phenomenal and certainly sounds as good as the Vinyl. However there are lots that sound worse....sticking with the prog rock category, Pink Floyds DSOTM sounds terrible in both the remastered and first generation CDs and so does Yes - Close to the edge.

Its weird but you get used to the high level of recording on newer CDs (particularly with that awful compression) and you swap to vinyl and have the amp turned way up due to the lower output. But I have a couple of CDs such as Big Blacks -Songs about (it begins with an F), this is recorded at a similar level to vinyl so needs turning up, but the recording is terrific.

[Timmy C]

It's obviously got a lot to do with the original. The remastered early Sepultura cds are great as the originals were on small labels with a very low budget and they've been remastered well. Other bands don't come off so well though. The remastered version of Peace Sells by Megadeth seems to have lost it's snare drum altogether!