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I feel like whenever I search for a song in Spotify there is an original version and a remastered version, usually from sometime in the early/mid 00s. I can sometimes kind of hear a difference but usually not enough to have a strong preference and I don't know that I'd be missing anything if I listened to the original version. Do I need a hi-fi system to hear a major difference? Are these re-releases pure cash grabs or is there some artistic merit or is there a purpose like the original record is in danger of degrading or something?
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Feb 23, 2022 02:31
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also interested in this, because iirc a decade or so ago a lot of remasters played into loudness war bullshit and often sounded worse than original pressings hopefully that's not so much of a priority anymore
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Feb 24, 2022 12:48
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it kind of is a measure against the original work done? So like, Metallica probably sounds better remastered, in any form like even the guitar hero tracks because their final masters always sound like butt and I remember the pre-black album releases on CD sounded like the worst loving dogshit i only put up with because Master Of Puppets was some of the only noise channeling my dumb teenage anger into a safe direction but like, sometimes it's supremely unnecessary and is a regression. Probably usually, even.
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Mar 2, 2022 21:12
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Amarcarts posted:I feel like whenever I search for a song in Spotify there is an original version and a remastered version, usually from sometime in the early/mid 00s. I can sometimes kind of hear a difference but usually not enough to have a strong preference and I don't know that I'd be missing anything if I listened to the original version. Do I need a hi-fi system to hear a major difference? Are these re-releases pure cash grabs or is there some artistic merit or is there a purpose like the original record is in danger of degrading or something? So the purpose of remastering depends - sometimes it is just marketing speak, other times, it's something that really is night and day. The other thing is that most people don't really think about mastering, because it's kind of a black box. The easiest way to describe mastering is that it's the final step in preparing music for consumption. You've recorded the tracks. You've mixed them together. Now, you need to create a master - and during that stage you'll be doing limiting and compression, noise removal, equalization, you might even be doing some edits and fades and other stuff. You'll also arrange things into their final running order, and you might even determine track start and end times. The idea is to create the source copy that all other copies will be made from. By virtue of prepping a new release of old material, you're probably are going to make a new master of that material. So why might you do that? Remastering as a trend caught on in the 90s, as albums were reissued for a second time on CD. First off, there had been significant changes to how CDs were mastered over the years. Older CDs would often have a lot of headroom, and so would sound pretty quiet compared to modern CDs. And you could make them a fair bit louder without having to add a ton of compression or limiting to them. The second reason was that tape research was atrocious for a lot of early CD issues. They were using whatever they had around. So they might have been using a copy of a copy of a copy. They might have been using tapes that were meant for cutting a vinyl record. They might have done flat transfers of tapes that were supposed to have EQ applied after the fact that they never did. Finally, they could make up for errors in tape transfers. For example, the first four Beatles CDs were mastered in the 80s by playing mono recordings with a stereo head. This leads to a subpar sound, and a bunch of phase issues and other things. That was the level of care they took for a project like the Beatles - and their CD issues were a big deal. It wasn't until the 2009 releases that those first four albums had mono transfers from a proper mono tape player done. Another example is the Beach Boys. Those early 90s transfers of their albums sound dreadful. No-noised, and flat. The modern mono masterings sound so much better and detailed. Sadly, the modern stereo remixes are becoming the standards for those songs, and they will never sound good because they are bad mixes. So, what about today? Well, generally, remasters are done as part of rereleases. Basically, we're prepping a new issue of the album with bonus tracks, and so we're going to make a new master. Another reason might to be prep hi-resolution versions for streaming and download services. And for whatever reason, when they upload the deluxe edition, they also upload the base album by itself in a remastered version. But why don't they sound that different? First off, they might be working from the same tape transfers that they did before. Secondly, especially for stuff that was done in the CD era, the band likely signed off on the album, so unless something significant happened, you're not likely going to see a massive change to the EQ decisions. And limiting and compression, when done competently, is probably not going to be noticeable. It might sound a bit louder, but not significantly so. Finally, in many cases, what they are replacing was already mastered competently before. Most of the improvements are really in technique rather than sound quality. In many respects, it just becomes a marketing term. They're reissuing the album, so they're making a new master. But there's really not much else that's going on. Other times, it's the result of a greatest hits compilation, and so the songs are being remastered because that's part of the process. You don't want all the volume shifts and EQ shifts that you would get if you took songs from all over the places. Although I will say this, the new Tattoo You remaster from the Rolling Stones sounds god-awful. If you want an example of what a bad remaster is, listen to that. Whatever they did, they made it so loud that it has obvious distortion and it takes a lot of the snap out of the drums on songs like "Start Me Up." Edit: One final thing is that for a lot artists too, they're working to get their catalog in order too. So sometimes that happens where an artist is overseeing reissues of their old material, and are signing off on fresh masters of the old material.
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Mar 6, 2022 23:47
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And there it is. Thread closed.
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May 13, 2022 07:18
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