I came across an album that I thought I'd like and listened to a digital remaster of it on iTunes. I know the digital remaster is supposed to sound better than the original, but in this case it sounded worse! Why is this? What's the deal with remastering tracks?
gofar99 Messages: 1949 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi A common thought, but not correct. A re-master of any kind is only as good as the source was and the skill of the individual doing the re-mastering. The person doing the re-mastering will almost certainly have difference preferences than the one that did the original. Without starting an argument....no re-mastering will be better than the original source. It might be quieter, have more highs or lows, but it will deviate from the original...if you want to hear what the artist intended and approved from the original then the re-master will not be the same. Does this mean that re-masters are bad, not necessarily. My experience is that some are rather good. Others however are not. The poor ones seemed to emphasize loudness (done with compression) and boosted high frequencies. I have several LPs and CDs that are duplicates. One original and one re-master. With only one exception the original sounds better. Just my ears, YRMV.