The upside of remastering and evolving technology

[lehighvalleyjeff]

After many years of reading posts focusing on Remastering, Loudness Wars and overall crappy mass production of recorded music on Vinyl, CD, DVD-Audio, SACD, etc. for a long time I’ve been focused too much on the negative cheaply mass produced vinyl and made for the masses CD remasters with disdain.

For about the last year I went down a new rabbit hole for me. I discovered that mass produced recordings in general sound crappy; however Audiophile labels have been catering to the sonic quality demands of our industry producing masterpieces of sonic brilliance that are expensive but they have really changed my priorities in audio.

For decades it’s always been about getting better gear and the new format or amp design blah blah blah. That has slowed down lately after experiencing some of the best source material sonically available the hardware becomes less relevant. Offerings from companies like .Analogue Productions and Mobile Fidelity One Step UQHR are ridiculously expensive and are only pressed in small quantities. But they sound so damn good that some sell for over $1000 on the secondary market. Now I actually look forward to the new releases based on the label and remastering engineers by name more than the album title. And the results have been unusually consistent.

Where this gets sticky is there are many new labels using hype stickers saying 180 or 200 gram which only means the vinyl is thicker but not all vinyl is equal. Far from it. Some labels which have released reissues on 180 gram are just digitally sourced onto thick crappy vinyl. Plagued with ticks pops clicks and crappy dynamics.

Analogue Productions just released Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here on SACD and Dark Side of the Moon is on preorder. While they have both been done on SACD several times, Analogue Productions has a ridiculously good track record when it comes to their remastering and the final product sounds much better than the mass production releases. Both of these are available right now at Music Direct for $34.95 each. Also check out Acoustic Sounds and The Elusive Disc. No you won’t usually score audiophile grade recordings for $5 but your turntable will sing like you may never have heard before. Same goes for many of the SACD and CD offerings released in very small batches.

The loudness wars and crappy mastering and mixing have plagued most of the recordings over the last 40 years but I’m
Really loving what these new recordings have to offer.

[klinemj]

I recall in my formative years with vinyl, the big deal was quality of the vinyl and the pressing. There were clear differences. My version of Goucho on vinyl was and still is amazing. Back then, we never talked about the weight of vinyl. We talked about virgin vinyl (vs. recycled) and the pressing quality.

I do have some very nice 180 gram LP's, but I think the main thing about 180 gram is the feeling. As you note...crappy vinyl at 180/200 is still crappy vinyl.

I also feel like a lot of newer music is mastered to sound good on the "radio", but on a high end system doesn't sound very good at all.

Mark

[Zombie]

I have a bunch of Mobile Fidelity Half Speed Mastered LP's but only bought them as collectors years ago. I do have a lot of their gold CD's and SACD's. I've been buying the gold cd's since the early 80's so I've probably got at least a 100 of them. I've also got the PF Wish You Were Here SACD from Music Direct. I bought it when it first came out a little over a year ago. It's very good and listening in 5.1 adds a new twist to it. I already have a Dark Side Of The Moon on SACD but I'll probably buy the new one when it's released. I've got a SACD version of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road that's also very good listening.

[26gary26]

Last year I purchased the Rolling Stones 15 Album collection of Mastered Half Speed albums from Music Direct. I was really impressed with them already having the older store bought albums there was a huge difference. What I really liked with the package of albums came the site where you could also download the whole 15 album set as Wave files at no extra charge as a bonus to buying the collection. Grant it was a $350.00 set but well with it in my opinion.  

[405x5]

Apr 3, 2020 18:37:33 GMT -5 lehighvalleyjeff said:

After many years of reading posts focusing on Remastering, Loudness Wars and overall crappy mass production of recorded music on Vinyl, CD, DVD-Audio, SACD, etc. for a long time I’ve been focused too much on the negative cheaply mass produced vinyl and made for the masses CD remasters with disdain.

For about the last year I went down a new rabbit hole for me. I discovered that mass produced recordings in general sound crappy; however Audiophile labels have been catering to the sonic quality demands of our industry producing masterpieces of sonic brilliance that are expensive but they have really changed my priorities in audio.

For decades it’s always been about getting better gear and the new format or amp design blah blah blah. That has slowed down lately after experiencing some of the best source material sonically available the hardware becomes less relevant. Offerings from companies like .Analogue Productions and Mobile Fidelity One Step UQHR are ridiculously expensive and are only pressed in small quantities. But they sound so damn good that some sell for over $1000 on the secondary market. Now I actually look forward to the new releases based on the label and remastering engineers by name more than the album title. And the results have been unusually consistent.

Where this gets sticky is there are many new labels using hype stickers saying 180 or 200 gram which only means the vinyl is thicker but not all vinyl is equal. Far from it. Some labels which have released reissues on 180 gram are just digitally sourced onto thick crappy vinyl. Plagued with ticks pops clicks and crappy dynamics.

Analogue Productions just released Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here on SACD and Dark Side of the Moon is on preorder. While they have both been done on SACD several times, Analogue Productions has a ridiculously good track record when it comes to their remastering and the final product sounds much better than the mass production releases. Both of these are available right now at Music Direct for $34.95 each. Also check out Acoustic Sounds and The Elusive Disc. No you won’t usually score audiophile grade recordings for $5 but your turntable will sing like you may never have heard before. Same goes for many of the SACD and CD offerings released in very small batches.

The loudness wars and crappy mastering and mixing have plagued most of the recordings over the last 40 years but I’m
Really loving what these new recordings have to offer.

WOW!
If ever I fall down a rabbit 🐇 hole like that I hope 🤞 SOMEBODY realizes I’m missing and calls the cops 🚓.

[lehighvalleyjeff]

Apr 4, 2020 7:47:29 GMT -5 405x5 said:

Apr 3, 2020 18:37:33 GMT -5 lehighvalleyjeff said:

After many years of reading posts focusing on Remastering, Loudness Wars and overall crappy mass production of recorded music on Vinyl, CD, DVD-Audio, SACD, etc. for a long time I’ve been focused too much on the negative cheaply mass produced vinyl and made for the masses CD remasters with disdain.

For about the last year I went down a new rabbit hole for me. I discovered that mass produced recordings in general sound crappy; however Audiophile labels have been catering to the sonic quality demands of our industry producing masterpieces of sonic brilliance that are expensive but they have really changed my priorities in audio.

For decades it’s always been about getting better gear and the new format or amp design blah blah blah. That has slowed down lately after experiencing some of the best source material sonically available the hardware becomes less relevant. Offerings from companies like .Analogue Productions and Mobile Fidelity One Step UQHR are ridiculously expensive and are only pressed in small quantities. But they sound so damn good that some sell for over $1000 on the secondary market. Now I actually look forward to the new releases based on the label and remastering engineers by name more than the album title. And the results have been unusually consistent.

Where this gets sticky is there are many new labels using hype stickers saying 180 or 200 gram which only means the vinyl is thicker but not all vinyl is equal. Far from it. Some labels which have released reissues on 180 gram are just digitally sourced onto thick crappy vinyl. Plagued with ticks pops clicks and crappy dynamics.

Analogue Productions just released Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here on SACD and Dark Side of the Moon is on preorder. While they have both been done on SACD several times, Analogue Productions has a ridiculously good track record when it comes to their remastering and the final product sounds much better than the mass production releases. Both of these are available right now at Music Direct for $34.95 each. Also check out Acoustic Sounds and The Elusive Disc. No you won’t usually score audiophile grade recordings for $5 but your turntable will sing like you may never have heard before. Same goes for many of the SACD and CD offerings released in very small batches.

The loudness wars and crappy mastering and mixing have plagued most of the recordings over the last 40 years but I’m
Really loving what these new recordings have to offer.

WOW!
If ever I fall down a rabbit 🐇 hole like that I hope 🤞 SOMEBODY realizes I’m missing and calls the cops 🚓.

Bill all I can tell you is what a long strange trip it’s been. Being home so much I have taken the time to listen to titles and compare back to back different mastering of the same title. One thing is for sure the mastering can really affect how good or poorly the album sounds regardless of format. Example 1980s pressing of Wish you were here is ok. Considering it a baseline, the 2011 SACD and the 1997 CD suck lemons. However the new Analogue Productions by comparison sounds more like I upgraded all my hardware. Go figure!