Remaster Fever
Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 10:35 am
Quite often (well, almost always) you hear the comment; 'But vinyl just sounds SOOO much better than CD' and even I, digital fan in heart and kidneys, have to agree with them - some of the time.
The last year has had me trawling through the CD racks, pulling out old favourites that I picked up in the 80's to replace the LP's that I promptly dumped being (stupidly) convinced that the new digital format just HAD to be an improvement. It dawned on me that a significant proportion of these early CD's were just direct transfers to the digital format - made with little care or attention and just as a way to get product onto the shelves for consumers to buy. The first wave of Virgin reissue CD's by Genesis, Tangerine Dream and Van Der Graaf Generator (to name but a few) are horrid - dull, no dynamics to speak of, a narrow, centred sound-stage, limited range in high and low frequencies. How could I have thought that was better?
So I am now regularly to be found perusing online music stores (much like digging through bargain racks of LP's in the good, old days) searching for 'remastered' higher-quality copies of CD's that I already have. The Discogs site is also a great help in this as it (fairly) accurately lists releases of albums and indicates if remastering ('RM') has taken place.
So, remastering; what is it and what's the point?
Simply put - a new transfer is made from the original master tape, carefully making use of the dynamic range available within the CD format and improving in areas of detail and separation, gently adjusting volume levels and tweaking EQ. Kraftwerk released their back-catalogue in a renewed form a few years back, and they had taken great pains to remove unwanted tape-noise from the earliest albums.
The last round of Genesis remasters were also (5.1 surround-sound) remixes from original multitracks and, finally, I had the feeling that here were digital copies that rivalled the richness of the vinyl experience (after buying the entire Genesis back catalogue at least 3 times).
But can the process go too far? Oh yes, certainly. I have got a copy of Suzanne Vega's 'Solitude Standing' from a French reissue lable which claims to be a High-Quality Audiophile limited-edition 24-bit/96KHz etc. etc.
Well they needn't have bothered because Suzanne's vocals are pushed to such a high volume level in the mastering that there is considerable distortion - rendering an otherwise excellent disc almost unlistenable in places. The original A&M release is pleasant to listen to - but sounds rather dull and lifeless by modern standards.
Whilst being ill a month or two ago I went into an intensive Saga phase, revisiting the complete works of that excellent, underrated rock/pop/prog outfit. The first-released Polydor CD's from the 80's and early 90's are okay, if a little restrained. My memories of the 'Silent Knight' LP were of a huge, punchy blast that I missed with digital. Then I saw that the band's drummer, Steve Negus, had remastered the whole catalogue in the early 2000's on the German SPV label. Luckily I was able to find reasonably-priced copies from a webshop in Hamburg and gave them a good listen-to.
Exactly what I had hoped for: far more detail and dynamics - the 'punch' was back! Wider soundstage AND far more enjoyment of the songs and performances. It really makes a difference to your involvement with the music - with the improved, clearer sound I was far more inclined to foot-tap, head-bang, air-punch and singalong with the choruses (not easy when you have pneumonia).
Then, I spotted that there was another second set of remasters, started in 2016, covering the second half of Saga's recorded output from the 90's onward. This new version was targetted at the 'Spotify Generation' and meant to bring the band to the attention of a new breed of music lovers.
Unfortunately these new music-lovers simply don't buy CD's (physical media are just too old-fashioned) so the series was withdrawn after the first 5 albums had been issued. And because they didn't sell you can get them cheap - so I did. Now I have one album in 3 different masterings for comparison; 'The Beginner's Guide to Throwing Shapes' (1989) where Saga, after trying to turn themselves into a pop band, went back to a rockier sound. Let's just say that the newest version is LOUD. Very loud, in-your-face with a squeaky-clean shiny character that sounds as if it was recorded last week. When you get over the loudness it is very enjoyable with a lot of fine detail being pushed into the daylight, more so than the 'rounder' Negus remaster - still prefer that but the new one is a lot of fun! Different anyway - flatter, brighter, more 'wide-screen'.
To go back to the analogue/digital discussion - the differences in perception might, to a degree, be more to do with the music carrier rather that the equipment. And an understanding of digital audio is bringing it very close to the 'analogue experience'.
Now ! am looking at the later Renaissance albums: 'A Song for All Seasons' and 'Azure D'Or' where the original Warner CD's are terribly compressed, very quiet and with no detail to speak of ... off to the webshops again!
