anyone else having shitty remastered audio experiences?

[EXTRAPOLATER]

I'm finding it a total mistake to upgrade my older audio.
Recent absolutely garbage remastered audio I've experienced includes The Doors LA Woman
(a 2007 remaster), all 1st 4 Black Sabbath discs (more recent) and a couple of Zeppelin discs
(II and III, if memory serves).

On some songs the mix is total garbage.
The 2007 remaster of the title track--LA Woman--is pathetic.
Only one of the ultimate classic rock n roll tracks from history, IMO.

Just curious if others have regretted upgrading any older faves.
Hard to get reviews of all the remasters from the google-monster.

I'll save my rant about the jays, save to say that the favored son of god
can suck (less, no doubt) my (despised since acquired) Dickey.

I'll take a raincheck on the neo-Freudians.
More concerned about the shitty remasters.
Though I predict its a cross I must bear.


for your trouble:
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qdw4hb4fzqQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hSOYsaRaGtU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


I don't know if music keeps me sane but it certainly helps to remind me that
I'm not alone regardless of diagnostic fucks.

 

[Snafu]

new masters are complete bullshit and ripoffs. and it's not just
compression but all around quality of recordings. i don't know
what kind of idiots are mixing their music with some lap tops and
think it sounds good, maybe from some cellphone but real home audio
system ? phlease

if i buy cd:s i try to find oldest one = pre compression time

my amps are all tube and cd player is Copland CDA822 from early 2000's
and it really reveals shitty mixing

if you want't good Doors set get the lp-box: http://www.amazon.com/The-Doors-Vinyl-Box-Gram/dp/B000LRY9P4 :SIB

there are some good new cd:s around but i usually wait reviews before buying

 

[Terryray]

I remember the first CD mastering of Steely Dan was atrocious. After that the guys in the group took control and supervised another mastering which was much better. Was one of the first CD masterings which had a package that read "remastered by original artists".

The Jimi Hendrix CD masterings went thru several remasters before they got it right....makes you wonder if it is all done on purpose - because if the record company gets the CD mastering right the first time, then buyers (the ones who keep backup digital copies in good shape) will never have a reason to purchase your stuff ever again...

one good, or interesting, CD remastering is the Classic Rock "Decades" set by Time-Life records. They mixed an amalgam of the original stereo and mono versions of many of the 60s and 70s hits. They did this because folks today demand stereo, but most listened to the music back in the day to the mono mix played over the radio - and in many cases, the sound of the original stereo and mono are radically different. So if you play fans the original stereo mix of many these tunes, they scream "that's not how it originally sounded like, CD mastering assholes screwed it up". So Time-Life did an interesting compromise...

as for "LA Woman" the remastering most all fans prefer, the Virgin Vinyl-Analogue Pressing (DCC LPZ 2050) remastered by the famed Steve Hoffman (in his earlier, undisputed king of remastering days) using an all vacuum tube cutting system, costs about $220 sealed mint condition now. But there are very good FLAC torrent downloads of it out there...I'm downloading it now....the famed Doug Sax remastering set of The Doors 6-album catalog on SACD from Analog Productions is also out there for download, but "LA Woman" most rate as among the weaker remasterings in the set....Ok, took 19 minutes to download FLAC transfer of the virgin vinyl. The Hoffman mastering does sound better than the one by Doug Sax, but one track, the "Riders On the Storm", does still sound better in the Doug Sax mastering, in that box set...I'm listening over the cheap laptop with cheap headphones, so my comparison experiment here is kinda flawed...

 

[EXTRAPOLATER]

Hey...that's some good shit.
Thanks for the replies.

I'm still trying to decide about acquiring FLAC's to improve on stuff that I love but may be
stuck with mp3s. Impossible to avoid--sorry record companies etc that have made a fortune
off of my existence regardless--as the amount of good stuff available is overwhelming.
The FLAC's I've tried sound indistinguishable from the best 320 mp3s that I have,
3 examples being (by the way, all 3 I have on vinyl, CD and whatever else was convenient)
The Beatles Abbey Road, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and Tool's Lateralus.

Mid-range, quality-wise, Sony Headphones for deepest immersion.

Discogs and allmusic sometimes have comments on different releases but rarely. Even their
reviews leave something to be desired. I find better reviews at progarchives but a ton of good
stuff they don't consider 'prog', I guess. I've heard enough crappy Genesis and Dream Theater
clones for this lifetime, anyways; I can't say I care for Dream Theater, either.

I could babble on forever about music-related stuff but figure I'm over my head about the
sound equipment, unfortunately. Likely ending the apartment fiasco and grabbing a condo
in the next 2.5 years or so (shit...I'll be 50) and that will be a priority along with the botanical
excursions <cough>

Last thing, I just heard the audiobook of How Music Got Free, by Stephen Witt.
Semi-interesting but not well-written, IMO.
Interesting story on the development of the mp3 and other audio encoders but I'm not sure
how accurate this guy's investigation was. Some study of the ear plays a predominant role--
i.e. certain sounds we allegedly don't perceive--but it was not explained at any satisfactory
length.

Best test for me is in the listening.

The following track is the entire reason I set up a youtube account; this song had never appeared
there before and since it's release--5 years ago'ish--it has been one of my favorite rock
instrumentals. Totally. And I am a glutton for instrumentals.

'nuff said
go jays

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-C-NjMKbxwo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>