DCC Archive "Good" Remasters

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Ted Bell, Dec 30, 2001.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Ted Bell

    Ted Bell Forum Dentist Thread Starter

    When I first started lurking on the previous incarnation of this board, I owned two DCC Gold titles. In the past few months, I have amassed 35 more. Well, I'm running out of CD titles I'm interested in at reasonable prices. Since most of the re-masters discussions seem centered around how disappointing they are, I wondered which ones (other than the obvious DCC amd MoFi) members enjoy. I was just listening to American Beauty from the Dead box set and it brought up the proverbial goosebumps. I also thought the sound was good on the Pink Floyd Echoes set. Any others?
     
    Ted Bell, Dec 30, 2001
    #1
  2. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™

    Location:
    B.C.
    Some of the Sony Mastersounds are really well done but definately not all.
     
    Dave, Dec 30, 2001
    #2
  3. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

    Location:
    Manchester, England
    I like the Mastersound Roy Orbison - Lonely and Blue. I also remember being impressed with the gold Bridge Over Troubled Water - but I haven't heard it in a while.

    My main recommendation outside DCC and MoFi is for the MCA Ultimate Masterdiscs. At least, I'm very pleased with the two I own - Steely Dan & Patsy Cline. I've heard that the Who MCA gold disc is not so great. Anyone have an opinion on the MCA UMD Buddy Holly?


    As for standard CD releases I am becoming more and more wary of endless remastering of material already released on CD. There aren't many examples that I can think of where the original CD issue has been improved upon overall. Many of them are more detailed etc etc but almost all new CD remasters suffer from a cold clinical sound (NoNoise [and its counterparts] and 'cloud removal' are two of the worst crimes performed on our musical heritage :().

    [ December 30, 2001: Message edited by: Malc S ]
     
    Mal, Dec 30, 2001
    #3
  4. Gary

    Gary Nauga Gort! Staff

    Location:
    Toronto
    I couldn't agree more with you, Malc S! I recenty picked up two Uriah Heep remasters and I'm glad I have the original releases. Remasters are a *bit* clearer but they are very clinical sounding. I enjoy the originals much better. The vocals are much more natural sounding.

    BTW, I happened to have the opportunity to A/B Echoes with MFSL Dark Side UD1 and Meddle UD2. IMO Echoes is very "modern" (what I call Zero-ed) and everything is very up front. Gilmour's vocals would have been drowned out in the mix if the instruments were pumped up any more. It's a good remaster but it is not the way I am used to hearing Floyd.

    Pink Floyd, IMHO, was originally intended to be ethereal, sort of quiet, mysterious, progressive, laid back (oh, why can't I find the right words this AM?) with lots of depth. The remaster is very in-your-face.

    Still, it's worth getting!
     
    Gary, Dec 30, 2001
    #4
  5. pauljones

    pauljones Forum Chef

    Location:
    columbia, sc
    In some cases, as the years go on, the master tapes for some classic albums have deteriorated to the point that earlier reissues have fewer "problems". I have read about the remaster of Pink Floyd's "The Wall", where the mastering engineer noted that in its first CD incarnation, the master tape was in great shape--yet, when they were remastering it again in the early 1990's, it was noticed that the tape oxide was flaking and they had to "mask" some dropouts and other artifacts resulting from deterioration. Another similar situation resulted with Steely Dan's "Gaucho"--the original CD release was fine but a later round was plagued with dropouts on the title track and "Time out of mind." So I guess you have to weigh the original round with better condition tapes versus "improved" technology.
     
    pauljones, Dec 31, 2001
    #5
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine