Are Remastered Albums really better?

[topspeed]

My wife recently bought me a turntable (Pro-ject Carbon 2M-R and Cambridge Audio 551p phono amp)for my birthday and I'm starting to rediscover vinyl for the first time in forever.

Here's my question: While I have some amazing recordings (Daft Punk's Random Access Memories sounds unbelievable) some of my older stuff sounds really thin by comparison. U2's The Unforgettable Fire...one of my fave recordings by them...was particularly disappointing and I swear Bryan Ferry's Boys and Girls sounded almost compressed!

Am I going nuts or are my expectations set too high? More importantly, can I find better sound through re-mastered recordings by MoFi or other? It seems a large contingent believes original pressings sound the best. In this case, I hope that's not true. Thoughts?

[jonnyhambone]

totally depends on all the many factors involved. These days, a good remaster seems like its done from really good sources often - orig. analogue tapes or similar. The well-done remasters I have on vinyl are great. I would read about a couple that get universal praise, buy those, and see what you think.

[dean_martin]

I think alot of the 80s albums were mastered for cd when cd was in its infancy. The cds sound just as bad and in most cases worse. I've compared mofi REM titles to the original pressings and the mofi releases have more meat on their bones - not as thin or tinny. The original tapes can't sound as bad as what was released to the public.

[topspeed]

Sorry the the late reply, I've been out of town. Thanks for the feedback guys. My challenge is that I'm a child of the '80's, so of course I want to get the music from the nascent digital era when everything was clipped, compressed, and digitized to an inch of its life. I'm hoping that if I can find recordings done at analog studios (such as Sound City, awesome movie btw) the original or remastered recordings will have the gravitas that is missing from the ones I mentioned.

I'll definitely do some research, but in the mean time I'm enjoying building my music collection, something I haven't done in decades now. Just this past weekend I went record shopping at Rasputin's and other locales while in San Francisco. Good times!

[Smokey]

Rykodisc label did fantastic job remastering entire David Bowie catalog. So if you run cross any Rykodisc remaster albums, you are in for a treat.

[topspeed]

Rykodisc label did fantastic job remastering entire David Bowie catalog. So if you run cross any Rykodisc remaster albums, you are in for a treat.Thanks, Smokey. I'll keep that in mind. BTW, picked up Crosby, Stills, & Nash's "Daylight Again" (Southern Cross is one of my all-time faves) and it sounds fantastic. Check it out if you're into CSN. Now if I can just find a decent copy of Aja...

[unleasHell]

Really better...!

[Ajay Taylor]

I have a Master Recording made by MSFL. It's Crosby Stills Nash and Young Déjà Vu. I bought it back in the 80's, and compared to my original copy from the early 70's it completely blows the original copy AWAY! The harmonies and every small nuance of that recording absolutely blew me away. I recently exchanged my old 1200 TT for a Pro-Ject, and now I'm hearing tons more than I ever did with my old TT. I think the Carbon tonearm does a lot, but I never heard an absolute BLACK background like that old Master Recording provides. I just bought some new Neal Young stuff on 180 gram vinyl that I can't wait to compare. Then I'll compare that to my PONO when it arrives. It's a great time in history to be a music freak. By the way, Hello Everyone! By the way, if You are looking for a new disc just for kicks, the regular pressing of Loggins and Messina "Mother Lode" is one of the best sounding discs that I've ever heard! Does anyone have any favorite discs to try, because I'm old, and my music comes from the seventies. I'm really interested in hearing of some newer discs that sound tight.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I think alot of the 80s albums were mastered for cd when cd was in its infancy. The cds sound just as bad and in most cases worse. I've compared mofi REM titles to the original pressings and the mofi releases have more meat on their bones - not as thin or tinny. The original tapes can't sound as bad as what was released to the public.

As I have found over the years, the early 80's CD's don't sound nearly as bad when you have good A/D converters. The 80's pre-date the sound wars, so dynamics have not been wiped out like they had been in 90's CD's.

Some of my best 80's recordings were recorded in analog, and then carefully digitized to CD. They sound heavenly when compared to the later 90's re-releases.

[Dave_G]

To me, remasters are not "better", they are just "different".