Compressed vs. "Remastered" CDs

"Remastering" is a catch-all term that covers a wide range of possibilities.

For some recordings, it may mean the original multi-track recording was re-mixed. Each individual track may have its own EQ and other effects applied uniquely to that track. The balance and mixing between tracks is done fresh. Compression or dynamic alteration that was used on the original LP may not be used on the current version or applied more subtly.

In the hands of a good producer and engineer, a remastered CD can be a dramatic improvement over the original release.

However, remastering may mean nothing more than the original final mix being tweaked, or the bass boosted, or "sweetened" just a bit. Sometimes this is an improvement and sometimes not.

At the bad end of the stick, a remastered recording may be nothing more than another victim of the loudness wars with a lot of compression and dynamic limiting added in order to push up the apparent average volume. If this is the case, the original recording will be preferable.

As you can see, the term "remastered" is virtually meaningless by itself. Each remastered project has to be looked at by itself to see if it is truly an improvement or not.

Klipschking wrote:

Any way to avoid the "loudness" without buying first??

There are a couple of possibilities. One is to go by label. For example. In the rock & jazz world, Rhino is overall quite meticulous about sound quality and almost always good.

Second, you could see if the library or a friend has the release and sample their copy before you buy.

Third, see if the release has been reviewed. That works well if you are familiar with the individual reviewer, but is a bit more erratic if you aren't.

Singleendedsingle wrote:

Using compressed cd's may reduce sound quality, specially if the compression method is Lossy audio compression.

You're confusing two separate issues. "Compression" as used in the recording studio compresses the dynamic range of a recording. The soft sounds are made louder and the loud sounds reduced in volume. This can make a recording more listenable in a noisy environment such as a car or for background play, but robs the music of its live, dynamic impact when played on a better system.

File "compression" refers to digital computer file formats for song storage. This is done to save file space and/or make files smaller so they transmit more quickly over the internet. FLAC and lossless WMA and Apple formats reduce file size but do not change the data. This is similar to a "Zip" file for music. MP3, M4A and other "lossy" formats actually throw away part of the music to achieve a greater degree of file size reduction. This latter form of compression has nothing to do with the studio processing a recording engineer or producer may choose to do on a recording.