remastering, original master recordings, and DDD
2013-05-15 22:57:53
Like most of us i've got a ton of CDs. When i buy one i look at various versions of a given disc. I've got a lot of Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, Sony Mastersound, DCC and Audio Fidelity label discs. I've also got a lot of discs that have been remastered. I just want to make sure i understand this. Music is recorded, mixed and mastered. A "remaster" is when the mixed source is taken and turned into a new master. This may be for good or for ill. An "original master recording" means that the original master tape was used to create the CD you are listening to. It's a one-off process and done by hand. That's why they cost so much (aside from the gold layer)? I'm guessing that usually a master is made and copies of that master are sent to different manufacturers, so you might end up with a CD that's from a 1st, 2nd, 3rd+ generation master tape? Would that *really* make an audible difference? So really a "remaster" is moving one step back in the process from an "original master recording", since you're creating a brand new master (which the word remaster would imply). I know that's a stupid question, but i don't trust that marketing terms mean what they should mean. I've found that i'm pleased with the original master recordings, but that remasters can be "worse" than the initial CDs i bought. Sometimes the remastering was done just to boost the levels to insanity. Whereas the original master recordings are done as sane levels, sometimes overcompensating a little and are very low volumes. My impulse is to say that the differences i'm hearing (assuming i'm hearing them at all) are more due to the mastering styles of Ted Jenson vs Shawn R. Britton rather than that they are 1st generation masters. Is that fair? I have an original master tape recording of a disc that i'm pretty sure was a AAD disc to start with. If digital copes are identical to their source, what difference could it make? Isn't a digitally mastered disc an exact copy of the master tape anyway? What am i missing here? (i do find it awesome that on the DCC version of the Beach Boys Endless Summer track "Wendy" you can hear someone cough and clear their throat at 1:18. I just discovered that today)