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Dire Straits Remasters

Wow.

Picked up the Warner Remaster of Brothers in Arms to see the difference. Not only are things cleaned up, tightened up, and tuned up, but the whole disk, well, flowed better.

Just amazing.

I do not know much about mastering and would like to learn more. I've listened to several of the Riverside 20bit remasters on Jazz and have been unimpressed -- they are grainy and bright. And while the Riverside master is clearly in a different in genre, the SBM remaster is much better. Much, much, much better. So clearly there are different approaches in eeking out the last bit of fidelity in the flawed Redbook format and some appear more successful than others.

I suppose this rolls up into two questions:

1) Any SBM recordings you recommend (I'm replacing my Dire Straights collection with the SBM remasters)?

2) Could you direct me to resources (web or book) which explains the details of different mastering approaches?

Thanks in advance,
mprime

Showing 3 responses by hifimaniac

hifimaniac
507 posts
 
If you think the Columbia remasters of the Dire Straits are good, you should look for the imports of Dire Straits SBM remastered on Vertigo. These remasters are far superior to the Columbia versions. I have owned both and dumped the Columbia versions when I heard the Vertigo versions. The Vertigo are cleaner and more dynamic. Check them out.
hifimaniac
507 posts
 
I have the JVC XRCD 2 remaster of Brothers in Arms and it is the best of the redbook CDs I have of this album. The Vertigo is the next best. I believe it is due to the better manufacturing process used by Vertigo than by Columbia. Believe it or not, not all pits are the same. This was true with vinyl LPS too, some companies used better vinyl and were more careful in the stamping process. I think this is becoming more common in CD land also. Companies that have higher production standards are producing CDs that will sound better on a high resolution system.
hifimaniac
507 posts
 
Hey MPrime,

You must live in Berkeley or somewhere in the East Bay. I just moved away from Lafayette last year and Amoeba records is sorely missed. Great selections of music, many imports and very reasonable prices. I think FIM music does an XRCD of Patricia Barber's Companion. It too is a must. FIM is First Impresssion Music. Also, FIM does a great jazz CD from that Japanese Trio whose name escapes me, but the album is called Autumn in Seattle. This is the best recording I have ever heard. Check it out.
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