The meaning of “Remastered”


A lot of music I already have is being re-released and “remastered”.  Some of those contain new tunes or printed material and I might buy (again) just to have that.  Otherwise, what’s the value of a new master?  I remember direct to disc vinyl was said to be limited to 10,000 copies because the “master” from which copies were pressed, wore out.  Tape masters would have physically limited lifespans, too.  But in the age of digital music, what is a remaster?  I suppose a new release could have been “re-mixed” or “re-normalized”, so there may be real sonic differences which may or may not be an improvement.  Does the use of the term mean there is some actual audible voodoo by an engineer rather than just procreation of an existing audio file?
77jovian
Before CD’s or DSD’s or LPs are cut a final master is made. This final master may go back to a previous 2 track master or to multi-track originals.

Re-mastering means that a new final master was made and that the new mastering engineer has re-thought something. EQ, compression or the down mix from the original multi-track are quite common.

Really depends on who is doing the remaster and how good the material was they had to start with.

It was also true that some DSD's were remastered compared to the CD's, and they had different frequency profiles and compression profiles, leading to the obvious conclusion they sounded different.
I know lots of people have their favorite versions of various albums, but is there a resource that tracks the versions and comments on what changes have been made?

I don’t think there’s a simple way to find the best versions of particular albums. No list of the best anywhere. If you want to read discussions of what is the best version of a CD or LP, check out the Steve Hoffman Music Forums.  Steve is a mastering engineer, so you can find discussions of what that means too.
https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/forums/music-corner.2/

You’ll find all kinds of music discussions there and people who give new meaning to the word obsessed. The discussions about albums you’re interested in may have taken place years ago, so you’ll have to get good at searching the forum. They also have classified ad forums, so you may be able to buy some of the better versions there.
https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/

If you want to find which CD or LP releases are more compressed or which have greater dynamic range (less compressed), check out the dynamic range database.
http://dr.loudness-war.info/

Take a look at those sites and if you have any questions, let us know.
I agree to check the Steve Hoffman forums, just about every band and release has been discussed.

Go to https://www.discogs.com
to view a database of every release by a band/recording artist. It includes original issues with dates and country of origin, re-releases, and remasters.
Discogs doesn’t comment on best version or sound quality, but is a great resource to find a release and to purchase used vinyl, CDs, and cassettes


The term "remastered" has become something of a marketing phrase similar to "director's cut".  In most cases it means as close to an original master tape or file has been sourced and then possibly EQ'd, leveled and channel balanced.  If there are previously unreleased tracks, then they may be "polished" to make them sound like the other finished tracks.  Another important element of mastering, especially for vinyl releases, is track sequencing.  How do you fit approximately equal amounts of playing time on each vinyl side?  This can also be part of the remastering effort.  Comparative listening is the only real way to tell what's been done.  You can also contact the record company because they may provide you info on each release.