Best Album Remasters

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

Greetings all,

 

As we know, there is a wealth of great music from the past but sadly the sound quality has not always been up to scratch (pun intended). This is not to say old recordings always sound worse than new.

 

I wanted to start a thread to create a repository of people's opinions as to the best remasters of a favourite recording. Hopefully these would be genuine remasters where there has been access to the original mixed tapes rather than re-issues of Eqed masters in whatever resolution.

 

The intention is to cover:

 

• any genre
  
• Any time period
  
• Studio or live
  
• Any file format or Rez or physical media
  
• Where there has been a significant improvement in SQ
  
• Where to source the material if known
  

 

It is not intended to be about:

 

• The performance quality or version (which cannot be changed now)
  
• The quality of the recording (which cannot be changed now)
  
• A technical debate:- but accompanying technical details, if known, are welcome.
  

 

 

Cheers and Happy Listening.

[firedog]

I think this has been covered before, but I'll put in the ones I can think of without making a project of it:

 

1. Tommy 24/192 e-Onkyo

2. Quadrophenia 24/192 e-Onkyo

3. The Who SHM - SACDs

3. All the ABKCO remasters of the Rolling Stones. Preference to DSD rips, but the HDT hi-res PCM is also very good, and so are the CD versions

4. Paul McCartney solo catalog in 24/96, especially the "unlimited" (no added volume compression) versions

5. John Lennon solo catalog 2010 remastering (not the earlier ones) - CD only

6. Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells a Story, hi-res HDT

7. Bill Evans Trio - Waltz for Debbie, hi-res, HDT

8. Pretty much all the Blue Note hi-res remasters. I'd say all of them, but haven't heard them all

9. The Band, Rock of Ages (CD)

10. Bob Dylan, the Mono Remasters

11. Weather Report, Heavy Weather. HDT hi-res

12. Layla, Derek and the Dominos, MFSL version

13. Green Day, American Idiot, 24-96 HDT (released without added volume compression, sounds way better than the CD).

13. The Police - SACD/DSD - all of it

14. Thriller - SACD/DSD

15. Jeff Beck - Blow by Blow, SACD/DSD. I assume the HDT hi-res is derived from this and also sounds good, but haven't heard it.

16. The Clash, London Calling, CD.

17. Stevie Ray Vaughn, hybrid CD/SACD releases

18. Stravinsky, the Rite of Spring, Berstein/NYP from 1958 in 24-96,

19. Stravinsky, L'histoire du Soldat, hi-res (from tape) (Mandell Ars Nova label)

20. Fulfillingness First Finale, SACD/DSD

21. Santana - Abraxas, MFSL

22. Marvin Gaye, What's Goin' On, hi-res, HDT

23. Jimmy Hendrix, pretty much everything put out by the Hendrix foundation from 1997 on.

24. Graham Nash, Songs for Beginners. warning: sounds totally different than original. full remix and remaster

[Musicophile]

The K2HD remaster of Oscar Peterson's We Get Requests is amazing.

[oscarnr]

The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds. HDtracks 24/192 (and probably MFSL SACD, which I have not heard). The record is a must in every collection and this version is outstanding.

[Perlik]

The K2HD remaster of Oscar Peterson's We Get Requests is amazing.

 

Where can I buy and download DSD files ?

Thanks

Frank

[Musicophile]

Where can I buy and download DSD files ?

Thanks

Frank

In my understanding, while the remastering was done in 24 bit, the only available end result so far is this unfortunately rather pricy redbook:

 

Amazon.com: We Get Requests (K2HD mastering): Music

 

If anybody is aware of a source for the24 bit master, please share.

 

The only SACD I've seen (but don't have, as I don't have an SACD player) is the Analog Productions remaster:

 

Amazon.com: We Get Requests: Music

 

Maybe somebody around here had the pleasure to compare the two versions.

[Robert Hutton]

I think this has been covered before, but I'll put in the ones I can think of without making a project of it:

 

1. Tommy 24/192 e-Onkyo

2. Quadrophenia 24/192 e-Onkyo

3. The Who SHM - SACDs

3. All the ABKCO remasters of the Rolling Stones. Preference to DSD rips, but the HDT hi-res PCM is also very good, and so are the CD versions

4. Paul McCartney solo catalog in 24/96, especially the "unlimited" (no added volume compression) versions

5. John Lennon solo catalog 2010 remastering (not the earlier ones) - CD only

6. Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells a Story, hi-res HDT

7. Bill Evans Trio - Waltz for Debbie, hi-res, HDT

8. Pretty much all the Blue Note hi-res remasters. I'd say all of them, but haven't heard them all

9. The Band, Rock of Ages (CD)

10. Bob Dylan, the Mono Remasters

11. Weather Report, Heavy Weather. HDT hi-res

12. Layla, Derek and the Dominos, MFSL version

13. Green Day, American Idiot, 24-96 HDT (released without added volume compression, sounds way better than the CD).

13. The Police - SACD/DSD - all of it

14. Thriller - SACD/DSD

15. Jeff Beck - Blow by Blow, SACD/DSD. I assume the HDT hi-res is derived from this and also sounds good, but haven't heard it.

16. The Clash, London Calling, CD.

17. Stevie Ray Vaughn, hybrid CD/SACD releases

18. Stravinsky, the Rite of Spring, Berstein/NYP from 1958 in 24-96,

19. Stravinsky, L'histoire du Soldat, hi-res (from tape) (Mandell Ars Nova label)

20. Fulfillingness First Finale, SACD/DSD

21. Santana - Abraxas, MFSL

22. Marvin Gaye, What's Goin' On, hi-res, HDT

23. Jimmy Hendrix, pretty much everything put out by the Hendrix foundation from 1997 on.

24. Graham Nash, Songs for Beginners. warning: sounds totally different than original. full remix and remaster

 

An excellent post!

 

I have pretty much all of those, and your comments are dead on.

 

I would add:

 

Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events (24/96) - incredibly better than either the CD or vinyl, the title that actually got me into hi-res.

 

Virtually all the Rhino 24/192, particularly Joni Mitchell's Court & Spark, Les McCann's Another Beginning, Brook Benton's The Gospel Truth, Yusef Lateef's Gentle Giant, and The Velvet Underground.

 

Anything coming from the Beejazz label is excellent.

 

French jazz is just so vital while American jazz is either stuck in reverse or an oldies show. Check out:

 

Vincent Jourde - Le Graveur Des Reves, 24/96.

Thomas Savy - French Suite, 24/96 (awesome bass clarinet fronted quartet).

Stephane Huchard - Panamerican, 24/96.

 

All the hi-res ECM sounds glorious and exceeds the redbook by a wide margin. Particularly Chick Corea - Light AS A Feather, Manu Katche - Third Round, and Jarrett's Testament, to name but a very few.

 

DaCapo keeps turning out exceptionally good sounding, often contemporary and experimental, classical music and virtually all are sonic and musical wonders. The Nielsen cycle by the NYPO/Gilbert is excellent.

 

The Mahler 8 from Solti/CSO, recorded beautifully in Vienna, is the best sounding Universal classical remaster I have heard.

 

The Deutsche Scallenplatten label releases in 24/192 have been a revelation - not just for the incredibly good sonics, but amazing and very unique performances also. Rudolph Kempe does Stravinsky's Firebird and Britten's Sinfonia Da Requiem is one example, an amazing reading of Grieg's Piano Concerto is another.

 

I haven't even gotten to DSD yet, maybe later.

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

Wow thanks for great contributions so far.

 

For those interested here are links to some Van Morrison remasters and discussion re Beach Boys Pet Sounds best remastered version

Van Morrison Moondance

 

Van Morrison Inarticulate Speech of the Heart

 

 

The Beach Boys Pet Sounds

[Robert Hutton]

Wow thanks for great contributions so far.

 

For those interested here are links to some Van Morrison remasters and discussion re Beach Boys Pet Sounds best remastered version

Van Morrison Moondance

 

Van Morrison Inarticulate Speech of the Heart

 

 

The Beach Boys Pet Sounds

 

On to DSD:

 

A few to avoid:

 

Pretty much all the Analogue Productions Blue Note. Way too low gain, someone mistook turning the master gain down for dynamics. Treble too rolled off. A few ok ones, but overall, the 24/192 BN series is much better.

 

Free-Fire & Water is lacklustre. The DiMeola/DeLuca/McLaughlin Passion Grace & Fire sounds like a bad CD. For the most part, the Fantasy/Concord SACD remasters of the Riverside/Prestige catalog are lacklustre also, passable, but far from great. For example, the Japanese DSD transfers of Bill Evans Explorations and Waltz For Debby blow the domestic DSD out of the water.

 

For the most part, the few Warners Japanese SACDs are also disappointing. The mono Coltrane titles - Giant Steps and My Favorite Things - just sound dull. Jarret's Somewhere Before is better, and Bill Evans You Must Believe In Spring is much better. But Universal does a fabulous job of Jarrett's Death And The Flower in DSD.

 

Good ones:

 

Speaking of Japanese DSD - the Miles Davis material is stupendous. I never heard Nefertitti and ESP like this in my life - or Sorcerer, Bitches Brew and the rest. Wayne Shorter's massively under-rated Native Dancer is an awesome DSD transfer. Deep Purple - Machine Head is another case of the Japanese DSD blasting the 24/96 available on HD Tracks into oblivion.

 

Find a copy of Amina Claudine Myers Salutes Bessie Smith, on SACD or a dsd rip. Not only is it a fantastic piece of music, truly one of a kind, the DSD is amazing.

 

That's just a few.

 

On the classical side:

 

The Japanese Mahler/Bernstein/NYPO material transferred to DSD is a revelation, actually making the performances a revelation also. Too bad domestic DG/Decca transfers are not this good.

 

But the Japanese DSD transfer of the Argerich/Abbado Prokofiev/Ravel on DG is exceptional, a full bodied piano tone and a propulsive, organic feel.

 

There has been great controversy in some parts about the Esoteric SACD series. They sound fabulous, and in particular, Karajan's Bruckner 7 has earth shattering impact on DSD. Bohm's great Brahms 1 is also amazing. The Mravinsky Tchaikovsky 4,5,6 is better than it has ever sounded on the Esoteric DSD.

 

There is a fabulous series of 1970's recordings made in Japan on SACD from TokyoFM. Karajan's Beethoven and Kamu's Sibelius. The sound is glorious. In particular, Kamu's Sibelius 2 is such a hypnotic performance - one of the few that doesn't read it like second rate Tchaikovsky.

 

Haven't even got to the goodies on MFSL and to a lesser extent Analogue Productions yet. Of the 3 Audio Fidelity SACD titles I have had - all DSD rips played natively - only Nat King Cole's Welcome To The Club blew me away. Rush-Counterparts sounds a bit thin and redbook-ish. Yes Close To The Edge is rolled off and blunted, the 24/192 is better.