Digital Remaster?

Here's the deal. CDs are recorded in 3 stages:


1 - In the studio to create the Studio Master


2 - Post production (I may have this term wrong - let's just call it PP for now) to create a new master that will be used to create the final distribution CD (or LP,or cassette, etc.)


3 - The final cd that you purchase.


Each of these stages can be either analog (A) or digital (D).


So a cd that is marked "DDD" means that all three stages were done digitally. A cd marked AAD means that only that the CD was made from an analog post production master. This is the case with most older material from the era before digital recording was widespread.


The new digitally remastered cds are made from a new PP master. creating an "ADD" recording This is the best possible scenario until the band goes back into the studio to make a digital studio master.


Make sense?


BTW - I can't always tell the difference. On really old material where the noise created between the two analog stages was significant I can but there was some pretty good analog gear available as well and some analog masters are quite good.


Your ear and gear may be more discerning than mine.


Colin.

Quote:
I guess you’re referring to “

Dark Side of the Moon 30th Anniversary Edition [HYBRID SACD]†?


It looks like this has a CD playable version on in addition to the SACD version. So as a standard CD how does this compare to the oridginal Dark Side of the Moon CD? I currently don’t have an SACD player. I have the original DSotM CD that says “Digital Remaster†right on the label.


But more to my original question, looking on cdnow.com I see “The Wall (Deluxe Packaging Digitally Remastered)†with a release date of April 25, 2000. I have The Wall on CD from a several years ago, but this appears to be a new one. Is this “Remastered†version really sound any better?


Also I see this [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] label on a lot of Pink Floyd’s CD’s released in 2000. Is this just record company attempts to convince us to buy these new CD’s because they’re some how better than the CD’s I already own? The DSotM SACD sounds like an exception to this, as it is in fact different.


I guess I’m still confused if these remastered CD’s provide any worthwhile improvement.

The stages are recording, mixing, mastering.


AAD = recorded analog, mixed analog, mastered digital

ADD = recorded analog, mixed digital, mastered digital

DDD = recorded digital, mixed digital, mastered digital


If it was put on CD it was digitally mastered or re-mastered.

Quote:
Both very interesting. Does anybody know if the Rush CD “Vapor Trails†was ever fixed and re-released? That article was written in 2002.


If I understand the Stereophile article correctly the CD layer on the 30th-anniversary DSOTM may sound worse than the old CD?


So in general this Louder is Better thinking may cause these re-released CD’s to actually sound worse?