According to online sources, the Collector’s Edition at least in CD version featured the 2015 remaster, but that 192 kHz version from Qobuz sounds completely different.
The 192 kHz version sounds very clean and refined, much more detail than the two others. But it also lacks life, all the anger and drive and “makes want to get on the dance floor” is missing. I found it very boring in comparison.
The 2015 remaster, to my ears, simply sounded like a version of the original that was done by somebody with bad taste. Much more flashy, more drums, more bass, but gone too far. The sound equivalent of trying to show off, but making others cringe.
I may be biased, I listened to a tape of the album daily during a 4-week road trip through Scandinavia in 1996, when we had lots of CDs with us and one tape, and the CD player broke on the second day. That left an imprint. :)
Note that I probably wouldn’t have a problem with the remaster if I hadn’t compared it directly to the original version. In fact, I listened to it a few times already before I found the old CD and ripped it, and I held no grudge against it then.
@Cspirou Roon lists Matt Laug, Gota Yashiki, Rob Ladd, and Ross Garfield as drummers and percussionists on different tracks. Not sure if that list is complete, though.
@gixxerwimp The difference isn’t huge, maybe a little reduced on the remaster, and even more on the 192 kHz version. My system isn’t very suitable to decide that, though, as the DAC (Meier Corda Daccord) is very smooth with sibilance, and my headphones (Clear Mg) are quite reduced in this area. In fact, the sibilance on that track isn’t particularly annoying to me at all.
A song where I sometimes wince even with my system because of sibilance and other painful treble sounds is Quicksand by Quicksand. I really like that song, but the treble can be a challenge.
I’ve done a similar comparison with Pixies CDs I bought in the 90s vs Apple Music streams. Even though the streams are lossless, they are remastered and don’t have the same feel as the original. I definitely prefer the 90s discs
It depends. I think that the Michael Jackson remasters of Bad and Thriller are quite good, e. g.. They are louder, yes, but they don’t really lose anything (the originals didn’t have more dynamic contrast, anyway) and add some detail and separation.
OTOH, that’s 80s, not 90s, and from a time when digital production wasn’t common yet.
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