Why do so many remasters sound so awful?

[john12ax7]

Some modern music sounds great. Loud yet perceived clean.

But what's with all the remasters of older classic records? So many sound so awful. The recipe seems to be boost the high end and then crush it until there is no dynamic range left. It's just an overcompressed mess.

Who is steering this ship?

 

[ruairioflaherty]

Labels 100%, and sometimes the estate of the artist.

I just did a remaster of a Grammy winning and beloved record that was smashed on the original release (with crazy guest artists on there like The Eagles, Emmy Lou etc) . There's was a limit to how much I could un-smash it before it stopped feeling like the original so I'm basically nearly as loud, but in a much cleaner way. For the vinyl we did take a little more advantage.

 

[Spiritworks]

I have never purchased and heard a favorite vinyl album that was re-mastered to CD that sounded good to me in CD format. Always too much discomfort while listening, regardless of the cause.