I’m also a bit confused by the use of the term “remastered” when labeling a strictly digital release of a recording.
Vinyl is produced using a master but is there something similar used for producing a digital file?
I doubt that many digital releases labelled “remastered” have even been remixed, let along remastered (whatever that means in the context of a digital recording).
Sorry I know that this way off topic and perhaps would be better served with its own topic.
I’m not a sound engineer, so I’m answering to the best on my knowledge. Anyone please fact-check me.
In case of digital releases, the masters are the files themselves, as they are the finished product in the absence of buring/stamping/cutting/carving/chiseling/etc. physical media.
Given the above, I think “remastered” and “remixed” can be used interchangeably in case of entirely digital releases. In any case, the results should be different from the original versions.
(BTW, since this is in [very] slow mode, it would be best to ask genuinely interesting questions in a different thread.)
Surely yes. In studio terms, remastering digital source material refers to any manipulation of an existing mix without altering its parts. This can mean leveling/normalization, applying EQ, dynamic compression/expansion, all types of frequency-selective effects as well as phase and imaging manipulation and any plugin used for removing unwanted events such as noise or distortion.
The moment any type of remastering process is applied, the files will sound differently at least in terms of level and normalization so they are not bit-identical anymore. Usually much more is done, with EQ and dynamic manipulation being the most common steps.
In the pro audio world, there is a clear distinction between remastering and remixing.
Remastering is a process in which an existing mix, usually the ´historical master´, is manipulated in order to achieve better sound quality or fit better into a desired digital product, without tracks being added or the relative level in the mix being altered.
Remixing means using the original multitrack material and putting it together anew in a different form to what has been done by the original mixing engineer. This includes manipulating the single tracks, applying effects on several of them if necessary (e.g. noisegates, de-hissing, EQ, compression) altering the level between the tracks, adding tracks and applying effects like reverb which have not been used in this form in the original mix. Most mixing engineers would prefer this as you can take advantage of more modern consoles, effects (particularly reverb and delay), de-noising on single tracks, but this might lead in a result being pretty different from the original intension of the initial mixing engineer.
Every process that adds tracks, is panning single tracks to a different position in the channel layout or massively alters the image of the mix (for example when remixing for 5.1 or Atmos), also qualifies as remixing.
I got creative and worked out a way to split a single post into two and thus create a new topic.
Please continue this interesting discussion here.
I think I would hope that a remaster (of an analogue recording in digital form) may or should include the finished multi track session tapes unaltered being re-digitised with the latest A>D equipment and perhaps with the latest noise reduction.
I don’t know if there’s anything that can be done with a digital multi-track original being recombined / remastered to stereo using the latest equipment to produce a new ‘master’ (without touching the ‘sliders’ and making an actual remix).
Sadly, I think many remastered releases (of analogue and digital recordings) are just excuses to pump the levels and flatten the dynamics to try and capture listeners’ attention in Spotify (and similar) playlists and avoid skips, thus better monetising the content.