Megadeth - Endgame (2009)

[Hancoque]

Why not make the sound of the original release more crisp instead? Ozone's EQ matching might be the perfect (and simple) solution to get a genuinely dynamic and crisp sound.

[angelusredrove]

There are some things i like about the original (like the drum reverb) but the Remaster is also a remix so I'm not sure whether you could achieve the same sound with the original

i was also thinking (again with an almost complete lack of knowledge of what the process involves) is that since all of the 2004 R&Rs are from the same session - i think all of the albums should have a similar sound - so with the settings used in Protools and Ozone or whatever is used to enhance the record - could the exact same settings be saved and than applied on the other remasters without much else tweaking? - or is it a much more involved process than I'm thinking of?

[jNive]

more complex than that - as the non-linearities and transient responses produced on each track (let alone album) vary enough to require different EQ-ing and other matching/balancing measures. Just to let you know that my Youthanasia attempt is already well underway too, we shall see how that turns out!

[angelusredrove]

lol fair enough - shows how much i know about audio mastering...i have a lot to learn

[LogicDeLuxe]

Presets on any audio workstation software are rarely useful for serious editing. Those which come with the software are usually very exaggerated, which render them rather useless. I guess, they are intended to get the idea what certain effects can do.
And I often find myself saving some settings, and never use them again, because they just don't fit for different songs.
Thus, you really end up with tweaking every song and every album separately. There is no shortcut, if you want to do a decent job.

[angelusredrove]

Woo thanks! Downloading Youthanasia now
Edit: Very Nice! sounds much more ballsy and the clarity of the individual instruments is amazing, Jnive: continuing to show the world what albums SHOULD sound like - how can anyone think that the DR6 version is superior to this!?! i wonder how may audio engineers/mixers make a dynamic master and then get told to compress it by the label... and how many audio mixers are actually happy with the end result - i guess Rick Rubin and Andy Sneap perhaps like it this way.. what about Mustaine - do you think it was his choice to have it mastered at the DR6 standard?

[jNive]

It is indeed often tough to determine whether the final result is a product of record execs and contractual waivers regarding the final-final 'mastering' etc, or whether the artists and even the engineers actually prefer or push for that particular sound. It can be a bit of a catch 22

1. If artists provide a reference track to an engineer for type of sound they are going for, is it the sound?, the power? the 'oooomph/chuggg'? or everything about it including the average loudness etc.
2. If the engineer makes a dynamic master, lower in average loudness to the reference, but the same sound character - did they miss what the artist actually wanted - that unrelenting power/pace? - and even if they didn't , will the record company exercise their rights under contract and push for a compressed mastering of that mix / draft mastering.

If so, will engineers often try to just skip some steps that they think they know it will lead toward, and just automatically go for a compressed version regardless since they think they will just request that anyways? and by doing so, does this result in artists & record execs routinely hearing the overcompressed versions and as a result, deeming that sound to be the modern standard to reference and feeling that the dynamic masterings are missing that element and are therefore lacking.

Basically, the ears of artists & execs are likely becoming desensitised to subtle dynamics and other elements of the audio, and the ear is being trained to compare audio on more and more simplistic levels - Amount of bass, and feeling of agression/loudness.

[angelusredrove]

This is truly depressing stuff
its like a slippery, steep slope that there seems to be almost no return from...and it seems that only a minimal amount can be done by the average person.
also, it seems that too many people just don't care
i guess we'll have to see how this pleasurizemusic foundation movement turns out