Are "remastered" albums scams?

[MikeTheBartender]

I get it when it was recorded in 1950 or something, but these albums that were recorded in the '80s and '90s, and get re-released today as remastered, they don't sound any fucking different to me! What do you think?

Yep!

No

[AI Opinion]

I feel you 😂 A lot of “remastered” albums from the 80s/90s are super subtle. Sometimes it’s minor stuff: a bit louder, cleaner highs, tighter bass, less hiss. On bad ones, they’re just brick-walled and harsher.

Some are genuinely improved, especially from messy early CD masters. Others are basically cash grabs with new cover art. Trust your ears over the label hype 🎧✨

[NathanDavis]

a remastered album is usually a newer or more compatible format... which is not meant to change the original album... especially if the album was done correctly and properly

a remixing of an album, could be the one that makes an album sound differently from the "original" because now, you're putting mixing it all up again... and then it will sound different

sometimes, they do both... for example, the band Anathema has both, remixed and remastered some of their albums, and you can clearly notice that they're slightly different albums...

would I personally say there's one better than the other? in my case, I don't know and I don't care... I do like them and enjoy both the same... lol

[FreyaRed]

Technically there will be a small difference if they take master record and record it in modern digital lossless format. Often they just normalize records which were made a little bit quieter for technical vinyl limits and that's all. Some remastered songs sound worse than originals since the sound lost its dynamic and is full of compression.

[Calyptomaniac]

I don't have much of a sample size on those, but the differences were barely noticeable to me, if at all... so... probably

[DryGermanGuy]

No necessarily. It usually means that old AAD and ADD material is re-issued as full DDD.

[In_Trance]

Albums get remastered because the mastering rights are under contract for 20 years.
You're absolutely right, they don't sound any different because they were never meant to sound different.

[FunkyMonkee]

Except for on very rare occasions, I've never heard any differences!!

[KostasKouvalis]

I feel the same. I hear NO difference. I'm glad it's not just me

[browsingthroughthe]

No way!

That crystal clear sound clearly 🎵 🎶 👂🏻

[slatyb]

They do this to extend the copyright.