Any ZZ Top fans that also subscribe to Qobuz?
This afternoon I listened to "ZZ Top's First Album" using Roon. I started with the CD rip (FLAC lossless/uncompressed) from my collection. This CD is from the ZZ Top "Six Pack Collection" (1987) whose liner notes state "We have attempted to preserve, as closely as possible, the sound of the original recordings." In other words, no remastering.
Since I was using Roon I noticed in the "Versions" tab that Qobuz has both a 44/16 and a 96/24 version which is the "Studio Masters Edition". Might as well try out the 96/24 version, right?
Holy Schiit, the remastered version is NOTHING like my CD rip. By comparison it sounds awful!!
Let's use "Brown Sugar" as an example. The CD intro opens with Billy Gibbon's guitar and vocal being mostly centered in the mix with an appropriately gritty, live studio sound. The 96/24 mix has vocals hard-panned to the right, guitar hard-panned to the left with ALL of the gritty, live sound completely gone. This completely messed up the feel of the song for me. The rest of the song continues with the same lack of feeling of a live recording that the original had. The remainder of the album is much the same.
Interestingly, the Qobuz 44/16 version (unknown provenance) reverses the vocals to hard-panned left, guitar hard-panned right. Go figure...
All this to say that remastering isn't always a good thing. Audiofools make a lot of noise about "being true to the source" and get horny when a Hi-Res version of their favorite album becomes available. But I gotta remind everyone - buyer beware. IMHO, my CD version is far superior to the remastered version(s).
I don't have a record player (yet) but I'd be willing to bet that an original analog issue of the album sounds better than any of the digital versions.
If anyone prefers the remastered version then good for you. We all have our preferences.
Now let's get back to our Scottish BBQ mayonnaise French Fry Gorilla Glue Fish 'n' Chips discussion.
edit - Not all remasters are evil BTW. I think the most recent remaster of the Beatle's "Sgt. Pepper" is very nice.