Remastered?

This may have been discussed before, but wtf.

My favorite online cd shop has 'remastered' versions of Movement, PCL, LL and Brotherhood. I'm still very happy with my original facd issues, but could do with some fresh ones if they sound indeed better.

So the question is: are the remastered issues really remastered, as in audibly different?

Depends on the definition of 'remastered'. Sometimes remastering is nothing more than boosting the volume level of the CD - when CDs first came out, their peak volume levels, and no where near to the 0db high commonly seen on CDs these days. I think it was to do with the good signal-to-noise ratio CDs were capable of - the companies saw no need to make releases as loud as possible. Once they realised that CDs compete for attention on jukeboxes, they set about increasing volume levels and improving dynamics to make tracks stand out.

I've never read of any New Order albums being 'remastered', but only own the original CD issues. Certainly, anything past 'Technique' doesn't require it anyway. It could be the London reissues were made louder, but whether they went back to the two-track master tapes and re-compressed, enhanced and EQ'd the sounds, I've no idea. They more than likely boosted the levels on the existing digital masters, and bunged them straight out again. You can tell when listening to 'The Best Of' and 'Retro' that those tracks have definitely been remastered (sharper EQ, tighter dynamics, etc.). In the case of 'The Best Of', they tightened up the dynamics too much, as some tracks sound distorted in places.

In terms of sound quality, I'd still say that 'Technique' and 'Get Ready' as they were first released have the best sound quality out of any New Order CDs.

Andy

Unless the CDs just state remastered from an analogue source. My original Quest Brotherhood had that written in the sleeve notes. So, this would then apply to all older NO cd albums.