Anyone else remaster CDs they buy ?

I have done this too!  Very minimally though.  I did it with Brian Wilson's Smile CD.  Good Vibrations was too quiet in the opening in comparison to the preceding song.  So I put a volume envelope on it that fixed the problem.  You are not alone in your post-post-production efforts.

Yes, I 're-mastered' my CD copy of Peter Gabriel 4 (Security), which was way too quiet and thin sounding compared to the vinyl version.

ohhey


Just got the new Jakob Dylan CD - Women And Country.  It wasn't clipped as bad as most modern CDs are but the bass was just off the scale. Couldn't turn it up loud enough to hear the vocal without popping the speakers in the car. Soooo I ripped it into SoundForge and fixed it. 

While I was at it I remembered my Pure Prairie League - Bustin' Out CD sounded really thin for some reason. So I ripped it and discovered they had made the CD with the RIAA EQed master for LP... Doooah ! So I reversed the RIAA and it sounded just about right. 

Anyone of you folks do this ? What CDs have you done ?

I have not remastered anything, but I have done some surgery on CDs in a wave file editor and re-burned the CD.  Most notibly, the Jethro Tull album Passion Play is one track.  Right smack in the middle of it, everything stops for a spoken interlude, a story about the rabbit who lost his spectacles or some such silliness (don't recall as I haven't listened to it in years).  Now, my Passion Play CD has two tracks ... and guess what's missing. 
 
I also occassionally remove applause.  Keith Jarrett solo concerts are so much better without loud bursts of noise interrupting the procedings, IMO.
Clearly, it's a sign that you really care about the music in the first place if you go to so much effort to make the listening experience even better.

mcourter


It's really a sign that you have WAY too much time on your hands. I wish I'd never seen this thread. Now I'll be tempted to try it with my entire catalog. Goodbye to composing and recording! No time left!

Sorry... LOL !   Who knows maybe you will get some inspiration listening to some favorite CDs again. 


Dude... I just finished Bruce Cockburn - Stealing Fire.... breathtaking.. It sounds so #@$! good in the car now, wow. Rich, powerful, punchy, just like my old cassette only with no hiss, dropouts, or wow and flutter.

mcourter


It's really a sign that you have WAY too much time on your hands. I wish I'd never seen this thread. Now I'll be tempted to try it with my entire catalog. Goodbye to composing and recording! No time left!

That's exactly what I was just thinking!!!
 
No.
 
Not going to be tempted, not unless I play something that's noticeably bad and could do with a fix.

Kalle Rantaaho


Ohhey, wouldn't it be easier to adjust the sound of your car stereo than to re-master your Cd-collection?

On these three it wouldn't work, there is not enough adjustment available. At most my car stereo has Bass and Treble.  And on these three I did more then just EQ.  I also don't want to have to adjust the stereo when one of those songs come up at random.

CucamongaBlues

Kalle Rantaaho


Ohhey, wouldn't it be easier to adjust the sound of your car stereo than to re-master your Cd-collection?

Can't speak for Ohhey, but for myself, I'm too busy talking, and texting to be adjusting the car stereo...not to mention driving. 

Yeah... playing with the stereo controls is dangerous.  If I can't do it from the wheel mounted controls I don't mess with it.   I never text while driving and use a bluetooth speakerphone if I need to answer the phone.

skullsession


Frank...I've got that Jakob Dylan disc.  It's a little bottom heavy....but not unlistenable on my end.  Just a couple of knotches down on my bass contol and I'm good to go in MY car.

Great disc.  Reminds me a bit of the production on the Allison Krauss/Robert Plant CD they did a couple of years ago.

Yeah I have the Krauss/Plant CD also, I'll have to drag it out again. The Dylan CD is a little sleepy but I can tell it will grow on me the more I listen to it.  I expected it to be like the Wallflowers but I still like it, I'm into the sleepy stuff too as long as it's good.  I don't seem to get tired of Jakob's voice like I do some singers it's very listenable.

mattplaysguitar


I have not yet, but I need to remaster a certain part in the song 'Invaders Must Die' from the latest Prodigy album of the same name. There is this certain part where the macro dynamics are actually too great! The oomph is lacking in a part near the end - just this one bar out of 4, and it repeats, and keeps going quiet when it shouldn't! An automated EQ should be able to fix it I think!

I just got Jimi Hendrix - Valleys of Neptune and was shocked how close to good it was. Very little clipping, the stuff looks like something I would have done.  Three songs need some bass reduction and a few need micro edits to remove bad clicks and stuff but other then that it's really nice.

You guys would have lost your minds back in the 8-track tape days.

Oh, Is that what happened to mine?