(Re)Mastering Metallica
Posted on | September 25, 2008 | 1 Comment
Seems there’s some hubub about how Metallica’s latest album, Death Magnetic, sounds better on the the Guitar Hero 3 edition (apparently a different mix and master) than the CD. In fact, there’s a petition to re-mix and/or remaster it. Has it finally dawned on people that obliterating a mix and master with hypercompression (at both stages, most likely) deteriorates sound quality?
Listen, if sound quality was the top priority of record labels, then about half the albums since 1995 would be remixed and remastered. In a way, I’m glad that there’s such a high profile band associated with this scandal. Maybe it will help bring sound quality back into focus.
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From Ohm to Om reflects the opinions of mastering engineer Paul Abbott, owner of San Diego's ZenMastering.
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October 7th, 2008 @ 4:14 pm
After hearing some of the samples posted by listeners online, I signed the petition saying that I’d be waiting until the remaster to buy Death Magnetic.
Well, Irony comes around in strange ways, and a week later, my wife bought me the CD at Target, unsolicited, and totally unexpected. (The first CD she’s bought me in years.)
I have to say: I’m 100% on-board with the critics. Don’t get me wrong, the songs are really great, but the sound of the songs is fatiguing. There is audible digital clipping on some tracks, and it’s so hyper-compressed that (I hate to say it) it’s wimpy-sounding and fatiguing to listen to. If this is the “loudness war” we’ve been hearing so much about, then Death Magnetic has won the war, ate the expense of the music.
Someone else put it perfectly: When there is no quiet, there can be no loud.
But when you have the #1 album for 3 weeks in a row, nobody pays much attention to the critics.