New remastering of Steely Dan's Katy Lied review by Fremer

Does anyone else think the 24/192 2025 remaster on Qobuz sounds inferior to the still available cd redbook version on Qobuz?  Or am I just plain crazy?  No, I’m not talking vinyl here. Just digital. 

Ok. Different question. Because I need to sort this out and need the help of the community. Can someone please stream the 192 version and then the 16/44.1 version and tell me if the 192 is several dbs quieter?  Like I hear?  Maybe my dac is broken. 

I would really appreciate a response to my query above. I am truly having a hard time understanding why some hi res versions of their cd red book counterparts to me sound quieter and less dynamic, even with a quick volume compensation the level of the 16/44.1 file. This record is not the only one. There are MANY 

The high res is quieter. Older masterings sometimes increased the perceived loudness of a track by applying audio compression, which evened out louder and softer peaks/troughs and then normalized the tracks so that the largest peaks are just short of clipping. The end result is louder but in the process the dynamic range has been compressed original. A good remastering would be quieter, overall, to increase the "space" available to play out the original dynamic range, shy of clipping.

In theory you are right that this quieter less compressed version should always sound better. But often I find anyway that it does not. Streaming services give you the opportunity to quickly start one version and then another. Even volume adjusting, I often find that the louder 44.1 version sounds better in terms of overall SQ. And it’s not the amp, when I am going from nine o’clock to say 10 o’clock on the volume dial. Both are well within the “”sweet spot” for the amp.