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

@slaw It's like that bathroom graffito: "No matter how beautiful s/he is, someone, somewhere is sick of their sh*t."

OP, an equalizer is a magnifying glass of sorts. If the fundamental sonic characteristics of the recording at baseline are good, then it will respond well to bass and particularly treble EQ well.  Try to add treble to a fundamentally flawed recording and you will magnify the flaws, as the air in the upper octave that you are adding increases the apparent resolution of an already flawed mids and or highs. As the saying goes, “lipstick on a pig is still a pig.”  Katie Lied is not a pig. 

Just another comment on Katy Lied. As is often the case with the old stuff there’s a lot of variability track to track. Chain Lightning sounds awesome while Black Friday and Rose Darling sound overly lean in comparison. 
Am trying to find the new release digital on streaming services. Can’t seem to find. But the 192 and 96 kHz hi res versions have considerable volume reduction and generally suck c w the original redbook version. 

Oh. I see. The hi res versions ARE the 2025 remaster. Freaking Auralic’s Qobuz integrated into its own Lightning DS software doesn’t tell you that. But the proper Qobuz app does. Sorry the confusion. Wow, the 2025 remaster even when volume compensated sounds terrible. No other words are needed. 

Katy and her lies showed up on my doorstep yesterday.  My expectations were not high, but the sound quality was nothing short of incredible.  The guitars had a nice edge to the them that is missing in previous versions, the vocals were much clearer, and all the instruments sounded more detailed and clear.  It was like the proverbial "blanket over the speakers" had been removed.

To be sure that I wasn't just experiencing confirmation bias, I pulled out the MFSL and one of the original pressings I had and listened to Chain Lightning from each.  Both sounded muffled and muddy compared to the UHQR. 

I then played the 24/192 2025 remastered digital file through my Rockna Wavedream Signature, which rivals my analog setup, depending on the source material.  It was really good and a definite improvement over the vinyl OP and MFSL, but didn't quite have the same musicality and sparkle of the UHQR.

I'll be honest, I pre-ordered all the Dan UHQRs with the exception of Katy Lied.  I love the songs, but didn't think it would be possible to polish a turd.  I changed my mind based on Fremer's review, while still having a healthy dose of skepticism.  I'm glad I did.  If you have a nice vinyl rig, I think it's worth the 150 bucks.