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

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.

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.