Classic rock: best remasters

Humble Pie remastered 'Smoking' is very good. The Shm CD is even better.

Anybody who has the chance to compare the remasters on KC's "In the Court of the Crimson King, I urge you you to do so. It's the 2 CD version with disk one containing a new mix (2009) drawn from the original analogue tapes.
Disk 2 contains the 2004 remastered original album.

The remaster is a good effort, but spoiled with compression and lacking dynamic range.

I'm blown away by the new production of the album on disk one. Vocals are crystal clear, the imaging and realism between the flute, Fripp's guitar and keyboards is astounding and kick drum and cymbals are so pure. The soundstage is spread across my entire room and and it sounds like I'm in the studio. The DR is so wide and clean and I feel the bass thru my floor, but in a very good way.

The only way we will get remasters of this caliber is if the artist has the integrity of a Robert Fripp and backing of the label (or if he owns it). If only Zappa were alive today.

"If only Zappa were alive..." Actually, a lot of fans were upset with some of the stuff FZ did with his old recordings. He recut bass and drums on "We're Only In It For the Money" and it's my understanding he eventually went back to the original parts. Anyway, even when the work is done by the originator it's not always necessarily better to everyone's ear.

"01-27-15: Phasecorrect
I find it oddly amusing there is a resurgence back to first generation CD releases...anybody remember the audiophile community response...in short...not good. Now granted, some of these are youngsters who grew up on MP3, never heard vinyl, and ate being sold on something "uncompressed."However, as others have stated, compression is only one small part of the spectrum."

I don't think you're comparing the same thing. The first all digital recordings back in the 80's (DDD), were the ones that usually sound bad. CD's from the 80's that were analog recordings (AAD), sound pretty good. I remember the industry pushing DDD. There used to be comparisons and disclosures actually printed in the artwork/covers.

Zd, you have a point. I always use Jeff Beck as an example of good SQ in the CD era. During the 80s and 90s, he recorded in AAD or ADD. Then in the 2000s, his digital releases were as loud and compressed as the rest of the industry. It may have been out of his control by then.