Are there any GOOD Dylan SACD remasters?

Ben: Beore you call people daft, you might want to check your facts. Source tapes are NOT masters. Masters are what you make out of source tapes.

There's also nothing daft about the idea that there would be more than one source tape (or set of source tapes, if you're using multitrack recording). Those are called 'takes," and they're quite common. I've heard a few remasters where I'm pretty sure they were using at least parts of different takes than the original release.

Pableson my understanding is that out of the source tapes (alternative takes and the individual tracks etc.)the artist decides what is going on the album and this set is worked on (usually to an incredible extent)and stored as the master tapes.
Clearly the rest of the source material is usually kept as well.

The master is the definitive tape as it is the album as was released.The deinitive version if you like.

Now sometimes artists do release alternative takes and very often these appear on remasters as extra's.
Dylan's soundtrack to NDH has many alternative takes which sound completely different musically and lyrically.
Of course alternative takes very close to the released version will exist too.

I do believe it is very easy to make recordings sound quite different depending on what is done during the remastering process however the key point is that the same tape is used.

Nick Drake's Pink Moon is a very sparse album ( very few instruments) and yet it sounds very different from the original CD release because the mix has been changed.
These changes could easily be mistaken as alternative versions but they are not.

Now I shouldn't have called you daft and I apologise for that however I still think you are wrong.

I don't believe any of these Dylan albums have anything different on them from the original releases.
Indeed Dylan always used the studio in a hit and run fashion and seldom recorded any song the same twice over.

Your theory has merit anyone can easily see what some artists/producers might want to tweak things.However I believe this type of remastering is very rare.

It shouldn't be too difficult to give examples of this on the Dylan series.
Can you or others show obvious examples?

Indeed I cannot think of a single remastered album that uses the process you mention and not state it clearly in the notes or cover.

Your theory has merit anyone can easily see what some artists/producers might want to tweak things.However I believe this type of remastering is very rare.

Rare? That's what remastering IS. It's going back to the original tapes (NOT the original master) and creating a new, different master. Why is that so hard to understand?

Now you are just playing with words or terminology.

I repeat remastering is the technique of going back to the original "master" or call it source tape if you like and using the latest technology to "improve" it.
Obviously you've changed it it in some fashion and I concede on some remasters they either eq again or in extreme cases remix-when they remix they usually make it clear because usually people want the classic album as was but with the improvements and clarity that the new technology brings.
Sometimes they change techincal mistakes like on Miles Davis KOB where they've played with the tape speeds.

Remastering however simply does not involve cutting and pasting takes or individual tracks which is what you describe.

It's not difficult to understand unless I misunderstand you.

Now why can't you pick out track x,y or z to prove your theory?
You name me one Dylan track that is different from the original released version in the way that you describe.

I suggest you are hearing differences based on what I describe not the cut and paste you describe.

I'm not "playing" with terminology. I'm trying to get you to use terminology correctly. When they RE-master a recording, they do not go back to the MASTER. They make a new master. That's what remastering means. To say that remastering uses the same master, as you did before, is nonsensical.

As long as you keep calling the original studio tapes "masters," you will get this wrong.

And there is no reason why remastering has to involve only the specific takes used in the original master (or any master, since by this time there are probably several). Probably isn't common, but it's certainly not unheard of. I'm not saying it was done in the case of the Dylan remasters, BTW.

Also, virtually all remastering involves remixing. If you aren't going to do that, there's almost no point.