rockoqatsi

Hiyall, This is my first post on Computer Audiophile, so I'd just like to introduce myself quickly before I reply to the OP. From the moment I got wind of there being a 192/24 release of this soundtrack, I knew I just had to have it. In scouring the internet for reviews, this thread came up, and everyone's comments and opinions gave me something to think about... but that was no substitute for actually hearing it. This was the first soundtrack I ever bought as well (I was seven years old back then), and I do have the original CD on hand, but I'm too lazy to analyze waveforms and would just rather post some concise observations on how they sound, after having listened to them back to back. I was happy to find that the strings and brass sound a lot more full-bodied and powerful in the remaster, compared to the original which I always thought sounded a wee-bit tinny (even compared to other orchestral recordings.) The added headroom in the high and low registers gave low-level details an added tastiness, and as the OP mentioned earlier, the soundstage is more impressive this time round. As far as my system and ears can detect, those improvements are immediately apparent. My overall impression however is that this remaster suffers from what all popular remasters suffer from: make it louder, make it warmer, make it iPod-friendly. I noticed the bass and midbass had been given a noticeable bump, first from the bass strings in Track 2 (Theme from Jurassic Park) which loaded my listening room in a way the CD hadn't, and which became increasingly annoying as the album went on. (Proper room treatments might have abated this, but I have hundreds of other albums—some of them hi-res—on which this isn't a problem.) On CD, "Journey To The Island" starts off light and then majestically blooms as the fanfare starts. The remaster has the volume turned up on the quiet bits so this effect isn't quite the same, but the orchestral peaks sound unrestricted, nevertheless. So the dynamic compression didn't harm the peaks, that's good. And if your system is wanting for power, the added warmth and loudness will suit it fine. And there's more detail. But for my system and I, at the moment, my old CD is a more pleasing listen. It may be because I am so intimately familiar with the soundtrack, having listened to it for the past twenty years, but the mastering tricks on the anniversary edition drew my attention to them all the time, and for the most part didn't improve my enjoyment of the music. Unfortunately the business paradigm of mastering is largely in favor of drastic changes, even if there was nothing wrong with the original product. How is the casual listener to judge if something is worth purchasing if it's not louder with more boom? If the OP is interested posting his thoughts on the album, I'm sure he's had time to listen and reflect...