The Doors' Soul Kitchen: Original vs. Remastered

"Clipping is a phenomenon that occurs in digital audio when the amplitude value of a signal exceeds the maximum level that can be represented by the current bit resolution" [... any sample which should get a higher or lower value] "will get the maximum/minimum value instead. This causes the signal to distort, and appears in the waveform display as a "chopping-off" of the top or bottom of the waveform. The audible result of sequential max or min values is a static-like distortion". - Hydrogen Audio Wiki

Okay, so what does this sound like?

To find out, download these two FLAC files:

1) Original CD Release Version
2) Remastered Version

A pair of headphones will help. Listen to the original first, then listen to the remastered version, and when you do, listen out for some high pitch crackle in the right channel about 6 seconds in to the sample. As you can see from the picture below, the peaks are severely clipped in the right channel.

Note: Both files have been run through WavGain and are 89dB.

Click to enlarge

In war, propaganda plays a major role, and the Loudness Wars are no different. To wit a member of the propagandised public recently waved a flag for remastering, stating the following on Amazon: "The Doors back catalogue has been due a makeover for years, and wow, haven't they spent some effort on it. The sound quality on these discs has never been bettered in my opinion". What they meant to say was, "wow, it's louder than the last one!"

Not content with distorting the crap out of the music for the sake of making the songs shout competitively loudly over the airwaves, they even pissed around with the material - spot the difference anyone?:

1) Break On Through (Original CD Release Version)
2) Break On Through (Remastered (and altered for no reason) Version

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