Metallica – Death Magnetic

Stefanvanderland Mar 16, 2026

Does not not sound amazing, too much treble, pretty annoying after 5 minuter of listening...
If want to hear the album, just play the cd, so you don't have to go up to your turntable after each song.

cwilcox1976 Mar 10, 2026

Great comeback from St. Anger. Not a full on thrash album, but still fast paced and heavy. The Unforgiven III is fabulous.

thunderforge Mar 1, 2026

If you think this has a better sound than the first press. So unfortunately no:(
Better buy vinyl

hollaholiday Jan 2, 2026

I bought a copy after listening to the digital version and seeing that this pressing uses the 2015 master. I'm sorry to say that I think in this case, it is the same heavily compressed version from 2008. Although it does look like it may be a couple db quieter. The drum parts on The Day That Never Comes are still distorted and I'm hearing distortion in The End of the Line. I haven't made it all the way through the LP yet since I just got it an our or so ago...but I'd say save your money. If this gets any better, I'll update this message.

cemg92 Dec 1, 2025

Edited 4 months ago

I wish I would've read the comments first before buying, but this does indeed sound like the original release and not the remasters.

shawnduhast Nov 29, 2025

Yes this is the iTunes 2015 remaster version which sounds a lot better than the 2008 version.

So Lars eventually ate humble pie but kept it very quiet what they had done when this version was issued as Lars had always said there was no problem as far as he was concerned with Rick Rubin's production...yeah right, you were the only one Lars!

No high end clipping and distortion anymore which made me subconsciously cringe & feel on edge the whole time I was listening. This one I feel relaxed listening to and can enjoy these songs which are some of my favourites by them. All the instruments have space to breath and can be heard clearly now. James voice is slightly more forward in the mix on the LP compared to the digital download and more the better for it. The bass is still there and nicely defined.

I think this sounds a bit clearer and less boomy than the iTunes remaster having done a A-B shoot out. Also sounds better than the BOX SET x5 45rpm Vertigo 00602517737310 from 2008.

It's also the master used for the silver re-issue a couple years ago but I've seen it written a few times now from record plant manufacturers that Silver is one of the colours to avoid if you're after the purest sound quality from a record.

shawnduhast Nov 29, 2025

Yes this is the iTunes 2015 remaster version which sounds a lot better than the 2008 version.

So Lars eventually ate humble pie but kept it very quiet what they had done when this version was issued as Lars had always said there was no problem as far as he was concerned with Rick Rubin's production...yeah right, you were the only one Lars!

No high end clipping and distortion anymore which made me subconsciously cringe & feel on edge the whole time I was listening. This one I feel relaxed listening to and can enjoy these songs which are some of favourites by them. All the instruments have space to breath and can be heard clearly now. James voice is slightly more forward in the mix on the LP compared to the digital download and more the better for it. The bass is still there and nicely defined.

I think this sounds a bit clearer and less boomy than the iTunes remaster having done a A-B shoot out. Also sounds better than the BOX SET x5 45rpm Vertigo 00602517737310 from 2008.

It's also the master used for the silver re-issue a couple years ago but I've seen it written a few times now from record plant manufacturers that Silver is one of the colours to avoid if you're after the purest sound quality from a record.

Dead_Goat_Records Nov 5, 2025

My copy doesn't have any hiss luckily, but it's still a very controversial production. The vinyl sounds great for what it is though, and I still love this album.

DR9 -0.04 dB -11.62 dB 7:06 01-That Was Just Your Life
DR9 -0.76 dB -11.16 dB 7:51 02-The End Of The Line
DR8 -0.77 dB -10.38 dB 6:23 03-Broken, Beat & Scarred
DR8 -0.50 dB -10.38 dB 7:53 04-The Day That Never Comes
DR9 -0.61 dB -10.60 dB 7:56 05-All Nightmare Long
DR9 -0.15 dB -10.16 dB 6:38 06-Cyanide
DR9 -1.17 dB -12.50 dB 7:44 07-The Unforgiven III
DR9 -0.41 dB -10.24 dB 7:58 08-The Judas Kiss
DR9 -1.02 dB -11.31 dB 9:54 09-Suicide & Redemption
DR8 -0.20 dB -9.89 dB 4:58 10-My Apocalypse

PietrosCZ Oct 23, 2025

So seriously, this is a complete degradation of the CD sound. The album "Death Magnetic" has been criticized for its compression and sound mastering process (so-called "brick-wall" limitation was used). This means that the dynamics will probably be lower than on older Metallica recordings.

Dynamic range (DR), for this album, a relatively low value is usually given (e.g. DR ≈ 5–6) for some versions, due to strong compression. What a shame, don't take it ...

shawnduhast Oct 5, 2025

So is this the 2016 iTunes remaster (that AI says it is) or the same bricked compressed Rubin idiot mess it's always been?
(except on GH3 of course....)

Does this silver version sound as good as the silver Beyond Magnetic, which I have, anyone can confirm please?