This article dives deep into why the 2017 remaster, sampled at an astonishing 192 kHz with 24-bit depth in FLAC format, is the essential version for collectors and critical listeners. Before analyzing the file specs, we must appreciate the source material. Recorded following the "Station to Station" cocaine-fueled madness in Los Angeles, Bowie fled to the Château d'Hérouville in France and then to Hansa Studios in West Berlin. Low was a radical left turn.
Released as part of the A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982) box set, this remaster was overseen by original producer . For the first time in the digital domain, Visconti went back to the original flat master tapes (not safety copies) with the express goal of preserving the raw dynamic range of the 1977 vinyl cut. David Bowie - Low -2017- -FLAC 24-192-
Side A (now Tracks 1-6) featured fragmented, staccato rock songs. Side B (Tracks 7-11) was almost entirely instrumental ambient pieces, heavily influenced by German "krautrock" bands like Kraftwerk, Neu!, and Tangerine Dream. This side was a collaboration with Brian Eno, utilizing tape loops, synthesizers, and the EMS VCS 3. This article dives deep into why the 2017