The driving bassline of "Billie Jean" was recorded with a custom-built kick drum isolation board and a specific microphone setup to capture the punch without any muddy frequencies.
Years went by, and "Thriller" became one of the best-selling albums of all time. In 2009, the album was remastered and released in a special edition FLAC format, exclusive to a select few. The remastered version was a game-changer, with crystal-clear sound and a depth that was previously unheard of.
: Audiophiles note that while newer versions like Thriller 40 offer wider stereo imaging, the earlier remasters (including the 2009 and 2001 special editions) stay truer to the "intended" sound of the 1982 original while being slightly more refined than the quieter first-press CDs. Why FLAC for Thriller ?
The sound effects alone make this track worth owning in a lossless format. The creaking door, the howling wolves, and the thunderclaps have incredible depth and spatial imaging, moving realistically across the left and right audio channels.
He closed the curtains. Disconnected his Wi-Fi. Plugged his Sennheiser HD 800s into the DAC. The room was silent except for the hum of his amplifier.
An interesting and somewhat "exclusive" feature of the 2009 Japanese Remaster
: A soulful ballad where the micro-details of Jackson’s vocal breaths and emotional inflections are laid bare. The Legacy of the 2009 FLAC Exclusive
Michael Jackson's , originally released in 1982, has several high-fidelity versions, though a specific "2009 remastered FLAC exclusive" generally refers to high-quality digital releases following the singer's passing in 2009 or the Japanese 2009 Remastered Key Album Editions Original (1982):
The 2009 FLAC release allows you to hear the raw emotion in Jackson's vocals on ballads like "Human Nature" and the raw energy in rock-infused tracks like "Beat It" with unparalleled clarity, ensuring the album's status as a masterpiece remains undisputed. Where to Find the Best Digital Experience
Let's take a journey through the album as heard in this exclusive format:
To put this in perspective, a standard CD has a resolution of 44.1 kHz / 16-bit. This exclusive release has of a CD. The choice of 176.4 kHz is also significant; it's a perfect multiple of 44.1 kHz, allowing for more accurate digital-to-analog conversion without the complex mathematical rounding required by other high sample rates.
The 2009 remaster de-esses the vocal sibilance. Paul’s harmonies no longer sound harsh. You can hear the tape hiss faintly during the spoken interlude, proving the transfer was analog, not digitally scrubbed clean.