If a music cd does not say it is remastered, can I assume it is?

Answer 1

This can cut both ways. The question you should think of when you see "remastered" is "remastered from what'? From a master tape? a session tape? a third generation tape? Remastered can mean any of these. A session tape has the potential to be better than a master tape (which is the final mix-down from a session tape) so then you may even need to know who did the remastering. Was it a top remastering engineer like Steve Hoffman or some novice? Then you can have a CD that says nothing about whether it was remastered or not and it could be fabulously done. Some labels don't say much about their mastering practices.

Answer 2

I used to work at a CD Music store and you have to assume that if it doesn't say it is remastered then it mostly likely is NOT.