Remasters query

I have the Shine On box

(remastered 1992)

plus the other albums like Piper, Atom etc on CD separately
(remastered 1994/1995)

my query is

are the remasters of the albums on Shine On the same remasters as the 1994/1995 ones

i.e. is the Shine On version of Dark Side the same as the 1994 Dark Side remaster?

if so - how come there was a 2 year gap in releasing them?

Check the patent date on the back of the case or on the disc itself.

If it says "digital remasters (P) 1992" then the album was remastered at the same time as the Shine On discs. If it has a later year, or no "digtal remaster" credit at all, then it will likely sound at least a little different from the box set's masters.

The most pronounced difference between the few discs that were remastered and re-remastered (!!) is in the Momentary Lapse of Reason album, which was volume-boosted and made much worse by the 1997 "anniversary" reissue. Why these changes were made is anybody's guess.

Dark Side has actually been remastered several times: at least twice by Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs, once for the Shine On box set, once for the back catalogue reissue (in a normal jewel case with the "real" photograph cover), and most recently the SACD issue. The latter sounds best if you have an SACD player, but I think for regular players the Shine On master sounds best.