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[quote]Just about every CD released now is horribly mastered. This is due to the so called "loudness war". If you've never heard of it then here's a video explaining what it is and the negative effects it has on music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ [/quote] Has anyone here heard about all this? I have analysed a selection of my CD's from the early 90's compared to now, and there's definitely a point to it. Today's discs are mastered too loudly and lack any dynamic range (quiet to loud parts) it all sounds loud. The idea being that the music can 'grab' your attention by just souding loud as fuck on the radio... The problem is especially prevalent in rock music, with the worst offender being 'Stadium Arcadium',which sounds shit. It also has noticable digital clipping all over it, totally over-compressed. Intriguingly and unsurprisingly, the 'vinyl' equivalent releases are mastered properly. A vinyl-rip of Stadium Arcadium has been doing the rounds, which sounds great, not over-amped and lots of dynamic range. Also Arcade Fire's 'Funeral' album sounds better on vinyl. http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/weekly_article/imper There's a long article about it here for those interested... fect-sound-forever.htm |
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funnily enough CD's are (or at least were) the prevailing commecial format that's the music industry mate |
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I'm not disputing popularity of the CD format... I'm disputing why they are knowingly mastered so shit? At the least, there should be uniformity with vinyl. |
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I agree. A lot of new stuff (mainly pop shit) are mastering to loud, they probably think they'll stand a better chance of getting on the radio 1 play list. |
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that's because the consumer wants things loud. louder = better for the consumer. they are just following demand. and why vinyl is mastered correctly is because vinyl has limitations. if for example your bass frequencies aren't in the center it is possible that the needle will jump of the record. that doesn't happen with CD's. but there are lots of other stuff you have to keep in mind when mastering for vinyl. |
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Yeah heard about it many times, it's shit. That's another reason why vinyl's better. |
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isn't it ironic. at first cds were meant to sound exactly as the real thing, and now we have to fall back again on vinyl to hear the real music instead of that compressed crap that's released these days. |
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The two links I posted are messed up- fixed:- |
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(fixed link) |
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Depending on the style of music, heavy compression can make it sound way better. Here's an interview where Daft Punk talk about using compression. |
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blame canada. and clark. |
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Sometimes too much dynamic range can be annoying. For example, Mogwai - Young Team. That album has crazy dynamic range, where the quiet parts are very quiet, which makes the loud parts seem extremely loud. This is cool if you've got your system cranked. But if you just want to listen to the album at a reasonable volume, you can't even hear the quiet parts. |
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I think the heavy compression on MSTRKRFT - The Looks works well. Makes it really banging and in your face. On the other hand, I do notice my ears get tired listening to heavily compressed stuff for long periods. I don't know, it's a complicated issue. I don't think you can say "compression is evil" in general, but the articles do have a point. |
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But equally you now have the option to just switch up the volume to hear it rather than hearing a compressed approximation at low volume as demonstrated in the video. I guess compression has it's benefits and obviously suits some artists but for me, the cons outweight the pros by a HUGE margin. |
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Compression is great, it's to the 2000s what reverb was to the 80s. |
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But reverb was shit...I hate that shitty 80's reverb sound. |
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They're just trends, signs of time, you should appreciate them as this. It's another aesthetic, not something better or worse. Just as realistic sound is also another aesthetic, and shouldn't be considered as an absolute ideal. |
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Why not? I avoid compression like the plague. |
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Haven't we already dealt with this in two or three earlier threads? |
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I use it as an effect. It's great for faking whispering, lo-fi'ing pianos, etc. |
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Yeah. You can do very interesting things with chains of compression on odd attack/release, gain, threshold, etc. settings. |
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Í´ve read about it before. well they should do this only to singles. how much control does the artist have over how a record is mastered? I think dynamic range is veyr important part of a composition. and mastering should aim at leaving it there. |
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