Prog rock and the loudness war
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Forum Description: General progressive music discussions
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=82161
Printed Date: February 11 2025 at 07:10
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Topic: Prog rock and the loudness war
Posted By: SandCastleVirtue
Subject: Prog rock and the loudness war
Date Posted: October 22 2011 at 18:32
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For those of you who are not familiar with what the "loudness war" is, check out this short video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ I'm finding that almost every new release I discover is suffering from the same problem. More and more prog releases are sounding like complete crap and it's very hard to listen to an album in one sitting - the best way to listen to prog albums in my opinion. I'm not an audiophile, but this has gotten to a point where the volume is completely brickwalled and everything sounds terrible, through both decent speakers/headphones and cheaper ones. |
Replies:
Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: October 22 2011 at 18:54
| Can you give examples. Vapor Trails doesn't count. |
Posted By: infocat
Date Posted: October 22 2011 at 19:09
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I dunno... I was listening to something recently, Grace for Drowning I think, and I went from quite to loud so abruptly it almost blew my ears out of my head! ------------- -- Frank Swarbrick Belief is not Truth. |
Posted By: Horizons
Date Posted: October 22 2011 at 19:39
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I honestly can't think of an example. (Besides Vapor Trails) GfD has great dynamics and never gave me the impression of poor sound production in terms of volume. ------------- Crushed like a rose in the riverflow. |
Posted By: TopographicTales
Date Posted: October 22 2011 at 20:12
It most definitely does. My eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw that.
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Horizons wrote:Posted By: Horizons
Date Posted: October 22 2011 at 20:27
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What song? @ Infocat ------------- Crushed like a rose in the riverflow. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: October 22 2011 at 20:29
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If it's too loud you might just have it turned up too loud. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Posted By: TopographicTales
Date Posted: October 22 2011 at 20:30
I was agreeing with you, it's got amazing dynamics. I was shocked to see it listed in this thread.
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Posted By: Horizons
Date Posted: October 22 2011 at 20:35
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Opps! I'm sorry i completely forgot who posted the original statement about GfD. That's embarrassing. ------------- Crushed like a rose in the riverflow. |
Posted By: JS19
Date Posted: October 22 2011 at 20:44
Listen to Remainder The Black Dog. While the huge changes in dynamics definitely add another dimension to the song, it can be rather shocking when listening with headphones, as I found out on my first listen. (Think throwing the headphones off my ears in panic).
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Posted By: Horizons
Date Posted: October 22 2011 at 20:55
Well my opinion is slightly skewed because my first few listens were done by speakers. So the mid-section of the song didn't really surprise me or cause any cringe. Though i guess i can see your point of view. Also does the OP believe that the guitar solo or chorus to Wilson's Harmony Korine is an example? ------------- Crushed like a rose in the riverflow. |
Posted By: infocat
Date Posted: October 22 2011 at 21:06
Sorry, I meant that GfD does not appear to be a victim of the loudness war. It is very dynamic. Perhaps too much! ------------- -- Frank Swarbrick Belief is not Truth. |
Posted By: Horizons
Date Posted: October 22 2011 at 21:07
Ah k.  ------------- Crushed like a rose in the riverflow. |
Posted By: Alitare
Date Posted: October 22 2011 at 21:16
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Bob Dylan's Infidels sure suffers from this lewdness war. Have you heard Jokerham? It's sure as hell a ruby-sappharie fears to bed a pinto bean. It's death metal. It's new wave. What is it? Spruce Bringsteen's Infant-dells sounds too much like Bobert Zimmer-catches-skin-man's Another Slide. The answer, my friend, is blowing with astro-glide.
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Posted By: darkshade
Date Posted: October 22 2011 at 23:35
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Umphrey's McGee's new album does not suffer from the Loudness Wars, neither do the new Dream Theater, Neal Morse, Karmakanic, Steven Wilson, The Tangent, Beardfish, Yes, even Opeth. I will admit the new Symphony X album suffers from the Loudness Wars. I can't recall other recent albums that fell into this problem right now. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/MysticBoogy" rel="nofollow - My Last.fm 
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Posted By: The Truth
Date Posted: October 22 2011 at 23:45
But Infidels was a great album. ------------- http://blindpoetrecords.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow">  
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Posted By: rogerthat
Date Posted: October 22 2011 at 23:49
| It's more a problem in metal than prog. Grace from Drowning is in fact an example of how it should be done. Although....the loudness war is kind of exaggerated because it is not just the amount of compression but the nature of the music that matters. Listen to the acoustic guitar strokes on Sectarian....how often do bands express tension so effectively with what are in actual fact soft textures. If you are going to play at 11 from start from finish, it's going to get boring and annoying after some time anyway and the loudness of the recording only aggravates your irritation. |
Posted By: Blackbeard
Date Posted: October 23 2011 at 01:08
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If you are a foobar user you can use this: http://www.jokhan.demon.nl/DynamicRange/index.htm" rel="nofollow - http://www.jokhan.demon.nl/DynamicRange/index.htm to measue the degree of loudness. For GfD it gives me really good values: ================================================================================ foobar2000 1.1.8 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.0 beta 6 log date: 2011-10-23 08:04:59 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Analyzed: Steve Wilson / Grace For Drowning -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR Peak RMS Duration Track -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR13 -4.94 dB -24.61 dB 2:06 01-Grace For Drowning DR11 -0.02 dB -16.30 dB 7:41 02-Sectarian DR14 -0.10 dB -17.24 dB 7:51 03-Deform To Form A Star DR12 0.00 dB -16.04 dB 5:44 04-No Part Of Me DR12 -0.15 dB -17.17 dB 4:29 05-Postcard DR11 -6.33 dB -21.42 dB 2:23 06-Raider Prelude DR13 0.00 dB -17.15 dB 9:27 07-Remainder The Black Dog DR13 -4.04 dB -21.87 dB 2:59 01-Belle De Jour DR12 -0.37 dB -15.77 dB 4:49 02-Index DR12 -0.11 dB -17.18 dB 4:15 03-Track One DR12 0.00 dB -16.94 dB 23:21 04-Raider II DR14 -0.02 dB -19.24 dB 8:01 05-Like Dust I Have Cleared From My Eye -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Number of tracks: 12 Official DR value: DR12 Samplerate: 44100 Hz Channels: 2 Bitrate: 320 kbps Codec: MP3 ================================================================================ |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: October 23 2011 at 03:58
| I actually like Vapor Trails. Its a hard rock album (not a prog album) so the loudness is not a problem to me. |
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: October 23 2011 at 04:14
Nice, I didn't know this. Thanks. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: October 23 2011 at 05:27
------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: tupan
Date Posted: October 23 2011 at 07:35
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In the world of Prog Related, we have Metallica's Death Magnetic. And Paradise Lost, from Symphony X, maybe. ------------- "Prog is Not Dead and never has been." (Will Sergeant, from Echo And The Bunnymen) |
Posted By: ExittheLemming
Date Posted: October 23 2011 at 07:36
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We're talking about mastering compression here right? To my befuddled 49 year old ears most noughties CDs consider only two levels within which to replicate the infinitesimally subtle nuances of volume in a live performance i.e 'really loud' and 'louder than that' I stopped going to live concerts years ago because the FOH mixing engineers clearly considered dynamics a historical artefact. Classical music is the only genre I can think of that at least attempts to replicate a sound-world where the performance levels correlate to the final product. ------------- 
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Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: October 23 2011 at 08:04
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I think it's got better over the past ten years or so (and by better I mean less compression and more dynamics) - the trend is changing and in part this is due to more artists doing their own mastering and self-releasing material. I think in time overcompression will go the way of the gated snare drum, and take autotune with it. ------------- What? |
Posted By: Anaon
Date Posted: October 23 2011 at 08:53
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Steven Wilson is aware of loudness war and he's definitely not into it. The last Opeth neither, great example of a recent dynamic production. Neal Morse albums are a bit more smashed I find, it could sound more open and natural... ------------- My music: http://spleenarcana.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - http://spleenarcana.bandcamp.com/ My blog: http://groovesandmemories.com/" rel="nofollow - http://groovesandmemories.com/ |
Posted By: infocat
Date Posted: October 23 2011 at 12:20
I saw Explosions in the Sky last month and thought they had very good dynamics. Maybe a little too good, because during the soft parts I could hear people talking. (Very annoying! Why did they come to a show if they were just going to chat the whole time!) ------------- -- Frank Swarbrick Belief is not Truth. |
Posted By: darkshade
Date Posted: October 23 2011 at 12:49
I kind of know what you mean, but if you go from a Morse album, to an album suffering from the Loudness Wars, you'll hear a big difference. Also Portnoy is a loud drummer, nothing you can do about that. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/MysticBoogy" rel="nofollow - My Last.fm
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Posted By: thehallway
Date Posted: October 23 2011 at 12:51
I would love for you to be right, but even if you are, it will be a slow process. I mean, how long will this anti-trend take to permeate into the music of [insert name of current pop singer we love to hate here]?? Probably half of all the albums that currently dominate the UK charts are written and produced by businessmen. Do they care about dynamic range? Only if it increases sales. Does it increase sales? Not at all. Even people looking for dynamic range will still by albums based on a whole load of other factors first. Depressing, sorry! ------------- http://www.thefreshfilmblog.com/" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: Siloportem
Date Posted: October 23 2011 at 13:52
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Once read a Last.FM blog on this. And they used a few popular music examples. There example for most dynamic album was one by Beyonce (don't know which one, sorry). Don't know if it was really dynamic or just the most in that list. Maybe someone can verify? Does anyone here actually listen to her? Btw: the most undynamic in their list was Californication. Maybe the anti-trend is closer to breaking the mainstream than we think. Do not despair. ------------- Thanks !! Your topics always so good and informative. I like you talk. |
Posted By: Sanmartinphase7
Date Posted: October 23 2011 at 13:58
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I'm a producer and I do mastering, in college the Mastering professor taught us all about the loudness wars, but said that 95% of all mastering engenieers are aware but do it anyway. Musicians, producers and Discography executives all pressure to make the album sound louder than ever. Extreme examples are Green Day's American Idiot, Metallica's Death Magnetic and, curiously, Avril Lavigne (wtf) Every time I have to do mastering I explain the band about the loudness wars, show them examples and they understand why I won't overcompress the signal to favour the dinamics of the music. A fantastic example of a VERY dynamic album is Grace for Drowning (Wilson's better sounding work, IMO) The downside is that we've been listening to dynamic-less music for so many years and some people are not used to the bug dynamics jumps (often complaining about having to adjust the level in the really low parts and jumping when the loud part comes in, a complaint I have recived in a few reviews) My answer is that I (and I guess SW too) don't make music for you to listen in the bus with your headphones and the ambient noise on the background, but rather when you're relaxed at home, using a good sound system (hopefully 5.1) and focusing on the music. |
Posted By: Sanmartinphase7
Date Posted: October 23 2011 at 14:05
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I'm good with listening music on the bus! I clarify because it looked really pretentious. I listen to musci on the bus as well, and sadly most of the time. But it's definetly not the IDEAL place to listen to detailed music.
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Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: October 23 2011 at 14:14
That's normal, you don't need to be a fan of compressed music to be annoyed by extreme changes in volume. |
Posted By: Sanmartinphase7
Date Posted: October 23 2011 at 14:18
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I know, but it can be used to very interesting effect! For example I find the one at the end of SW's No Twilight Within the Courts of the Sun to be very entertaining. It scared the hell out of me the first time I've heard it, but I enjot it greatly right now.
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Posted By: wjohnd
Date Posted: October 23 2011 at 14:23
 went to a Motorhead gig about three years ago....I'm still suffering from about 30% hearing loss in my right ear...subtle nuance was not on the agenda. ------------- 
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Posted By: rogerthat
Date Posted: October 23 2011 at 22:25
Yeah, I'd rather be stunned by sudden spikes from quiet to loud than get weary of a constant barrage of loud. Besides, music is supposed to do those things to you, that's how real tension is built. Of course, not all listeners share this sentiment and if you want something easygoing on the car stereo, dynamic music is NOT what you want. My friend played a JR/F instrumental selection on his wedding reception and I was kept busy having to adjust the volume because it would keep going from quiet to loud and back. I remember telling him his selection was too dynamic.
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Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: October 24 2011 at 06:55
| Once radio dries up as a revenue stream, the loudness war will be lessened. I don't know if mobile mp3 listening will be a factor, but practically nobody listens to music by itself on a stereo anymore, so that shouldn't factor in. |
Posted By: rogerthat
Date Posted: October 24 2011 at 07:09
It is tough to listen to extremely dynamic music on a player with earphones, especially on the move. Now that I travel by a vehicle, it is not an issue but I could not listen to classical music when I used public transport. There has to be a minimum level of loudness to hear it if there is too much outside disturbance. Of course, you ideally shouldn't even listen to music in such settings, but a lot of people do and I did.
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Posted By: irrelevant
Date Posted: October 24 2011 at 07:16
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It's his birthday today so lay off a little. http://www.progarchives.com/forum/member_profile.asp?PF=23311" rel="nofollow - King Loudness (17) ------------- https://gabebuller.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - New album! http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7385" rel="nofollow - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7385 |
Posted By: SandCastleVirtue
Date Posted: October 24 2011 at 18:43
I'm mostly noticing this with heavier prog rock and metal. Now heavier music and volume somewhat go well together, but better done with using our own volume knob, or at the very least a small amount of compression and limiting. If some of you guys have albums that do not suffer from overcompression, I'd like to know please 
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Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: October 24 2011 at 19:19
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Hi,
It has always been like that, and one of the greatest falacies in the old days was that there were too many bands that were simply loud, and they did not have the music to support it ... but stoned, or with a drink or two, you get some ear ringing off it, that makes you feel like you are totally stoned when you leave and that has always been a point/stipulation for a lot of rock bands whose music was questionable in the first place.
The loudest i have ever been to? ...
The Rolling Stones and I walked out! And htey were out of tune.
Others that were loud:
-- Hawkwind (Space 1999 tour), and we left before the conclusion ... the Hall was too small for that loudness.
-- Deep Purple/Leon Russell ... Long Beach Arena ... it was by far the worst concert I have ever seen and DP were ridiculous and lousy and not worth it. I still don't think they should ever be considered "progressive" ... they were also one of the bands that were about "loud" with lots of vaccuousness with it.
-- Black Sabbath ... Hollywood Paladium with Nazareth. So loud that Ozzie couldn't be heard ... and you know that is a real oxymoron!
In some ways, Robert Fripp predicted this and said something about it, and it is what "21st Century Schizoid Man" is all about and the guitar and saxophone parts out front are the outburts that bordered on senseless and simply noisy and attention getting ... with nothing behind it ... however, in the end, Robert did not foresee that what he and the album stood for, was a perfect picture of the time and place, and how some people were so confused that no one got or understood his album ... but the music was cool and everyone liked ... which is exactly on par with the loudness mentality in most popular bands.
Bands like Amon Duul 2 tried to make fun of the loudness and blow it out of town ... unffortunately they were never really able to blow out an audience, except on one album in London, which is more of a statement about the difficulty in their music, than it is about anything else. They never did "Mozambique" in concert, or "La Krautoma" so they would get a chance to blow out an audience out loud. And sadly, Scorpions made fun of AD2, with the song "Fly To The Rainbow" which was the complete reversal of "Apocaliptyc Bore".
------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: October 24 2011 at 19:32
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^ That's not what "loudness" means in this thread, but you carry on. ------------- What? |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: October 25 2011 at 17:32
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Hi,
Dean ... it would be nice if you were not acting like some superior being that is putting down someone for being stupid, or not seeing, or understanding the whole thing.
For an Admin, you are showing a not very nice example.
I would gladly subtract what I wrote, if you were honest enough to explain it ... but since you are not, and are assuming that everyone else is stupid and would never understand ... I'll gladly leave you to your views!
Quite on par with the "progressive" views of many of your friends ... they know it all and the rest of the people are stupid and could not possibly see or know anything ... because they don't adhere to the "definition" and the wording! How socialist of you!
Sorry to sound angry, and it is not designed to be so, but this attitude that I post simply to be mean and hack your comments is not true at all, and I find it sad that you think automatically that I am trying to break up the discussion. ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: TheMasterMofo
Date Posted: October 25 2011 at 17:53
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Does anyone feel like they're.... ? |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: October 25 2011 at 18:02
No need to get angry, it is all explained in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war" rel="nofollow - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war
It is not about bands being loud, or playing loud, it is a production technique used in the mastering of recording tracks. Even without prior knowledge or reading of Wikipedia article, all this is evident from reading the opening post and those that replied to it.. ------------- What? |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: October 25 2011 at 18:56
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^He couldn't see what he was reading because this thread was turned up too much.
------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: The Neck Romancer
Date Posted: October 25 2011 at 20:13
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lol ------------- 
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Posted By: rogerthat
Date Posted: October 25 2011 at 21:36
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Posted By: Catcher10
Date Posted: October 26 2011 at 10:24
moshkito,
Although I understand where you are coming from but I think the OP was not thinking of loudness from a live performance perspective........My one question is your last statement. Fly To the Rainbow is one of my favorite Scorpions albums and songs, I am intrigued at your comparison. I don't own that AD2 album......but to me the lyrics Uli Jon Roth wrote for FTtR were about finding, looking for that pot of gold, the journey. Now there certainly was still some of that psychy/artsy/krautrocky feel to their 2nd album as in Lonesome Crow as the lyrics are kinda all over the place. Maybe some of that is just the Scorps still struggling early on to write, sing in english....not sure.
Is there some interview or article that compares Fly To the Rainbow and Apocalyptic Bore? -------------   
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Posted By: himtroy
Date Posted: October 26 2011 at 12:21
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Loudness does not equal dynamic range. Dynamic range is what is getting killed here, if it was only the maximum volume you'd simply change the volume. Some people need to think before they post. ------------- Which of you to gain me, tell, will risk uncertain pains of hell? I will not forgive you if you will not take the chance. |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: October 26 2011 at 12:28
------------- What? |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: November 03 2011 at 14:52
Only Guy Guden of Space Pirate Radio fame played these back to back more than once ... and of course I had the albums as this 2nd album by Scorpions is very good and not the stuff they went on to doing later. But the lyrics in the title song and the lyrics in AD2's song ... are quite a contrast ... like brother/sister nagging each other!
The loudness thing though has always come from the recording side of it ... and the digital allows for some more "loudness" that you could not do on tape before.
It is pretty clear, and visible in any EQ chart, or visual in a DAW that some frequencies go up higher than others ... and the idea is easy ... compress the one at the top and bring all the others up ... and yes, it's gonna be loud ... and has been like that for some time, and it's funny that it is thought of as something that only happened recently in the Wiki article, when it has been an issue for 40 years, even for reviewers and folks like us.
There was an article one time, and I wish I had kept it, but it made for good TP when I needed it badly, and I think it was NME and the discussion was about the loudness in some bands, and I think it was either Ozzie or Geezer that said ... oh no ... we like to make sure the other instruments are loud too! (something similar) and in the end, to my ears a lot of music that was getting "popular" was doing just that and one of the reasons why I did not think that Deep Purple was that progressive or original. But they were not the only ones.
Does it make an album, or music better? ... I don't think so ... but it does create some interesting images and often adds to the whole "sound" that one did not expect ... and as such it would be a valuable process to study and work with ... but I'm not sure that at 60 too many of us want to go visit the threshold of pain anywhere at 120 decibals because some band knows they can compress the sound of this or that and bring up the others ... which many metal bands are doing, and my neighbor (a recording artist) had the same issue with a metal band he asked me about ... what I thought. I was not about to say that the band did not have it, because they did, and obviously knew what they were doing ... but sadly, what they wanted to do with their material would ... actually hurt the obvious musicianship that was under it ... but it was not my call to decide on that and I would not decide against the band's views and desires for their music. ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: Gerinski
Date Posted: November 03 2011 at 15:04
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Diagonal's only album up to date is very highly rated here and surely it's not bad but in my opinion it's one that suffers from it.
Anyone sharing this opinion?
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Posted By: The Miracle
Date Posted: November 03 2011 at 15:18
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I hate this trend. Some recent remasters even do it to old albums, effectively castrating them of their upper registers. Check out this http://www.amazon.com/review/R2BINF8B3FZNZW/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B000007NAC&nodeID=&tag=&linkCode=" rel="nofollow - review of Monk Alone for a typical example. More recently, the http://www.amazon.com/review/R3NGEYTBQZWL8B/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B003JTHESA&nodeID=&tag=&linkCode=" rel="nofollow - latest Maiden album seriously suffers from this problem. Except in this case, there's no way to get the original non-cropped version. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/ocellatedgod" rel="nofollow - last.fm |
Posted By: Big Ears
Date Posted: November 07 2011 at 05:25
| There was a rumour on the net, a while ago, that Rush were due back in the studio to remix Vapor Trails to correct the damage from digital distortion. I am not sure about the damage as a result of over-compressed audio. |
Posted By: fuyuakiworld
Date Posted: December 25 2011 at 04:37
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You need better audio equipment. Not anything to break the bank but atleat to let you hear Vapor Trails the right way.
------------- Would you like prog with that? Love without anger isn't love at all. |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: December 25 2011 at 06:56
------------- What? |
Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: December 25 2011 at 07:05
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I think the only album I have that has gained anything from being turned up to the max - is The Stooges´ Raw Power. Iggy and the air-raid siren Bruce Dickinson remastered it to sound the way it was supposed to, and it truly feels brutal beyond anything I´ve ever heard before. Vapor Trails sounds like it was recorded in a vacuum less airport, but hey that´s just me... ------------- “The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” - Douglas Adams |
Posted By: Kashmir75
Date Posted: December 26 2011 at 15:53
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If the music is too loud, you're TOO OLD ------------- Hello, mirror. So glad to see you, my friend. It's been a while... |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: December 26 2011 at 16:09
If you think loudness means LOUD, then Wheels On The Bus is your favourite song. ------------- What? |
Posted By: SandCastleVirtue
Date Posted: December 27 2011 at 22:31
Music should be produced to sound good, and it should be up to the end user if they want to turn the volume up or not. I'm in my 20's, and I like to listen to loud music. But over-compressed music just sounds terrible and headache-inducing.
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Posted By: darkshade
Date Posted: December 27 2011 at 22:37
So if the music is too loud and your brand new surround sound sound system speakers starts buzzing and clipping, are they too old? ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/MysticBoogy" rel="nofollow - My Last.fm
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Posted By: zumacraig
Date Posted: January 09 2012 at 10:59
i would have bought so much more music in the 80s if it wasn't for the dreaded 'gated snare'. i'm concerned about the loudness war too. Rush is a big concern. even S&A was over compressed. luckily most prog bands are putting stuff out on their own the masters don't into the wrong hands. roadrunner compresses their records. not sure about inside/out. weren't the new genesis remasters compressed to sh*t? how about the new floyd?
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Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: January 09 2012 at 13:47
Comparing the two waveforms side-by-side visually in Audacity the volume envelopes are near-identical, with no apparent clipping and a good differentiation between soft and loud passages, indicating that the difference between DR of 11 and a DR of 13 is simply down to the mix and not the compression.
Personally I think the 2011 version sounds "better", but that's a purely subjective assessment. ------------- What? |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: January 09 2012 at 15:32
I'm thinking there's no need for me to engage in that exercise, but I'm glad you did even if it came to an non-conclusive evaluation. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: zumacraig
Date Posted: January 09 2012 at 19:40
awesome response. thanks so much. just the info i was looking for. gonna pick some of these up then.
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Posted By: SandCastleVirtue
Date Posted: January 12 2012 at 14:52
Any DR value that's 8 and over is great and isn't over-compressed in my opinion. What I find ridiculous is when audiophiles get their panties in a bunch if a remaster loses one or two DR points and immediately call it "unlistenable."
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Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: January 12 2012 at 16:06
 ------------- What? |