The Loudness War - developments

I would argue something different. Producers in the early '90s liked the result. Producers today are scared ****less of change.

 

Little misconception here regarding the use of compression in the sixties. They didn't use it because they liked the sound of squashed dynamics but to get the signal above that darn noise floor. Back in the mid sixties, thousands of years ago (feels that way) engineers were fighting against: tape noise, mixing board noise, noise from eq units, etc, etc, etc. The compressor was used for that reason only (90 percent of the time) to get the vocal, bass, flute, or whatever above the noise floor. They didn't even have noise gates back in those days. Back in the day the biggest problem was fighting against the equipment. When Eddie Kramer was asked once on an interview, "What did you do about the noise?"
To which he replied, "Nothing!....You loaded the tape with a $@*! FULL OF LEVEL and hoped for the best."
The biggest problem audio engineers have today is what sampling rate to use.

 

Hence I purchased Bowies last (LP) and made the recording myself (LP ripping, editing and all that)

 

Good.
It's crazy (but necessary) that audiophiles like ourselves have to good to such lengths just to get good sound.

 

...another disappointment...new jazz album by Kamasi Washington:


Kamasi Washington - Harmony Of Difference
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DR Peak RMS Filename
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DR7 -0.19 dB -9.59 dB 01 - Desire.mp3
DR7 -0.10 dB -8.41 dB 02 - Humility.mp3
DR6 -0.17 dB -8.33 dB 03 - Knowledge.mp3
DR6 -0.07 dB -8.06 dB 04 - Perspective.mp3
DR7 -0.17 dB -8.59 dB 05 - Integrity.mp3
DR6 -0.08 dB -9.21 dB 06 - Truth.mp3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of files: 6
Official DR value: DR7

 

Bad news... when music by an artist like this succumbs then it shows how widespread the problem is.

 

What I don't get is...... Steve Earle's new album is a nightmare on CD. When you listen to it you don't have to know about the Loudness Wars, Compression, or whatnot - it just sounds bloody awful.

So.... I'm left assuming no-one in the final mastering actually LISTENED to it. I can't get my head around anyone listening and letting it pass muster. In my mind I assume it went through some completely automated system - a script of some kind, perhaps.

Probably silly on my part.

 

That's disappointing. "The Epic" didn't have what I consider good sound, but yet had better DR than "Harmony Of Difference". "Harmony Of Difference" has moved way down on my list of albums to get. Kamasi Washington rips it up in "The Epic". His playing is just amazing. But the sound makes it not so fun to listen to. Why record an artist with such ability and then ruin the sound with poor production and sound?

 

A positive example: Return To Ommadawn by Mike Oldfield. No brick wall peak limiting. The best sounding new title on CD I've heard in 20 years.

 

Agreed... this has moved from a “must have on release” to “maybe later”. A shame as I’m sure the musicianship is first-rate.

 

Surely someone listened to it... but it does make you wonder. Nothing would surprise me.

 

I'll probably buy this if only to celebrate!!

 

When you walk into a crowded place where lots of people are talking at once, find the guy talking/yelling the loudest and say "That one is my favorite".

This is how I've been describing the loudness war to people recently.

 

I think of it as keeping up with the Joneses. Everyone else is going with this heavily compressed sound and no one wants their music to sound thin and wimpy by comparison. It isn't so much an artistic choice as a business necessity.

 

I think the compression and loudness makes it sounds thin wimpy... not the other way around.

 

That's my point. The last hyper-compressed product sold, therefore products will only sell if they are hyper-compressed. It's a straw man argument. Nobody takes risks anymore, hence my "scared of change" comment.

Which is of course bogus - the Daft Punk album from 2013 that won roughly 8 quintillion grammies had virtually all of its dynamic range intact and nobody complained about that. And that was hardly a risk - they knew it would sell regardless, and it did. It didn't lead to anything more... but it worked.

 

I feel in sonic sense it comes off garish. It's the best word for me to sum it up. But, we all use the words we use and bottom line are in agreement

 

It's also his best album since The Songs of Distant Earth, you won't regret it!

 

Would it be a risk to offer two digital versions (industry standard and HDR version) at least ?

I'd like to see:

- industry standard MP3 version...so the labels/bands can remain calm...
- high dynamic range FLAC version
- CD (high dynamic range)
- Vinyl (high dynamic range)

 

It could be worse. Check out this bad boy... DR0 all the way

Maybe this is the future?

foobar2000 1.3.15 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2017-09-25 19:41:31

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Analyzed: Ninja McTits / 00's ANISON GAIJIKORE HIT PARADE 3
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DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR0 0.00 dB 0.00 dB 3:48 ?-100%？ナイナイナイ
DR0 0.00 dB -0.01 dB 4:06 ?-Cagayake! Girls
DR0 0.00 dB -0.07 dB 4:33 ?-First Good-Bye
DR0 0.00 dB 0.00 dB 3:57 ?-MAKE A MIRACLE!
DR0 0.00 dB -0.15 dB 1:32 ?-あ•い•つ
DR0 0.00 dB -0.09 dB 1:31 ?-ヴィーナスと小さな神様
DR0 0.00 dB 0.00 dB 3:12 ?-カレーのちライス
DR0 0.00 dB 0.00 dB 3:27 ?-せんせい…初めてですか？
DR0 0.00 dB 0.00 dB 3:45 ?-ハナマル☆センセイション
DR0 0.00 dB 0.00 dB 1:30 ?-鏡の中
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks: 10
Official DR value: DR0

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bitrate: 320 kbps
Codec: MP3
=============================================================================

 

That's more than one mastering. That costs money. The industry is a thousand times less willing to part with money than it is to take risks.

 

And it is exactly that so pees me off!! How dare they take our money by producing this sub standard crap: really winds me up

 

Bahahahahaha!!! I actually know that guy (friend of a friend). This is not the future. He is as deliberately over-the-top as it goes (just look at his name!). That's just the music he makes. Unless the pop charts are ready for distorted anime samples and horrific blasting noise, you ain't gotta worry. The purpose of that genre is to be as unlistenable as possible.

 

I don't get this. Ludwig, Sax and all the well-known engineers are all concerned about this. Why don't they just supply the dynamic master for free? I mean it's extra work, sure but seems logical if they ACTUALLY DO CARE.

Then it's up to the record company to do something useful with it. Who knows? Maybe they would consider releasing both compressed and uncompressed if there were no extra cost involved.