Are the loudness wars over?*

That's part of the problem. Subconsciously I always had an aversion to overly compressed music, but it wasn't until I learned about what happens during mastering etc. that I became a critic of it. And a lot of people are annoyed by it. They just don't realize what exactly it is that annoys them.

I remember being in a MediaMarkt and looking at some CDs and "Heartbeat Song" by Kelly Clarkson was blasting out over the speakers. I got a friggin' headache. Music shouldn't do that to you!

 

"I got a friggin' headache. Music shouldn't do that to you!"
Ain't that the truth! When the "wars" start getting medical we have a problem!!

 

no, not according to The Beatles camp. : )

 

Not able to listen to the track right now but I agree with your description. I would have worded it differently though as "brickwalled" carries a heavy connotation. You're going for a sound that's full and rich and punchy without sacrificing dynamics. Something you don't need to mess with the volume on but which also sounds like music.

I agree - there are some things which just feel "too dynamic" at times. I work a 12 hour shift every day and can only use cheap-ass earbuds; I can't really fiddle with the volume while I'm counting parts. I like stuff that's "loud" but still has dynamics intact - I would say probably in the 8-11 range. Much less than most people would say, but that's where my preferences run.

One of the best examples for me is the 2010 remaster of Bowie's Station to Station from the box set. It has balls and dynamics. Usually those are separate.

 

The physiological effect is similar to that of an unrelenting jackhammer noise or something in that vein (white noise, whatever). Which suggests that the loudness wars are far more than a 1st world problem; they are at the very core of all the music industry is struggling with these days.

 

The loudness wars should be over soon. The streaming companies are going to be or are normalizing the volume of their music. So that pretty cool. It’s about time.

 

last time I checked (and it was long ago) they were normalizing around a sweet spot of about DR9. Better than 6, but not so cool in my book.

 

Loudness War is over, if you want it!

 

But what about brickwalling, clipping and compression? New albums still have it. Noel Gallagher's latest, the Foo Fighter's latest, Simple Minds' latest and they're the only new releases I've bought of late.

 

That Simple Minds single sounded so horrible when I heard it on the radio. Fast forward to the RollingStone review of the album complaining that in one track "the guitars almost cause physical pain". Which again proves my point that while few music listeners know about the loudness wars, many of them feel it.

 

I fought the loud and the/Loud won

 

Yup they won, we lost, at least on CD.

 

On a totally unrelated note, can you tell me what recent CDs you have mastered that have decent DRs?

 

This is it right here!

 

I thought The Beatles 1 was supposed to be a good sounding collection?

 

CD collectors can still occasionally win, ...but at a price.


Cat

 

Sad, yes. When you say Spotity, you are talking about all streaming services I suppose? I'd be curious to know whether also Tidal and other platforms are sharing the same Spotify mastering or the CD mastering.

 

I defeated loudness by ‘finding’ LP rips of my favourite albums that were compromised by loudness on cd - System Of A Down, The White Stripes, The Beatles in stereo etc.

 

No. It was not well received by audiophiles.
However, when it was re-released it was remixed by Giles Martin. It has some favourable reviews to mixed reviews. I kinda like it.

 

I meant the Giles Martin version. I'm sure I remember reading that some of the versions are very good.

 

Yes. I like my vinyl copy. I don't know about the CD and DR values though. The vinyl sounds like it has reasonable dynamic range. I think it was a good job that Giles generally did with this one.

 

The Elton John SHM cd remasters thread gives one hope...

 

Have been again going through some of my digital files this weekend and cleaning some stuff up.

Generally feeling on this topic - I think it peaked in the aughts and has been dropping off somewhat in the 10's. Definitely not where I would personally prefer it to be and I still buy vinyl to offset things somewhat. And clipfix / some re-EQ'ing.