Brickwalling, Dynamic range, brightness? Etc

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by MikeManaic61, May 28, 2017.

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  1. MikeManaic61

    MikeManaic61 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Virginia
    Not much of an audiophile but I would love to know what does these terms mean. So I can keep an ear for these things in music.
     
  2. qwerty

    qwerty A resident of the SH_Forums.

    Dynamic Range = the difference between the loudest and softest part of the music. Music when played live (i.e., acoustic instruments) is capable of a very wide dynamic range. It gives the music the light and shade, and dramatics.

    Compression = reducing the variation of loud/softness (dynamic range) in the music. Some compression is required compared to live music for it to be reproduced on domestic audio equipment. However, it has become fashionable for music to be highly compressed (e.g., on remastered CDs). Too much compression can sound exciting when first heard, because it sounds loud. However, it becomes fatiguing and unnatural on extended listening, as the life (the light and shade) has been removed from the music - there is no quiet to balance the loud. Brickwalling is the term used to describe music that has been compressed to an extreme level. The trend for music to become more and more compressed is sometimes called "the loudness war".

    Brightness refers to an unnatural boost given to high-pitched (i.e., high-frequency) sounds - like turning up the treble control on an amplifier. Bright mastering of CDs can sound somewhat shrill. In contrast, Boominess refers to an unnatural boost given to the low-pitched/frequency sounds - like turning up the bass control on an amplifier. It is unnatural because it does not reflect the spread of frequencies which are present when the instruments are played acoustically. The process for making a recording bright/boomy is equalization, which is often abbreviated to eq. An equalizer is a device that is like having many different tone controls on an amplifier (a simplified description).
     
    Last edited: May 29, 2017
  3. TheSeldomSeenKid

    TheSeldomSeenKid Forum Resident

    I know a few good articles have been linked on this Forum in the past, so maybe you can start by typing those words into the Search Engine and see what the results bring you. I came here 2 years ago to discuss Music, but glad to have been educated on those terms, although sad to realize that the majority of my CD Collection, since being from the mid 1990s when the Loudness Wars began, has terrible DR#s, but then again I found that I own some good CDs released prior to 1993 and I look for others in Used CD Shops ever since learning about Dynamic Range and what #s are Bad, Average & Good, and also thought I read on here that a little compression is not actually a bad thing(and also depends on the genre of the Music, to how the DR# range might benefit the Music).

    That being said, most CDs of new Albums being released in recent years still have low DR#s, but if I want to buy the Music, it will not stop me because the DR#s are bad. I listen to my CDs a lot in my car, so maybe the CDs being Brickwalled do not sound as bad, but if there is a choice on older albums, I will look for CDs with good DR#s, as I plan to put together a moderate system in the next few years, including a good Entry Level TT. Even Steven Wilson admitted that he fell victim to the Loudness Wars during his earlier years on his Porcupine Tree albums, and he is Remastering some of his earlier Porcupine Tree Albums(like 'Signify'). Since CDs are not bought much by anyone under 30 with Streaming Services mostly used by people(prefer to Rent than Own Music), I doubt we will see too many other Music Artists Remaster their older albums on CD.
     
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  4. Chooke

    Chooke Forum Resident

    Location:
    Perth, Australia
  5. eric777

    eric777 Astral Projectionist

    In addition to what was originally posted, the term "brickwalling" comes from what is called a "Brick Wall Limiter" which is the mastering tool used to boost the loudness. When the music is crushed and the loudness is boosted, it is referred to as brickwalled or brickwalling due to the over use of the limiter.

    I thought that might be helpful in understanding the word. You can also Google brick wall limiter (which is how I learned about it) and learn more about it. :righton:
     
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  6. bmoregnr

    bmoregnr Forum Rezident

    Location:
    1060 W. Addison
    This video gives a great illustration in under 2 minutes.

     
  7. MikeManaic61

    MikeManaic61 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Virginia
    Thanks for your input guys! Highly appreciate it.

    This video reminds why I got the Genesis 1990 DE masters. The 2007 editions hurt my ears.
     
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  8. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    Do you mean 1994? If so, many of those DE's have another mastering issue just as bad: use of noise-reduction filters.
     
  9. MikeManaic61

    MikeManaic61 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Virginia
    Yes, the 94' versions. I can live with those despite it's flaws, but we need someone (who was the guy that mastered these?) to remaster them right.
     
  10. Chemguy

    Chemguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Western Canada
    A good definition for DR.

    Now, I think the dynamic range website gives numbers that indicate dynamic range by measuring the average db of a track versus the highest decibel recording that the track produces.
     
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  11. MichaelCPE

    MichaelCPE Forum Resident

    There are two things which affect the dynamic range of a recording.

    The first is what you could do at home by adjusting the volume control - when the music is quiet turn the volume up, and as the music gets louder turn the volume down.

    This tends to be done with loud remasters, and the effect is that much of the power of the composition which comes from the differences between loud and soft parts of the music is lost.

    But, just as if you did this at home, the waveform has not been changed and a remaster where this is the only thing done would still be very listenable. And if you know how the music should sound you can undo this change by fiddling with your volume knob to make the quiet bits quiet again.

    The compression which causes the most problems in loud remasters is when the waveform is changed by squashing it down. This is taking the loudest part of the recording and making it louder by getting rid of all the peaks. So drums go from sounding like they are in the room with you to sounding as if they are in the back room and there are wet blankets hanging in the doorways - you can hear the same rhythm, but all dynamics have been lost.

    This changing of shape of the waveform can't be done with just a volume knob, and you can't restore the original sound at home.

    So if you think of some music which is all played at the same volume, all the volume knob does is decide how loud you listen to this. What the compression of the waveform does is make the music louder for the same volume setting, and this is done at the cost of distorting the original sound.
     
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