Compressed CDs: a simple solution

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Grant, Sep 30, 2002.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me! Thread Starter

    I find it interesting that no one has responded to this on the website:Compressed CDs
     
  2. Roscoe

    Roscoe Active Member

    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    This is certainly a good idea (and I think it's been bounced around on this forum previously). But I don't think there's a snowball's chance in hell that hardware and software makers would implement it.

    Unfortunately, "loud" CDs have become the norm and it's unlikely the average consumer will replace their boombox or car stereo with a new model that offers compression.

    But we can always hope...
     
  3. Stax Fan

    Stax Fan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Midwest
    Sounds good...makes perfect sense. Whether it can be accomplished is another thing, altogether. It's the same old problem...those of us who care are ridiculously outnumbered. I'm not sure the average person out there even knows how music SHOULD sound. You'd think with the daily bombardment of sounds folks face, they'd develop some sort of frame of reference for how instruments and voices oughta sound. I wonder if most out there even consider that the whole point of recordings is to simulate the live event as closely as possible, not to make it sound like a radio. That said, I'm all for it. I think maybe a lot of mainstream music out there today would blow even harder than it already does without heavy processing.
     
  4. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    Are you guys missing something?...The predominate music for todays youth is LOUD, BANGING, SCREAMING, GROANING, BASS POUNDING, FILTHY SPEWING...Why on earth would they want it lower? LOUDER is POWER and all 10+ year olds want POWER.
     
  5. Stax Fan

    Stax Fan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Midwest
    Problem is, that mastering philosophy has spilled over to include way too many rereleases.
     
  6. Jamie Tate

    Jamie Tate New Member

    Location:
    Nashville
    I don't think I'd like this idea. I want to have SOME control over the final product people hear. I know they EQ the hell out of it but adding more compression wouldn't help me sleep at night. No teenager is going to add the right amount of squash. They're all going to squeeze it until peanut butter comes out.
     
  7. Richard Feirstein

    Richard Feirstein New Member

    Location:
    Albany, NY
    Want to know who really blew it? XM and SIRIS, the new digital radio services. They know most listeners are car radio users so they employ compression! All they had to do to maintain audio quality was two things. First, avoid compression at all costs at the transmission end and require a basic compression circuit in the car radio. Second, avoid the temptation to squeeze too many programs into the bandwidth through excessive data reduction. They have both failed on both counts.

    Richard.
     
  8. stereoptic

    stereoptic Anaglyphic GORT Staff

    Location:
    NY
    compressed compression

    Believe it or not, the head unit on my 2000 Ford Taurus actually has a button for "compression"! Maybe if I had a Lexus or BMW then there would be a button for "Decompression"

    Donald
     
  9. vinylrec

    vinylrec Senior Member

    Location:
    Delaware, Ohio
    "Compressed CDs: a simple solution"

    Yeah, don't buy'em....:)
     
  10. Stax Fan

    Stax Fan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Midwest
    Heh...that's pretty much what it's come to for me. :sigh:
     
  11. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    A few notes:

    Personally, I don't see this idea really taking off, since the installed base of CD players is so huge. Compression is useless to radio, and I doubt every middle and high school kid is going to replace their boom box so they can get a "compression" switch.

    As far as having control over the final output, I don't really see that as a problem at all. It's not as if there is any control as it is - everybody has vastly different listening environments, sound systems, EQ settings, etc. What's worse, forcing compressed CDs on everyone, or giving people stuff "straight" and letting those that want to compress things? At least *some* people win there, right?

    And as far as "don't buy it" goes, unfortunately it isn't that simple. We're not always given a choice in the matter. I'd like to hear stereo mixes of The Who's Bucket T and Barbara Ann, and the only way I can do that is via a compressed CD. If I don't buy the CD I can't get those mixes.
     
  12. Stax Fan

    Stax Fan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Midwest
    Oh, I hear ya. I've just come to the point where I'd rather abstain, personally. I love BBC material, but when I got the Who "BBC Sessions", that was pretty much it for me. That was a release I really looked forward to and it was simply trashed, with NR to boot. Anymore, I just wait for somebody else to try a release before I even touch it. It's really a shame. I'd rather just let some go than get them knowing I'd find them ear-splitting and difficult to fully enjoy.
     
  13. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me! Thread Starter

    A friend of mine put out a CD a couple of years ago. The CD is great, but someone decided they needed to maximize the levels. Well, it ruined the sound. Not only did they boost everything but also limited it to about 90%, or -1.db. I was at leas able to put it into Cool Edit and recover some of the dynamic range with the de-clipper, but it would have sounded much better had the person at least taken more care in mastering.
     
  14. Burningfool

    Burningfool Just Stay Alive

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA

    Hmmm...I'm pretty sure that's what my parents said about "Paint It, Black" blasting out of my bedroom when I was a lad...

    Chris
     
  15. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    What a great comparison! So similar..It's amazing! :laugh:
     
  16. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    Your joking right? What was coming out of our bedrooms was pure, safe, healthy Rock & Roll. Come on, Elvis couldn't even be shown from the waist down on Ed Sullivan. No foul language, suggestive language, nothing crossed the line..unless it was buried deep in a creative way. No comparison of today...anything goes...Wait a minute, I've got to give one of my "bitches some extasy...hmmm...just like the days of yesteryear:laugh:
     
  17. Johnny C.

    Johnny C. Ringo's Biggest Fan

    Location:
    Brooklyn, USA
    Re: compressed compression

    Say, that's not a bad idea.

    The high noise levels in a car make audiophile listening nearly impossible.
     
  18. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    What about:

    "high class game" (mistakenly heard as "half assed game")
    "let's spend the night together"
    "girl we couldn't get much higher"
    "you're the son of a bitch that named me Sue"

    Now, I'm sure you're saying "that stuff is tame". Well, it is today. It wasn't seen that way back then, though. "Evil" rock and roll wasn't doing anything but corrupting this nation's youth.

    You don't think Brown Sugar is suggestive? "How come you taste so good? Just like a young girl should."

    BTW, wasn't the "above the hips" thing on Ed Sullivan some type of publicity stunt? Or am I thinking of something else?
     
  19. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    What about "I shot a man in Reno/Just to watch him die"?

    Take that, Snoop Dogg. :)

    Regards,
     
  20. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me! Thread Starter

    The only thing different about the songs of old and the hip-hoppers is the use of profanity. Otherwise, there's nothing different in the content, as Luke points out.
     
  21. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!


    Try harder, Weak comparisons.:laugh:
     
  22. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    ...And a huge difference in the presentation. :eek:
     
  23. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    Brilliant! How did I miss that? :laugh:
     
  24. Stax Fan

    Stax Fan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Midwest
    Maybe the incestuous F**K rantings of Jim Morrison in the mono mix of "The End" better illustrates the point.
     
  25. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    Not the hit version...the average listener knew nothing of this.
    Try again...These are heavy comparisons. Dig deeper...
    :laugh:
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine