Compression on P.F.'s ECHOES & STP's albums

Hallo, all. Dave de Vancouver, just fer fun today I put some Echoes tracks and MFSL tracks on the SADIE workstation we have at work to take a peak at the waveforms (is there a pun there?). Well, they are almost identical AFTER peak levels are brought up to zero. There was almost no difference between ECHOES/MFSL Darkside tracks Great Gig and Money. On WALL tracks Happiest Days/ Another Brick Pt. 2 the waveform for ECHOES was a tad fatter than the MFSL, but still had plenty of room to breath. I'd say very little, if any, additional compression was used on ECHOES over the MFSL, although the overall volume of ECHOES will be greater just because they let the peaks reach up to zero on the digital level meter. Now, whether it's steely bright or not compared to the MFSL is up to ears and speakers, but I thought you'd be interested to that little tidbit, at least if you have slightly nerdish leanings ala yer audio.

Unfortunately, if you are a fan of The Stone Temple Pilots, on the other hand, their latest albums are getting cranked up the ol' brick wall wazoo. I love the sound of their first three albums (and the music as well). They are an easy listen if you like that kind of music. Their last two albums though, have been harder to get into, however, and I don't really think it's the tunes (I've learned to enjoy the 4th quiet well). I think it's the constant onslaught of volume. The waveforms show it all. The first album has peaks and valleys all over it, even to a lesser degree on the louder moments. Compared to the waveforms on Shangri-LA DEE DA and FOUR which have flattened waveforms that stay non-stop loud on all but the quietest moments. I think they are great tunes, but they're tough (and or tougher) to listen to. I'm putting in my official request for Steve to save these albums

 

Thank you, Pinknik, for doing all this research! From one Floyd fan to another, I truly appreciate your efforts.

I acquired the Echoes vinyl set, but have no plans on playing it anytime soon. I'm keeping it for its own sake.

Interesting stuff about the STP albums. I never did like No. 4, not only because it sounded like an Alice in Chains tribute album, but the sound was just too much to bear. I think Shangri-La Dee Da suffers from over-compression AND bad programming (putting all the fast stuff in the beginning is pretty stupid).

 

Thanks, Kym. I do like 4, but it took a good long time for me to, and I think the sound played no small part in it. A needless shame, since the master probably sounds fine.