Dynamic range values for the top 10 albums of 2016

Top 10 of 2016 taken from EOY 2016 Albums Spreadsheet Updates - Page 2 - Acclaimed Music Forums » (continuously updated)

(CD releases where possible)

1 David Bowie / Blackstar - DR09 (09,10)
2 Frank Ocean / Blonde - DR09 (05, 18)
3 Radiohead / A Moon Shaped Pool - DR05 (03,07)
4 Beyonce / Lemonade - DR07 (05,09)
5 Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds / Skeleton Tree - DR07 (05,10)
6 Solange / A Seat at the Table - DR08 (05,14)
7 Bon Iver / 22, A Million - DR08 (04,14)
8 Angel Olsen / My Woman - DR08 (05,11)
9 Anohni / Hopelessness - no record
10 Kanye West / The Life of Pablo - DR05 (03,10)

Values taken from Album list - Dynamic Range Database »

Not sure what this proves really, perhaps that loudness is still an issue. Interestingly the top 2 have the best DR values in the top 10.

 

Outside the top 10 were some better ones:

12 Chance the Rapper DR11
13 Leonard Cohen DR13

 

Here's one of the top jazz releases for 2016:

Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane, Matthew Garrison / In Movement - DR14

 

I think you are mistaken about Blackstar. It should be at the bottom with DR5

 

You are correct. Too late for me to edit it, I was looking at a vinyl entry.

1 David Bowie / Blackstar - DR05 (05,06)


So the worst are David Bowie, Radiohead and Kanye West.

 

The David Bowie and Anohni are both DR5 for the CD, there was a low quality vinyl rip for Blackstar that circulated before release with a higher DR, that may be what you are using.

Not much movement away from the low DR numbers this year that I've seen, though some of the old timers like Brian Eno and Leonard Cohen put out some nice sounding discs with high DR. I did wind up with quite a few in the DR8-9 range, and some of them sound good, but also quite a few more in the DR5-6 range too. I wind up getting most of the ones I like on vinyl, but most of the time that doesn't really make it OK, it just changes the listening setting and adds some realism, but the effects of the compression and limiting are still there, though sometimes not quite as pronounced.

Probably the biggest surprise for me was the new Wovenhand Star Treatment, his last few releases have been very bad DR as he moved more and more into a heavy rock sound, but this latest one was recorded at Steve Albini's studio and measures DR9, and sounds pretty nice for a modern hard rock album (and as always, it is pretty great music from David Eugene Edwards, one of my favorites this year).

 

Eno's The Ship is DR11

 

Another really nice DR11 CD was the latest from The Pines, got some good attention at release, but like most records in this modern age, not sure if that short window is enough to keep a band going. It's called Above the Prairie and is a folk record at heart, but mixed with the Dylan sound is some hints of bluegrass and early Dire Straits, maybe some Willie Nile too, nice album, nice sounding CD ...

 

Neil Young's Peace Trail DR14

 

Yea, I don't know how receptive people will be to a dynamic pop recording these days, most listeners will probably just say that it sounds flat and lifeless, like one of those an old un-remastered CDs. Cool that Neil doesn't really care anymore

 

Loudness still there, buying CD's still impossible, dont waste your money on coasters.

 

Definately less worse than 10 years ago.

They're still maximizing the loudness, but less brickwalling/clipping ...

Btw some tracks from Blackstar 96-24 sound good to me, especially Lazarus sounds awesome on my system.

 

This one is a weird one, it's almost like it's "unmastered". Sound levels all over the place, loud intros with main songs not hitting above -5db, one-hit tom drums being by far the loudest points in songs, and so on.

 

I haven't really seen the difference that you do, but may just be the types of music we listen to most. This year seemed pretty bad overall as there were quite a few of my favorites that were down in that DR5-6 range, especially since I was a little more into the shoegaze sound this year, which pretty much brings an obligatory DR5-6 nowadays. And in 2006, two of my favorites were really nice sounding with DR12 (Jason Molina and Nina Nastasia) so that may skew it a bit. In any case, the norm still seems to be in the DR7 range, pretty much like it was 10 years ago, which might not be brickwalling, but isn't very good. Doesn't mean I don't enjoy listening to a bunch of them, just that it could be better. You're right that the highly compressed ones probably do sound better than 10 years ago, the tools are better, I guess the engineers too, and sadly we are also getting more used to the sound (and spending more time with vinyl, where we don't seem to pay as much attention to that aspect, or at least don't fixate on it so much).

 

Garbage - Strange Little Birds DR4

And one track is DR2...

 

Considering these are the top 10 albums, it shows me that the majority of people don't care about dynamic range. The range values seem to go from around 5 to 9. I would imagine if the majority did care, the values themselves would be closer together. Maybe the music industry should take note of this and stop thinking that louder is better. People just want music.

That's just my opinion anyway. Take it for what it's worth if it's worth anything at all.

 

Well I'm not sure that is really what this shows, for a few reasons. Firstly, people do not buy music based on dynamic range - they buy the bands and musical styles they enjoy. It just so happens that it is very hard to find new releases over DR9 these days unless you are into jazz or a particular artist who actually cares (Tool apparently want their records to capture the dynamics of the band). So if there is no choice then people put up with what they are given. People may even be getting used to it, particularly those who listen to music on the go - on the bus, train, in the car, walking about town - where there is significant background noise. In these situations the dynamics are not going to work anyway as there is such a high noise threshold. I have to say it wont be doing people's hearing much good listening to music in noisy environments.

 

I know what you're saying, but I'm "a people" and I must say that I do buy music based on the sound quality of the release; otherwise I just listen on Spotify.

I put the money down if the sound is there as well.

I think the heartening thing is that when you search the dynamic range database, you find that re-releases of the last three years are far more considerate of a proper dynamic range. New releases are still just terrible; but I think we may be winning when it comes to newer remasters. At least, I'm hopeful!

 

A ridiculous generalization

 

Sad & terrible times we live in. Shouting above the din as compared to whispering with excellence...

(everybody wants to be heard NOW, but it's in the future where legends are made.)

 

This is why I buy the final when I can.