My solution for Dynamic Range Compression: Cheaper Amp and Speakers

I apologize if this specific topic has been covered before. I've done an extensive search which didn't yield any results regarding this.

Regarding the Loudness Wars or Dynamic Range Compression, I've had difficulty tolerating modern music on my modest system at home. I have an Onkyo A-9050 integrated amp with Polk Audio Ati8 towers hooked up to a computer through a udac2. I mostly listen to FLAC files and CDs in a quiet environment. (Gave up on vinyl. I chose the convenience of CDs and PC audio). Listening in the car is not so bad but I turn the bass down to be able to enjoy the music.

Lately I've been listening to heavy metal. Also a big fan of Warren Haynes and Gov't Mule. Basically I'll listen to anything besides Rap or Modern Country. Most recordings in the last 15 -20 years are compressed too loudly for my ears. The heavy metal genre would possibly be the worst offender in the loudness war. Some recordings are so loud that the bass and mid-tones overpower the song so much that I get a pain in my ears. Warren Haynes' music is ridiculously loud for the style of music he and Gov't Mule play. His more recent solo stuff included.

I've found one problem for me is the combination of highly compressed audio on a very revealing amp/speaker pairing. Through trial and error I found the best way for me to enjoy the highly compressed music is to play it through a cheaper amp and speaker combo. I now use a Sony STR-DE197 (hand-me-down) amp paired with Panasonic $12 goodwill speakers (don't know model # off hand).

So now I have my Onkyo/Polk and Sony/Panasonic set up side by side. Onkyo for the more dynamic recordings and Sony for the modern compressed recordings. Both connected to the udac2. Onkyo through the optical out and Sony through the analog out. Finally I can really enjoy my post-1995 CDs and FLACs. It's not a perfect solution but for me it helps me to focus on the songs instead of being distracted by the sound.

Anyone else try a similar solution?

 

In a way yes. I run two players on my main system, one for the higher rez and well mastered discs (Denon 5910ci) and another for the modern main stream releases (Sony 3100ES). While these are older units, they suit the purpose and are all I need at this time.

 

I haven't, but a pal has an old JVC receiver with Advent speakers from the early '80s (? he thinks) that he uses with a Sony CD carousel player when we're playing pool, that sounds remarkable on CDs I know to be loudness-war victims (Tom Petty The Last DJ, Rolling Stones A Bigger Bang, etc.)

 

Couldn't you simply turn the bass down or volume down on your premium system?

 

I've tried that with limited results. My Onkyo has bass and treble knobs. The mid-range on a lot of these modern heavy metal recordings is what is pummeling. Something in the drums (I don't play so not sure what drum it is). The Onkyo separates the sounds so well that somehow the overly-compressed portion tends to come through on a lot of recordings even with these knobs tweaked. The Sony/Panasonic combo "muds" up the sound just enough to kind of blur out the compression. I guess that's a characteristic of a cheap setup maybe? It works for me. So far.

 

Thought about it but don't want two systems side-by-side. The music industry certainly makes it difficult for me to enjoy listening when so much music sounds so bad, which makes me wonder about why I keep investing time and money into the effort. If anything, I might reduce my listening to streaming services in the background on cheap gear around the house, re-purpose the listening room, and be done with it.

 

That may be your best way to bring some joy into modern recordings. That was my goal.

 

I read somewhere (possibly on here?) that one solution to loudness wars affected music is to pull down by 1 or 2 dB the level of the midrange frequencies using a parametric equalizer - iirc it may have been around 4-5kHz.

The theory being that its this area thats most unpleasant to our ears and sounds 'shouty'.

I've yet to try it myself but if it works even partially, then it'd be a useful tool in the armoury to make some music listenable.

 

I just re-EQ and clipfix my CD rips. Makes an audible difference imo.

 

Well Mr. Joel claims you get more mileage from a cheap pair of speakers, so...

Seriously, though, whatever works for you is valid. The only heavy music I listen to is early stuff like Sabbath and Led Zep on vinyl and have never had a problem with compression. It could be my lower power tube amp helps in that regard.

 

I'm no audiophile, but in theory, how would this work? Maybe the bass gets boosted on brickwalled recordings that sounds better on poor speakers? Because there certainly is not going to be any more dynamic range on them. Is this a case of going from good sound to poor sound and feeling better about it because you can then blame the speakers?

 

Interesting...

 

Possibly. My ignorance may be my bliss.

 

Here's a solution...learn to appreciate older pop/rock music or the wonderful world of jazz.

I used to be militant with avoidance when it came to "louder" albums. I have loosened up a bit lately, but it is hard. I am currently listening to a station of modern "indie" rock on a Tivoli iPal radio. It is acceptable but would sound like crap on my high-end gear.

I am one of those people that go out of my way to find well-recorded modern rock albums. When I do find them I hold them in high regard and even try to buy them from the artist web site. I comment on the results to them if I can. Gotta keep fighting the war!

 

I've been down the classic rock/pop route. I'll be heading that way again before too long. I just slipped into a metal (I'm a thrash metal fan at heart) phase as of late and became very frustrated with a bunch of songs I liked that were ruined by the sound.

I always appreciate a good recording. Any Audio Fidelity or Analogue Productions releases that I'm interested in I will buy. I love a well produced, well recorded, dynamic album. But I've had a hankering for some METAL haha.

 

I've worked hard to adapt to the compression, seems like it is getting worse, the amount of compression that is, all the time. I still have a 25 year old system consisting of an NAD 7400 Receiver with fairly decent tone controls , Sony ES CDP, & Kef C55 speakers for the really nasty recordings without much satisfaction.

I absolutely hate what the compression does to good music. I recently bought a Rosanne Cash autographed CD of "The River & the Thread", it is really well recorded then the DR smashed together for commercial consumption to the point where I'll most likely not give it much play time or eventually get rid of it.

I think for the future I won't buy ANY mainstream releases UNLESS I see a positive review that has a serious consideration for its DR.

 

I've gone the opposite direction for dealing with loudness war recordings. Better amps and better headphones.

As long as you aim for the right sort of "better" it works. I look for headphone amps that provide a larger soundstage and more open and less directional sound. Generally that means a softer and somewhat tube-like sound. But a good solid state amp can also do that sort of sound. What I want is something that helps the headphones to disappear. In speaker terms it is like looking for an amp that lets the speakers disappear vs. an amp that makes the speakers be very locatable. I've found some headphone amps that are able to let the headphones do that sort of disappearing trick. I like those amps. With that sort of sound I'm better able to listen to loudness war recordings. I still don't like loudness war recordings. But at least I can manage to listen to them.

The recent Warren Haynes and Gov't Mule recordings are an example of loud recordings that benefit from this sort of approach.

 

Your comments are very likely what's happening with my "better" system. The Onkyo/Polk setup seems very cold and revealing. With classic recordings this is nice to my ears because I can hear every detail. With the compressed recordings this system may be too unforgiving. I will experiment more with a warmer sounding setup in the future. I'm always looking for a reason to shop for new gear.

 

My solution :

 

I know this really isn't anything special and I read you gave up on it, but I swapped to vinyl and a better system to get away from all the compressed files. the compressed files just don't sound right to me. 90% of the time I listen to metal. the other 10% is classic rock from the 60s 70s and a very limited amount from the 80s. I had been using cds for a very long time and I always enjoyed them then swapped to MP3s. MP3s are convenient but, after a number of years listening to mainly just MP3s, I started changing music styles a bit and realized how terrible the compressed files were sounding in comparison to what I had imagined. Needless to say, I now collect vinyl, I have a fairly decent setup (one 15 in each tower and not overpowering bass), I listen to it for atleast a couple hours a day before I go to sleep after a 13hour shift. when I am on two weeks off I will spend sometimes 8 hours listening, rediscovering the sound that had been left behind when I just kept getting MP3s. anyway, apologies for the lengthy nonsense. just wanted to share my opinion on the matter. I do however think that we may be describing two different forms of music.

 

Yes, I do listen to FLAC and not Mp3. But I will say it's hard for me to listen for 8 hours any more. In the car, yes. So my goal was to match (at least with heavy metal) my ability to listen for so long in in the car. I found with heavy metal music the easiest way was to go cheap. So far so good.

 

CD, Vinyl, HD-Tracks... For many loudness-war CD's there is s better HI-res or vinyl version, key to good sound is choosing the best one for the specific title.

 

I don't categorize the style of sound I'm after as cold vs. warm. I categorize it more as a diffuse soundstage vs. a directional (as in beaming) soundstage. The more diffuse, wide, and deep the better. A cold sounding source that has a diffuse style of soundstage will still pull off this trick. You don't necessarily need a warm source or warm amp (though that helps).

As an example, I have a Geek Pulse Xfi DAC and headphone amp. It's a revealing DAC. It is not a warm sounding DAC and headphone amp. However, it does have an open sounding and diffuse sounding soudstage and the right sort of soundstage shape. I'm listening to Warren Haynes' latest loudness abomination (Ashes & Dust) direct from the DACs headphone output and it's OK to listen to. Much better than the alternative of trying to listen to the same album with a $99 Schiit Modi DAC and a $75 DIY headphone amp. Going cheaper isn't the solution.

The PonoPlayer is also a DAC that has the right sort of diffuse soundstage to pull off this trick. The PonoPlayer helps make compressed albums easier to listen to compared to something like an iPod.

This is all with headphones. I don't know how much of this experience transfers over to speaker listening.

 

You might want to stop giving up on vinyl. Sure it is way less convenient but downgrading the SQ of your system to live with that convenience seems an unfair trade.

 

It sounds like you're onto something here. Food for thought for sure. Thanks for your comments.