SH Spotlight Why the new "LOUDNESS CRAZE" in digital mastering really robs music of life..

Following the albums mentioned on http://www.cdmasteringservices.com/dynamicdeath.htm

Have short extracts from:

* Bryan Adams - Cuts Like a Knife (1983)
* Willie Nelson - What a Wonderful World (1988)
* George Michael - Faith (1987)
* Amy Grant - Heart In Motion (1991)

and include similar extracts from the modern remaster of these.

But that's just shooting in the dark. There have been many great posts on this forum showing nasty waveforms. We just have to look in the archives, come up with a few examples, and make a video!

 

All this is correct, but the reason why they have not listened to audiophiles probably includes the fact that they are not talking their language, something advertising usually does.

As Lebanese poet/writer Khalil Gibran of "The Prophet" fame said once, "If I am not an architect amongst arquitects, how will they understand that I am an astronomer?"

 

So we're back to square one, because it's pretty clear that the industry (record companies, producers, engineers, the artists themselves from corporate to independent to underground) has taken up the gospel of LOUD.

 

Exactly right, and as a result, we can either not buy new releases, or buy them and put up with the sound.

 

The problem seems to be that all this issue is falling on deaf ears... [truly].

 

One good thing about this whole shebang : people buy less and less corporate CDs (they download them) and more and more independent compagnies CDs.

At the same time, Majors still laugh at us fellow workers, while we reap more money than they do, considering we have less expenses. Keep it going !

 

You're sure about this?

 

How many people are going to be stone deaf in thirty years? I've walked behind people in the streets listening to iPods- they are so loud you can even hear what song they are listening to! I was walking about two metres behind them!

Regarding compression, I had to put a load of CD's on my Aunt's Mp3 player the other day. I took the opportunity to have a look at the waveforms- they were solid blocks, every single one of them. I questioned her about how they sounded and she didn't have a clue what I was talking about. And no, she doesn't listen to much music these days, I can't imagine why.............

 

I posted this video on a general (non-music) forum I frequent. The responses range from 'Wow! What a difference!' to 'I don't hear anything.'

http://www.pla-designs.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=166&topic_id=40462&mesg_id=40462&page=

 

This is like the apocryphal Ray Dolby party joke.

Party guest: "Ray Dolby? Oh, you're the one with the Switch. Just what does that switch do?"

Ray Dolby: "It reduces the noise."

Party guest: "Noise? I never noticed any noise..."

 

What I mean is : if you spend 50 millions dollars a year on CDs manufacturing, promotion, salaries etc, but only make 47 million bucks, you lost 3 millions. Lucky the bank follows to cover...

If you spend 100 000 bucks a year, and makes 115 000, you won 15 000 (taxes not counted).

Who made the more money then ?

 

Posted a thread about this topic here (on another forum). It'll be interesting to see the responses.

Did I present it well or were there other things that could have been included?

 

Well, no one has responded so far.

 

We might be the only ones who care.

 

maybe you need to use larger fonts

 

Wow, that's quite a long thread. I've made it through most of the pages and decided to bring some input.

Artists, Music Listeners and Producers/Engineers/etc. can argue endlessly about what makes a great-sounding record (ie. what kind of gear is right and wrong to use, how to properly record it, necessary amount of compression to use, and so on).

But there is ONE THING a lot of sensible people can agree on - an album should ALWAYS have good/great dynamic range. And other IMPORTANT things like reasonable/right amount of compression (7db-9db), which WON'T result in clipped peaks, great amount of headroom, and most of all - less overproduction; letting it all go out with mistakes. The concept of less is more so to speak, meaning that if it doesn't interfere with an album, leave it in.

Everything else can be up to the artist in terms of if the music is presented in loose/raw (ex. Aerosmith - Rocks) or precise format (ex. AC/DC - Back In Black).

 

I think it all comes down to the decreasing number of people who actually sit down and listen to music. Take HDTV - the increased quality is evident because people have their eyes glued to the set. But music, sadly, is for more and more just background noise, wallpaper, or a soundtrack to other activies. If no-one is listening, no-one can hear the difference.

I'm not defending bad mastering, of course, just offering an explanation for why nobody much cares.

 

If this has been going on at least since the mid-'90s, then it isn't really the new "LOUDNESS CRAZE."

I no longer buy new CDs, I haven't for years; only used old ones, and old vinyl.

 

I'ts been going longer than that!