My illustrated take on compression and the "Loudness Wars"

Now, here is a sample from "The Italians" CD. This track is Dion's "The Wanderer". Steve once said he had a method to bring those levels up without using a limiter. FWIW:

 

Yes, the track looks like what you posted in #49, but it's not maximized or clipped like what is shown in the BIA example.

 

Right you are. I remember Steve said something to the effect that he will clip a few samples here and there if - here's the key point - he is unable to hear the difference. So he gets some more resolution for the rest of the track at the expense of the tip-top portions of what are most likely drum hits, which are a only few samples in length at most. The DCC Hotel California is a great example of this. Wonderful sound.

 

If you squished it together horizontally the way the BIA tracks are (that was done so that you could see all the tracks on the CD at once), it might look very much like them. Pushing all those peaks together could make it look like a 'green brick' at low resolution.

 

Thanks, SolarWind!

 

That I never recall him saying anywhere. Now, most other engineers will do that, but i've seen Steve root for the most lonely peak. Can you give us a link? I cannot believe he said this. If I see it, i'll believe it.

 

Here it is:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=1777135&postcount=540

 

Jokerman may be the example of least sound elevation in this discussion, but outtakes from those sessions show that we would have enjoyed even more realistic dynamic range if hands were kept off the master tapes before the release masters were set in stone. This is true on many of Dylan's 70's and 80's albums. This is why many people enjoy the outtakes that trinkle out into the world.

Richard.

 

I was right. Steve didn't say it. Mal did. I also don't recall ever seeing that post.

But, i've still seen him root for those peaks!

FWIW, I prefer to use a limiter (compressor) on those stray peaks because if my CD is played on a player where the converter can't handle the overs, the clip may be audible. But, sometimes, one or two still get through.

 

Illustrated Comparison of I am the walrus (Magical Mystery Tour vs LOVE)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xzRG_xac2s

 

Thank you all forum members. The wealth of knowledge and experience on these boards is appreciated and impressive!

I have learned a lot here! Thanks again!

 

I was about to post something like that, the Alice In Chains album posted sounds fine to me

 

Its not "all around the world" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers is it?

 

My initial mistake was in thinking that the waveform below the Sea of Sorrow title was the waveform for that song. It's the one above, compressed, yes, but not buzz cut. Just good loud analog compression. When I run things, Steve and Kevin will cut the Alice In Chains catalog to nice 180g LP's. Mmmm, SACD's too. This will never happen . . .

 

Great job. Learned quite a bit. I did'nt know Vapor Trails was that compressed as I have'nt heard this CD.

 

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If a picture paints a thousand words, those images tell it all.

Thank you for sharing them.

 

Sometimes when I master a record to cd, I will compress/hard limit the final levels by 1.0-2.0 db. I also make sure the peak levels are .5db below dbfs. My Cool Edit Pro settings for hard limiting are:

Limit Max Amplitude to -.5 dB
Boost Imput by: 1.5 dB
Lookahead Time: 7ms
Release time 100ms


When I gather the clipping statistics, L and R channel will clip by only .001 to .002 % Sometimes it won't clip at all. But it seems todays cds are boosted by 6-10db or more.