The Man
02-07-2009, 12:15 PM
If you think today's musical releases don't have the sound quality that releases made two decades ago did, you're right. Here's a musical demonstration of the evolution of the Beatles' "Something" over four CD releases:
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Cd_loudness_trend-something.gif">
In the first three cases there's really nothing to complain about; in fact, the 1993 mix is probably the best because it spreads the dynamics over the maximum possible range of values. The fourth mix, though, completely destroys all sense of dynamics in the original recording. Audio data which should be proportionally louder than the maximum CD audio threshold will allow is "clipped" to the maximum threshold, creating a sense of horrid distortion that sounds, to anyone who isn't completely tin-eared, unnatural.
Unfortunately this tendency is no longer confined to major-label releases. The below image compares and contrasts the second track on the CD release of Two Hunters, the 2007 album by Wolves in the Throne Room, with rip I made of the same track from my vinyl copy.
http://www.almost1337.com/mp3/aaron/dynamics.png
Now granted, black metal isn't a genre that's noted for high-quality sound recordings in the first place, but it's clear to all which recording should sound more organic and natural.
I'm not sure how many other people on EoFF care about things like this, but it's gotten to absurd levels. One of the worst offenders is Metallica's last album Death Magnetic, which was apparently intentionally remastered by the band or Rick Rubin to a level that makes it literally unlistenable, to the point where the mastering engineer Ted Jensen has disowned the official release. Again, a simple comparison of waveforms (the Guitar Hero version was mastered properly) will make the cause of this scourge plainly evident (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Metallica My Apocalypse waveform.png).
One possible solution to this problem is simply for people to stop buying music that's mastered like crap. Turn Me Up (http://www.turnmeup.org/) certifies CDs that are actually mastered at volume levels that allow the sound to breathe; I'm probably only going to buy these discs from this point forward, unless it's stuff that's clearly intended to have a deliberately 'necro' production for the sake of atmosphere (e.g. most black metal). I would also encourage users to stop buying records released on RIAA labels (http://www.riaaradar.com/), as the RIAA has by far been the worst offender with regard to encouraging the practice of poor mastering.
If people care about things like this I can discuss it more. At least, in the case of Death Magnetic, fans have made mixes that actually contain dynamic range; in more severe cases, options like that may not be available.
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Cd_loudness_trend-something.gif">
In the first three cases there's really nothing to complain about; in fact, the 1993 mix is probably the best because it spreads the dynamics over the maximum possible range of values. The fourth mix, though, completely destroys all sense of dynamics in the original recording. Audio data which should be proportionally louder than the maximum CD audio threshold will allow is "clipped" to the maximum threshold, creating a sense of horrid distortion that sounds, to anyone who isn't completely tin-eared, unnatural.
Unfortunately this tendency is no longer confined to major-label releases. The below image compares and contrasts the second track on the CD release of Two Hunters, the 2007 album by Wolves in the Throne Room, with rip I made of the same track from my vinyl copy.
http://www.almost1337.com/mp3/aaron/dynamics.png
Now granted, black metal isn't a genre that's noted for high-quality sound recordings in the first place, but it's clear to all which recording should sound more organic and natural.
I'm not sure how many other people on EoFF care about things like this, but it's gotten to absurd levels. One of the worst offenders is Metallica's last album Death Magnetic, which was apparently intentionally remastered by the band or Rick Rubin to a level that makes it literally unlistenable, to the point where the mastering engineer Ted Jensen has disowned the official release. Again, a simple comparison of waveforms (the Guitar Hero version was mastered properly) will make the cause of this scourge plainly evident (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Metallica My Apocalypse waveform.png).
One possible solution to this problem is simply for people to stop buying music that's mastered like crap. Turn Me Up (http://www.turnmeup.org/) certifies CDs that are actually mastered at volume levels that allow the sound to breathe; I'm probably only going to buy these discs from this point forward, unless it's stuff that's clearly intended to have a deliberately 'necro' production for the sake of atmosphere (e.g. most black metal). I would also encourage users to stop buying records released on RIAA labels (http://www.riaaradar.com/), as the RIAA has by far been the worst offender with regard to encouraging the practice of poor mastering.
If people care about things like this I can discuss it more. At least, in the case of Death Magnetic, fans have made mixes that actually contain dynamic range; in more severe cases, options like that may not be available.