Bassheads, consumers and crappy recordings (update 17/19/11)

I think you hit the nail on the head. Now it makes sense why one guy (some story I read buried deep in a thread around here) thought for $500 cans, they'd be subwoofers attached to the side of your head. I'll bet anything most of my friends' music tracks are sub 192 128kbps, though I showed one the difference between bitrates. The minimum bitrate for his music now is 320kbps. Audiophile quality? Not yet, since he still thinks beats are the best headphones in the world.

That's an interesting theory actually. I suppose it makes sense though.

I think I agree with your theory. I used to think like that too, and wanted my bass boosted because a lot of the cds I had (older MCA soundtrack ones) didn't present a lot of bass, so a booster always seemed to help make the recording more like if I was there and there was a standup bass (or two) in the orchestra.

Don't some people actually mix with Monster Beats? I think some music is intended to be played on bass exaggerated on equipment and recessed in the recording, but I've heard plenty of pop songs which have a lot of sub-bass.

Your theory seems to make sense to  me.  I think a lot of people just like to feel the low frequencies like one would, while in the vicinity of any subwoofer that is moving large amounts of air.  Of course you can't really feel the bass from headphones. 

Interesting thought, OP.  I imagine when the album is mastered and the levels are pushed to be as hot as possible, bass definition (among everything else) gets lost in the mix.  

Compression has to be one of the most confusing and elusive effects out there.

 Let me first start by explaining the basics of dynamic ranges in recording. First, we have the noise floor. This is the lowest level, where hiss and electrical hum reside at. Next we have the nominal level, which is the level that is best for recording your incoming signal in order to minimize distortion and overcome the noise floor. The distance between the noise floor and the nominal level is called the signal-to-noise ratio. Next is the maximum level, which is where distortion occurs at when your incoming level reaches it. This is the highest level in the total dynamic range. Distortion is something that you definitely want to avoid unless you are versed in the skills of good tape saturation (sometimes engineers will try to slightly distort the signal by pushing it over the maximum level because this will give a stronger sound to an originally weak one. However, in digital recording, any distortion due to overpeaking is distasteful.). Now the difference between the nominal level and the maximum level is referred to as your headroom. This is your safety zone, and this is needed to account for some stray peaks here and there without hitting the maximum level. And to wrap this up...the whole thing, from noise floor to the maximum level is called the dynamic range.

 Okay, lets cover how compressors work. Imagine a recording scenario where you are starting to record some tracks on your recorder. You have set a good recording level for your instrument which is at or near the nominal level, but you notice that the incoming signal occasionally jumps up into the red. That is typically going to be the nature of either the instrument, your playing, or both. So, you don't want those distortions going into the recording and ruining an otherwise fine performance. This is where the compressor comes in handy.

 

Because bass is attack oriented it gets cut out of modern recordings. These compressors remove the bass attack. There is no overpeaking in digital. When tape was used it became hot with the bass attacks but remained in the mix.

Makes sense to me, I have to admit that when a lot of bass is pumping through me the music feels nice and full.

This is incorrect.

 

When an instrument might jump in the red but you have a good recording level, the proper instrument to use is a limiter. A limiter will limit the peak of the waveform from going past a set level, thereby preserving your good recording level without going into the red.

 

A compressor (aka "leveling amplifier") is always working to make a dynamic signal less dynamic. In other words, it usually brings up the soft parts of the music to match the louder parts.

A limiter doesn't do anything until the signal goes past a certain peak level and then the thing just cuts it dead by clipping the signal at the set level.

 

EDIT: You usually want to use a limiter when recording and a compressor for mixing/mastering. Ideally, you should use neither.

Edited by LFF - 9/18/11 at 8:42am