[Jahn]

Even Heavy-Metal Fans Complain That Today's Music Is Too Loud!!! - WSJ.com

Hopefully the word out there about overcompression is finally getting some traction!

Oh and here's a funny twist - apparently the Rock Band versions of these new tunes weren't redlined, so they actually sound better than the official album, heh.

 

[gloco]

Yeah, someone already ripped the GH3 tracks and put them up on pirate bay.

Death Magnetic has some of the worst mastering I've heard in a while, have you listened to it Jahn? UGH....the cymbal crashes are ridiculously horrid. Definitely some of the worst ear fatigue I've ever had after listening to a few tracks straight.

 

[Jahn]

Was it GH not Rock Band? Hmm gonna have to find those tracks - the "real" album stuff is unlistenable.

 

[yepyep_]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jahn /img/forum/go_quote.gif Was it GH not Rock Band? Hmm gonna have to find those tracks - the "real" album stuff is unlistenable.

Guitar Hero 3, and yeah the real stuff is unlistenable indeed.

 

[EnOYiN]

Let's hope at least some musicians will start making proper records again. I haven't listened to the new Metallica album yet and if it's so loud as people say I doubt I'll ever buy it.

 

[GlendaleViper]

I'm interested to know if the deluxe vinyl Warner released will rectify the problem? $100 retail is pretty steep, but it was given the MoFi treatment (45rpm mastered on virgin 180g). There's a cheaper version available too, but I'm unsure if it's using the vinyl or digital masters.

This is a shame. I've heard a few tracks from this new album and the tunes were decent - sort of a return to form. Rick Rubin needs to retire.

 

[xnothingpoetic]

This is good news. What we need is a big band like this to show people the light on the loudness war.

Maybe now people will finally demand good sound quality.

 

[nor_spoon]

Crazy stuff...

 

[Luminette]

Good news so that less people will listen and actually think that that is where the bar is at for their listening selection

The loudness = money. They're not just "oops"ing it

 

[n_maher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlendaleViper /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm interested to know if the deluxe vinyl Warner released will rectify the problem? $100 retail is pretty steep, but it was given the MoFi treatment (45rpm mastered on virgin 180g). There's a cheaper version available too, but I'm unsure if it's using the vinyl or digital masters.

Nope, the MoFi version is the same, the masters they were given had already been brickwalled so there was nothing to be done. Google it, you'll find a bunch more info. And Jahn, if you need help finding the GH3 versions just shoot me a PM.

 

[sdheda]

Audioholics has an article on it as well

Metallica Death Magnetic Sounds Better on Guitar Hero III

 

[nor_spoon]

Listening to the GH3 version now, and there are some distortion present there as well, but I guess it is better than the CD.

 

[GlendaleViper]

For a band made infamous by the piracy debacle, it occurs to me that it would make sense for Metallica to champion the issue of loudness and sound quality. Warner has been good recently with concurrent releases of quality vinyl tailored by audiophile mainstays like Steve Hoffman on the Stadium Arcadium and Icky Thump, and the recent string of MoFi releases/reissues of Metallica's own catalogue. What's even more interesting, is they seem to have savvied up enough to be including the "audiophile master version" on both, the special edition (read: heavywheight, virgin wax) and budget LPs.

Hell, to be honest, I can't believe we aren't seeing this stuff pushed more and more from RIAA associated bigwigs like Warner. If they're so desperately intent on grasping onto the old state of the industry, they should give the average consumer a compelling reason!

[EDIT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by n_maher /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nope, the MoFi version is the same, the masters they were given had already been brickwalled so there was nothing to be done. Google it, you'll find a bunch more info.

Missed this somehow. Thanks for the heads up, Nate. Why the hell would they even bother sending that to a company like MoFi in the first place? The 80s reissues make sense; but at the kind of premium I would assume the boutique engineering houses charge, I'm surprised no one at either company stepped back and asked why?

Warner Suit: You guys do pristine transfers of recordings faithful to the mix and master provided, correct?

MoFi Suit: Sure do.

Warner Suit: Here's a big bag of money! Take this garbled up mess and audiophile-it, my man!

MoFi Suit: Audiophile-it?

Warner Suit: Yea, you know, get it all audiophiled up! Then we can slap a big ol' "Sound Quality Matters" sticker on the front and milk the collectors' wallets dry!

MoFi Suit: You're the big bag of money, er, boss.

 

[Luminette]

Metallica and the album's producer, Rick Rubin, declined to comment. Cliff Burnstein, Metallica's co-manager, says the complainers are a tiny minority. He says 98% of listeners are "overwhelmingly positive," adding: "There's something exciting about the sound of this record that people are responding to."

^--- From this article Even Heavy-Metal Fans Complain That Today's Music Is Too Loud!!! - WSJ.com



It doesn't make sense for them to do anything other than what they are because they want money and the loudness means more money. This fits in with their being among the few uber-rich pop musicians that have made such a crying fit over not getting their every last penny due to piracy.

I have no interest in listening to a band that's so blatantly making music for money. Look at them coming out of nowhere for St. Anger which most anyone agrees was crap, and now this. Hey, if all they have to do is release an album and get a million records sold in two weeks because their name is Metallica, I might be into that myself. But on the consumer side, I'm hardly about to have interest in such falsely-motivated music & musicians.

It's disconcerting to see fans not connecting everything and just resting at being disappointed that it sounds too loud


Further reading on how Metallica is, for any unaware of the full Dee-Baggery

"Devin and Jason Newsted from the IR8 project began talking publicly about a new project they were working on called Physicist (or Fizzicist) which they claimed would be "heavier than Strapping Young Lad". The IR8 tape was leaked, and aired by a Californian radio station that James Hetfield of Metallica was currently listening to. Metallica were unhappy with Jason working outside of their band and made it difficult for him to continue with Physicist. This prompted Devin to record the album himself with his Strapping Young Lad bandmates, but as a Devin Townsend album."

and


Devin and Jason Newsted from the IR8 project began talking publicly about a new project they were working on called Physicist (or Fizzicist) which they claimed would be "heavier than Strapping Young Lad". The IR8 tape was leaked, and aired by a Californian radio station that James Hetfield of Metallica was currently listening to. Metallica were unhappy with Jason working outside of their band and made it difficult for him to continue with Physicist. This prompted Devin to record the album himself with his Strapping Young Lad bandmates, but as a Devin Townsend album.

^-- From the wikipedia page of Devin Townsend [of his own fame as well as his role in the band Strapping Young Lad]

Metallica is about the pursuit of money. Not music and not giving you something good.

Just money, and they're going to keep turning it up and stepping on your face & ears (and that of the rest of their fans)



I would never advocate restrictions on the levels something can be mastered, or how it can be made, but this stuff is outright dangerous to hearing and that alone makes me consider the thought of outlawing it (though I would not)

 

[Pangaea]

It does piss me off that Bands simply do not care about how their music sounds. Even if you are not an audiophile you must notice how bad this stuff sounds. I would assume an artist listens to their new record quite a bit before it is released to make sure it is how they want it. It shocks me that at no point in this process they notice how fatiguing it is. Maybe they do and just don't care. Personally I find it much more disturbing that Springsteen allowed this to happen than Metallica.