[SilverEars]

I think where it peaks is where the heavy treble is. from 6-8khz.  I notice if it has acoustic or more bassy or laid back vocal sections, it looks less compressed, but when it gets to screaming vocals, it peaks.

 

[cjl]

  I think where it peaks is where the heavy treble is. from 6-8khz.  I notice if it has acoustic or more bassy or laid back vocal sections, it looks less compressed, but when it gets to screaming vocals, it peaks.

Probably in part because clipping is less audible on high frequencies, since most of the extra harmonics introduced by squaring off the peak of the waveform are above the audible range.

 

[Pio2001]

  That leads me to believe electronica in general are compressed.  Do you guys have electronica that are not compressed?

Yes, I have a lot. Electro-pop from the 80's, trance from the early 90's (especially the Eye Q label)...
 
But a very good example would be Kraftwerk - The Man Machine (the master of 1985 that has always been available on CD, not the SACD remasterings from the 2000's).
 
But if we look at the graph, and compare it to overcompressed electronica, like Hocico...
 

 
Well, there doesn't seem to be much difference, save clipping...
 
The huge difference between the two is only visible if we zoom in :
 

 
 
The first two graphs show the complete tracks, while the second ones show just 5 seconds of them.
 
In both cases, the horizontal scale is the same for both files, while the vertical one is adjusted so that the peak level is similar.

 

[SilverEars]

I found a cool option on Audacity, it reveals clipping.  The part that is clipped is in red.  A track from DP RAM.  So you are getting distortion from the recording.  
 

 

[SilverEars]

Are compressed recordings generally flat sounding because of the compression?  I notice some DAPs just sound flat in general regardless of mastering so it doesn't matter how well the mastering is. I do have a DAP does sound more dynamic with better quality recordings. I'm curious if it's because the mastering that sounds dynamic is because it's not compressed.  Is the source provding transparency if the music sounds dynamic if not compressed?  My smartphone for example doesn't output dynamics as other sources I have.  

 

[bigshot]

Compression is flattening out of the dynamics.

 

[SilverEars]

  Compression is flattening out of the dynamics.

So the result should be lack of dynamics to the sound?  I believe this maybe what contributes to the "sound stage" people hear with headphones.  

 

[bigshot]

Soundstage is a very vague term in the way audiophiles use it. Over compressed music sounds loud and flat... little depth or contrast to the volume. Compression is a very useful tool if used properly, particularly for vocals. But if it's applied ham handedly, it makes everything dense sounding.

 

[castleofargh]

I think dynamic is also a term people use often wrongly when talking about what they hear. most of the time something that sounds "dynamic" to people is just louder, or not flat with a good boost in  in a few key points on the EQ so when something is hitting it's hitting hard. when I read reviews I feel like I'm mostly reading about that and not about real dynamic. 
 
I personally almost never get by listening that a track lacks dynamic. in fact I just tend to feel frustrated and bothered by the track(even more when I happen to like the sond), think that the recording was badly done in a general way. and only later realize it had 10db of DR when looking into it.
fun fact, I don't like too much dynamic either ^_^. at least voices recorded as they are sound unpleasant to me. but for most instruments I'm ok with big dynamic range. so I guess it's really a job to mix an album and extremes are never good.