[mightyacorn]

How CDs are remastering the art of noise

Quote:

Albums are getting louder and the sound quality is suffering. Audiophiles and engineers despair of the trend, but who is driving it?

The subject is nothing new here, but I'm glad to see it mentioned in the press.

 

[Mrvile]

Anyone here have an idea of the outlook of the loudness wars? Will it begin to drop and return to better mastering or will it just get worse?

 

[Hoppergrass]

my guess is that it will continue to get worse, at least for a while. the general masses are ignorant even to the idea that most purchased downloads aren't at CD quality. to most people, i would think, "louder" does sound better.

 

[Mrvile]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoppergrass /img/forum/go_quote.gif my guess is that it will continue to get worse, at least for a while. the general masses are ignorant even to the idea that most purchased downloads aren't at CD quality. to most people, i would think, "louder" does sound better.

Well if it is perceived that way by the general public and they just don't know how to operate a volume knob, when we are indeed doomed

 

[Aman]

The strategy that should be undertaken by those in the industry who've had enough of this is to present the MEDICAL risks for selling such pile of crap recordings. Strongly compressed audio will present a "full out assault" on the eardrums, making them much more prone to long-term hearing damage. My generation will all be deaf by the time they turn 35.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Hey, I thought this thread was going to be about the Art of Noise. You know, the band.

Anyhow, this is a good article and I agree with it. Not mentioned on the list is the new, unlistenable, Flaming Lips album, "At War With the Mystics." It's not unlistenable because of the music, but because of the compression. The music is good, but it hurts to listen to it.

To all the Head-Fi'ers still in high school: this is a perfect time to choose a career in audiology or as an ENT doc. If you do this, you will be wealthy and able to afford all the gear you want.

 

[virometal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoppergrass /img/forum/go_quote.gif my guess is that it will continue to get worse, at least for a while.

Can it get worse? Geesh, I hope not. I don't know how they can make it worse.

I guess when Trevor Horn productions (Art of Noise reference

) sound like The Go! Team, then all is lost.

 

[Redo]

The more media attention the better, this is a good start. 15 years later and it's gotten so bad that even the most casual listener can hear a massive difference between older releases and newer ones.

 

[SickMouthy]

I "consulted" on that article, haha.

 

[MayorSimpleton]

I think it's a bit of a moot point really - with regard to CD's at least, which won't be with us for much longer.

Still annoys the hell out of me though, I am one of those nutters who scours the charity shops for original unremastered versions of the music I love.

Pluck

 

[virometal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sgt-Pluck /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think it's a bit of a moot point really - with regard to CD's at least, which won't be with us for much longer.

But wouldn't that mastering translate to whatever medium the mix is originally ntended for?

Hot is hot, no matter where you spread it.

 

[MayorSimpleton]

Quote:

But wouldn't that mastering translate to whatever medium the mix is originally ntended for? Hot is hot, no matter where you spread it.

True - but if mastering is increasingly aimed toward a medium distributed over networks rather than CD ( iTunes, MP3 etc ) then the sound quality war is lost anyway.

Pluck

 

[gsansite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sgt-Pluck /img/forum/go_quote.gif True - but if mastering is increasingly aimed toward a medium distributed over networks rather than CD ( iTunes, MP3 etc ) then the sound quality war is lost anyway. Pluck

How?

 

[virometal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sgt-Pluck /img/forum/go_quote.gif True - but if mastering is increasingly aimed toward a medium distributed over networks rather than CD ( iTunes, MP3 etc ) then the sound quality war is lost anyway.

Maybe for now. But like all things, storage will become larger and cheaper. Bandwith will become faster. I don't see a reason to think that the sound quality war will be lost because people will acquire new music over wire and not disc.

Now whether average people really care, well I'm inclined to be depressed for that outcome.

 

[MayorSimpleton]

Quote:

how?

Take the example of record companies. If they decide to ditch CD as a format, and exclusively distribute their product electronically over the web, they are going to 'master' their products accordingly, which probably means iTunes, and therefore bitrates of what?, 128? They may offer (at extra cost) higher bitrates to people who want them, but they will still be compressed and will still (crucially) have been mastered for the iPod.

And thats just the record companies, who at least have the expertise to record sound beautifully, if not the inclination.

Sounds a bit pessimistic, but I really believe that in the medium term, things are going to get a whole lot worse before they (maybe) get better for us audiophiles.