So ... No Dynamic Range Then?

[ColdWolfSong]

So I'd heard a lot about the "Loudness Wars" but I assumed that it was only mainstream pop music that was affected and that I was safe. Well, while reading more about the loudness wars, I listened to a track that had "good" dynamic range ..... so that's what it sounds like. I knew what dynamic range was, I had just never really had it demonstrated. I went and listened to a lot of my music (Yes, in FLAC) and realized something: A fair bit of songs had no dynamic range. They sounded dead suddenly. So that's it ... I literally can't listen to those anymore, unless I get them in vinyl, which supposedly has better dynamic range. I don't think I can do that. It took me a long time to replace all of my Mp3's after I read about lossless audio. Do I just have to accept the fact that a lot of my music has no dynamic range to it?

 

[Music Alchemist]

Yes, some music just doesn't have much dynamic range, unfortunately.
 
Vinyl does *not* have more dynamic range than digital. (But the vinyl version of certain albums may have a better master.)
 
http://wiki.hydrogenaud.io/index.php?title=Myths_(Vinyl)#Myth:_Vinyl_has_greater_resolution_than_CD_because_its_dynamic_range_is_higher_than_for_CD_at_the_most_audible_frequencies
 
You can check out the dynamic range of many albums here:
 
http://dr.loudness-war.info

 

[ColdWolfSong]

  Yes, some music just doesn't have much dynamic range, unfortunately.
 
Vinyl does *not* have more dynamic range than digital. (But the vinyl version of certain albums may have a better master.)
 
http://wiki.hydrogenaud.io/index.php?title=Myths_(Vinyl)#Myth:_Vinyl_has_greater_resolution_than_CD_because_its_dynamic_range_is_higher_than_for_CD_at_the_most_audible_frequencies
 
You can check out the dynamic range of many albums here:
 
http://dr.loudness-war.info

Well, I didn't mean that it has more. I know that CD's have a higher DR potential. I meant that, in general vinyl preserves dynamic range while CD's might compress it

 

[omasciarotte]

I know that CD's have a higher DR potential. I meant that, in general vinyl preserves dynamic range while CD's might compress it

Hey ColdWolfSong,
Though both formats, CD and vinyl, are capable of subjectively excellent dynamic range, CDs as a format can store twice the dynamic range of vinyl. That said, a poorly engineered or mastered track will use only a small fraction of the total available dynamic range.

The DR you mention is officially called “DRi” or integrated DR. That is, it’s “integrated” or measured over the entire track or album. For more than you’d ever care to know about DRi and dynamic range in general, head over to MAAT’s Support page, where you find PDF versions of the DRMeter MkII and DROffline MkII user manuals.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Well, I didn't mean that it has more. I know that CD's have a higher DR potential. I meant that, in general vinyl preserves dynamic range while CD's might compress it

It's not really the CD format itself that compresses it but the record company compressing the CD copy thinking that's what CD buyers like, not to mention the same copies will be used for radio.

It got so bad that even Apple put their foot down and wouldn't offer extremely flattened music on iTunes. If even the company that thought that cramming 10,000 sounds into a single HDD (though with a CEO who laughs at how much he got to spend on vinyl thanks to people who bought iPods) thinks the state of the recordings are bad then it's really bad.