safulop
100+ Head-Fier
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- Dec 10, 2008
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Not really sure I can see that in the graphs (or hear it), I'll have to check carefully. Another interesting possibility is that the original recording engineers or contemporary vinyl mastering engineers have done some manual gain riding (not sure about the correct word, either).
The waveforms plot the raw voltage excursion that is the measure of the sound vibration in the recording, after conversion to an electrical signal. The voltage is then plotted on a "normalized" scale where the maximum allowed peak excursions are from -1 to 1 volt. This will be the clipping point.
You can observe that in my vinyl recording on CD, I set the level nicely so it doesn't clip, and then the maximum excursion of the positive voltage winds up at 0.8699 according to the axis label. That's from the loud passages near the end.
Now, the CD version has been "level-matched" to the vinyl using software that equalized their *average* intensity. But in so doing, the maximum voltage excursion on the CD version is now only 0.6904. Why would a level-matched file be so much quieter than the vinyl? Because for the part of the music leading up to 280 s, it is actually louder, and then after 280 s it is quieter. So the average turns out equivalent. This is why I said initially that I had problems trying to post suitably level-matched files, because the musical dynamics is different in the two masters.
Now, the CD is labeled "ADD," which in the old days was supposed to mean it had been seriously messed with, possibly including digital remixing from the multitrack masters. The LP, on the other hand, is a recent "direct metal master" reissue that likely used the original two-track mixdown from 1962. But I'm just guessing, because it doesn't say anything about "remastering" the recording other than what is necessary to cut the record.