Hey guys,
I'm using audacity right now, and in actuality, some of the waveforms do not actually correlate with sound quality. One notable offender in sound quality, Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand, (and it sounds like utter crap on my headphones), measures well on Audacity. In some cases, it does sound like crap according to graph (Opeth and noodles, sadly, for example.) And it does sound good, according to graph (The Orchard by Rose Melberg.) But, one of my best quality CDs (revealing the best of my system in sound stage, nuance, and placement of instruments) is Architecture in Helsinki, which has waveforms that sometimes don't look too good. I'm pretty sure there isn't any compression either, because the instruments and sounds almost exactly as they should (rather amazing sounding really) and if I look for changes in my system in quality, I'll use that CD. Subatomicglue, also sounds really good (techno music) but measures really badly (perhaps that's just because it's techno though...). Some of the older Judas Priest stuff also sounds just horrible or is decent, but lacking a little in dynamics, but looks good on Audacity.
What I'm trying to say is, sometimes it doesn't exactly translate into a bad CD. Other things like poor recording technique, heavy compression, and thrashing of dynamics sometimes take place and don't translate into the waveform on screen and you don't notice until it reaches your ear. For some things though, I do agree, the crappiest can be seen in full glory by looking through Audacity. Some others though can slip by, so I suggest playing the song before actually deciding if it does indeed sound like crap. I would post pictures, but it's way too cold in my computer room and my hands are freezing...so good day for now!
~Tom
