The production of Compact Discs

[Charliemike]

Has anyone read about how CDs are being produced to be louder now?

Apparently CDs from 15 years ago are much quieter than now. Basically meaning that our parents are right. New music does sound like crap. Literally

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

So the question is do I need to find used CDs to replace titles I've lost or do they just repress and not remaster?

I wonder if all these remastered classics are being done the same way.

 

[theWB]

Never mind that today's factory-produced starlets and mini-clones just don't have the practiced chops of the supergroups of yesteryear, pop in a new CD and you might notice that the quality of the music itself—maybe something as simple as a snare drum hit—just doesn't sound as crisp and as clear as you're used to. Why is that?

It's part of the music industry's quest to make music louder and louder, and it's been going on for decades, at least since the birth of the compact disc. Click the link for a nice little video, a mere 2 minutes long, which explains it in detail, with audio cues that you'll be able to hear in crisp detail.

The key to the problem is that, in making the soft parts of a track louder (in the process making the entire track loud), you lose detail in the song: The difference between what's supposed to be loud and what's supposed to be soft becomes less and less. The result is that, sure, the soft parts of a song are nice and loud, but big noises like drum beats become muffled and fuzzy. But consumers often subconsciously equate loudness with quality, and thus, record producers pump up the volume. Anything to make a buck.

The bigger problem is that this is all unnecessary. Stereo equipment is more powerful today than ever, and last time I checked, every piece of music hardware had a volume knob.

Don't take my word for it: Pop in the first CD you bought and play it at the same volume level as the most recent one you bought. You might be shocked by what you hear.

Anyone still wondering why the music business is suffering?


http://funl.blogspot.com/2007/06/loudness-war.html

 

[Charliemike]

Never mind that today's factory-produced starlets and mini-clones just don't have the practiced chops of the supergroups of yesteryear, pop in a new CD and you might notice that the quality of the music itself—maybe something as simple as a snare drum hit—just doesn't sound as crisp and as clear as you're used to. Why is that?

It's part of the music industry's quest to make music louder and louder, and it's been going on for decades, at least since the birth of the compact disc. Click the link for a nice little video, a mere 2 minutes long, which explains it in detail, with audio cues that you'll be able to hear in crisp detail.

The key to the problem is that, in making the soft parts of a track louder (in the process making the entire track loud), you lose detail in the song: The difference between what's supposed to be loud and what's supposed to be soft becomes less and less. The result is that, sure, the soft parts of a song are nice and loud, but big noises like drum beats become muffled and fuzzy. But consumers often subconsciously equate loudness with quality, and thus, record producers pump up the volume. Anything to make a buck.

The bigger problem is that this is all unnecessary. Stereo equipment is more powerful today than ever, and last time I checked, every piece of music hardware had a volume knob.

Don't take my word for it: Pop in the first CD you bought and play it at the same volume level as the most recent one you bought. You might be shocked by what you hear.

Anyone still wondering why the music business is suffering?


http://funl.blogspot.com/2007/06/loudness-war.html

That's the article that got me thinkin' and then I couldn't find it again

 

[jk319]

Anyone still wondering why the music business is suffering?

Interesting... I wasn't aware of the industry's difficulties, and I wouldn't have attibuted that with the compression that you guys are talking about, of which I happen to absolutely despise. But now that you mention it, I will definitely ponder this for some time...

Dynamics (someone else said this first, but I agree) are the heart and soul of music, imo.

I remember having a hired pro to record a performance I gave some years ago. He compressed it (and he said he often did with many performances when asked) because it did sound better overall in smoothness (vs jaggedness), but basically due to my own imperfections in performance. However, I was still aghast with horror. It sounded like I had no soul whatsoever! I heard the uncompressed version, and the emotion taken from articulated phrases was so much more evident, but just happened to be waaay too rough around the edges.

However, for the big time artists out there, there shouldn't be any excuse. Actually, Im sure they have little or no say in the mattter (probably none), and its all up to the producers. I'd say severe dynamic compression is not unlike having a dramatic play performed by robots!

 

[Beat_Dominator]

I've known this before I was into "audiophile stuff". My 1985 copy of Brothers in Arms sounds way better than the more recent remasters. So different that I tracked down another 1985 copy on eBay for $12!