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Is the 'loudness war' coming to an end?


Skol303
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Interesting article in this month's Sound On Sound magazine about 'loudness normalisation' in broadcast media (radio, TV, online), which seems set to make the loudness war a thing of the past.

Snippet here:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb14/articles/leader-0214.htm

So the days of heavy limiting on the master bus may soon be over? Thank goodness for that :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Absolutely. I often thought it was such a waste that when digital/CD technology finally arrived and allowed higher dynamic range and quiet passages without background hiss and scratches, that producers cranked up the compression and destroyed all that dynamic range! Not always of course, but certainly a prevalent trend. Fashions change I guess.

Edited by flyfisher
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I rather hope that this will lead to somebody re-mastering Joanne Shaw Taylor's last studio album - and no doubt many others, but that's one example that sticks in my mind. It really grates when you have an album of great songs that is hard to appreciate because the guy right at the end of the chain decided to take the "EVERYTHING LOUDER THAN EVERYTHING ELSE" approach on a blues-rock album.

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[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1391990542' post='2363438']
Someone had better tell Rick Rubin.
[/quote]

I hope someone does. Stadium Arcadium is one of my favorite albums in recent(erm actually maybe not, it's 8 years old now... scary) years, but the CD/MP3 mastering is awful, just plain awful. There are some really beautiful dynamics on there and it's all lost under a metric tonne of compression.

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The fact that broadcast compression for TV and radio makes over-compressed CDs sound weedy has been known for many years. It's well documented in the book "Perfecting Sound Forever".

I'll believe that the loudness wars are over when I start hearing lots of mainstream CDs with plenty of dynamic range in them on a consistent basis. Even if all it does is to bring back mastering for the appropriate medium where the promo copies have less compression on them than the retail versions it will be a start.

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[quote name='SlapbassSteve' timestamp='1392052909' post='2364109']
I hope someone does. Stadium Arcadium is one of my favorite albums in recent(erm actually maybe not, it's 8 years old now... scary) years, but the CD/MP3 mastering is awful, just plain awful. There are some really beautiful dynamics on there and it's all lost under a metric tonne of compression.
[/quote]

I'm With You and the Foo Fighters' Wasting Light, whilst being great albums in my opinion, were a perfect guide on what not to do with a compressor. He sucked the living soul from both albums.

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  • 2 weeks later...

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1392069609' post='2364422']
The fact that broadcast compression for TV and radio makes over-compressed CDs sound weedy has been known for many years. It's well documented in the book "Perfecting Sound Forever".

I'll believe that the loudness wars are over when I start hearing lots of mainstream CDs with plenty of dynamic range in them on a consistent basis. Even if all it does is to bring back mastering for the appropriate medium where the promo copies have less compression on them than the retail versions it will be a start.
[/quote]

+1
Who is the author / publisher of the book referenced ?
I recommend a read of "Mastering Audio" author: Bob Katz ; Publisher : Focal Press : ISBN978-0-240-80837-6

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[quote name='bremen' timestamp='1392825430' post='2373164']
William Orbit:

[url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nhmnf"]http://www.bbc.co.uk...rammes/b00nhmnf[/url]

he deplores the loudness war, but the Madonna records he's been involved with have been some of the loudest CDs I've ever heard.
[/quote]

Yeah - but it doesn't mean he necessarily had the final say in the Mastering which is where the 'Loudness War' takes place.
The Master Tapes ( Tapes ? - Okay 24 / 96 Masters:-) can be as full of dynamics together with creative compression as required yet still be deadened at the mastering stage by the OTT demands of a label exec :-(

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Yeah - let's get back to dynamics in music.
If you have a CD player with an Output level bargraph ( or use the graph type displays on PC Media Players etc ) then look at a typical CD release from, say, early 90s - the meter levels probaly actually go up and down significantly (If I'm wrong then try another CD - from Memory I'd suggest Echo and the Bunnymen : Crocodiles from 198?).
Fast forward to 2000+ and they'l probably just wiggle about in the top 6dB.
Makes stuff tiring to listen to and unexciting.
Give us back our Dynamics !!!

Edited by rmorris
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[quote name='rmorris' timestamp='1392840149' post='2373424'] +1 Who is the author / publisher of the book referenced ? I recommend a read of "Mastering Audio" author: Bob Katz ; Publisher : Focal Press : ISBN978-0-240-80837-6 [/quote]

+1 Awesome book, the bible for mastering....

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[quote name='rmorris' timestamp='1392840615' post='2373436'] Yeah - let's get back to dynamics in music. If you have a CD player with an Output level bargraph ( or use the graph type displays on PC Media Players etc ) then look at a typical CD release from, say, early 90s - the meter levels probaly actually go up and down significantly (If I'm wrong then try another CD - from Memory I'd suggest Echo and the Bunnymen : Crocodiles from 198?). Fast forward to 2000+ and they'l probably just wiggle about in the top 6dB. Makes stuff tiring to listen to and unexciting. Give us back our Dynamics !!! [/quote]

6dB is pretty good, they can get stuff down to less than 3dB of total dynamic range nowadays :(

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[quote name='rmorris' timestamp='1392840149' post='2373424']
+1
Who is the author / publisher of the book referenced ?
[/quote]

[url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Perfecting-Sound-Forever-Story-Recorded/dp/1847081401/]Perfecting Sound Forever by Greg Milner[/url].

It's more a history of sound recording technology then a "how to" book, but nevertheless fascinating reading once you get past his over-fondness for analog systems.

BTW sorry for the cryptic post at the weekend. The perils of trying to use a new "smart" phone. I shan't be doing that again in a hurry.

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  • 1 month later...

Well it doesn't look like Rubin is stopping any time soon. Just look at how he ruined 13, *and everyone still praised him for it.

Edited by Spaced
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