End of the Loudness War

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 7:43 am

Could this be the end of the loudness war? The beginning of the end?

Check out todays article in the NY Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/business/media/23petty.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=petty&st=nyt&oref=slogin[/url]

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:33 am

There was another article posted here a few months back very similar to this one, but believe me I'm NOT complaining!

The more education on this subject the better. Maybe eventually the general public will demand better (more dynamic) recordings.

I am getting tired of listening to CD's that hurt my ears regardless of how much I try to turn down the volume. I am constantly trying to tell my clients that you want the listener to have the urge to turn UP thier CD rather than turn it DOWN.

(full disclosure, yes, I have occasionally been guilty of abusing mastering tools at a clients request. Sorry)

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 7:03 pm

is it just me or does this come on the eve of the mudcrutch release by design?

No, it's not just me Wink

Yes, it is by design?

Who is TP's fan base? I bet your in it Smile

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 7:44 pm

It's about time. Most all good engineers produce recordings that are wonderful to listen to without further dynamics screwing. Although, a little fine "finishing"/mastering to obtain consistency throughout could/should still be performed in the guise of Quality Control. We're all tired of over blasted loudness for loudness sake. Great if you're a death metal mutant. Not great if you like listening to music..

Now, I'm not so terribly convinced that releasing a CD that is from a "for vinyl release" Master is the right thing to do? That was one of the biggest problems when CDs were first released as vinyl equalized/process masters were utilized. So some of those were already another generation down. That Master may already contain filtering that combines all low frequencies to Mono blow 250 hertz. That adds high frequency limiting to offset the high frequency preemphasis used in the cutting process. To me, this is idiotic foolery! If you want vinyl sound? Purchase a vinyl recording. I personally would like to hear what ever can be retrieved through our current technologies without having to listen to something that compensate for a vinyl cut.

So, no, I think this is just a marketing thing since, Tom Petty, has nothing musical to offer either.

Now go stuff that in your digital to analog converter and smoke it.
Ms. Remy Ann David

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 7:57 pm

This loudness war, could it have anything to do with the prevalence of earbuds and crap little mobile music devices?

The tech used to make music "loud" like that is the same tech used to make ads louder on TV. Luckily I don't watch.

Mastering for Vinyl is a great thing.
Sticking that master on a CD is F^(#ING redundant.

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:47 pm

I'll believe the title of this thread when I hear it!

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 11:01 pm

One tiny battle in the loudness war...

"El Two da" is still out there...

Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 3:14 pm

Didn't the loudness war end when Sleater-Kinney released The Woods?

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