dynamic range compression

[Mr beck]

Hi there everyone,

I just wanted to try and understand dynamic range compression, well at least I think thats my issue. Bassically since updating my sytem to a more expensive one ive been noticing great differences in sound quality with my cd collection, some cd's sound amazing with everything sounding right to my ears, others on the other hand sound bright and harsh, unlistenable (putting it in simple terms) Ive read copious articals reguaring this topic and cant realy understand why record companys would scrimp on recording music in bad quality. So any input on this topic will be greatly recieved by me.

In the future is there any way of looking out for badly recored cd's like a data base of sort? or do i have to just hit and miss?

Many thanks

David

 

[MajorFubar]

They don't really scrimp on recording quality, but they do produce masters that intentionally sound best on the cheap-n-cheerful earbuds and iPod docks their average customer likely possesses. To a certain extent it's always been the case across the eras, varied only by what was perceived to be the popular equipment of the day . For example most pop music in the 60s was mixed and mastered to sound good on AM radios and mono Dansette record players, which is what the average teen owned. To hear what records were really capable of you had to buy jazz, classical or MoR elevator music by James Last and Bert Kaempfert, because the average buyer of those genres was judged to be two decades older and have invested in a proper HiFi. They were even in stereo.

But I'm with you all the way really. Most mainstream pop is unlistenable cack, and I don't mean the artists. Think I preferred it when it was mastered for AM radio and Dansettes.

 

[Native_bon]

This is the very reason some do not go for a neutral sounding system, cause will be almost impossible to listen to some recordings. Once you become a true audiophile you begin to look for good recordings to play on your system, as suppose to any music sounding good on your system. I think this is a problem in the audiophile & cinephile world. Compressed music & video.

We buy expensive systems with very low percentage of good quality material to play on them. I would say 90% of tv programmes are compressed, even worse with radio broadcast. It begs the question, what are we looking for in hardware when the material to play on them is substandard.

 

[Mr beck]

Hi there guys, thanks for your help

I totally agree with you both, Im pretty sure that i understand why some music is recoreded in bad quality, But im still missing the point when it comes to the dr of music and its effect in different sound quality, is there something i can do to filter out the bad cd's from good ones?

many thanks

david

 

[Native_bon]

Hi there guys, thanks for your help

I totally agree with you both, Im pretty sure that i understand why some music is recoreded in bad quality, But im still missing the point when it comes to the dr of music and its effect in different sound quality, is there something i can do to filter out the bad cd's from good ones?

many thanks

david

http://dr.loudness-war.info/

 

[Native_bon]

Hi there guys, thanks for your help

I totally agree with you both, Im pretty sure that i understand why some music is recoreded in bad quality, But im still missing the point when it comes to the dr of music and its effect in different sound quality, is there something i can do to filter out the bad cd's from good ones?

many thanks

david

http://dr.loudness-war.info/

Link above

 

[MajorFubar]

Im pretty sure that i understand why some music is recoreded in bad quality, But im still missing the point when it comes to the dr of music and its effect in different sound quality,

It's mainly because everything that a really good hifi needs to do well in order to reproduce great master recordings at their best quality often has the unfortunate side effect of making horrible compressed masters sound worse than if you'd played them on a £19 iPod dock.

 

[Mr beck]

Hi there guys,

thanks for all your help, im understanding more now. great website for the dr scale.

many thanks

 

[Frank Harvey]

Hi there guys,

thanks for all your help, im understanding more now. great website for the dr scale.

many thanks

As I've just mentioned in another thread, whilst that website weeds out the good from the bad with regards to dynamic range, it doesn't tell you which albums will sound good and which ones will sound bad. Dynamic range - although being one of the aspects that will effect sound quality - doesn't in itself govern what will sound good or bad.

 

[Frank Harvey]

This is the very reason some do not go for a neutral sounding system, cause will be almost impossible to listen to some recordings. Once you become a true audiophile you begin to look for good recordings to play on your system, as suppose to any music sounding good on your system. I think this is a problem in the audiophile & cinephile world. Compressed music & video.

There must be two types of audiophile then. Firstly, the type you've just mentioned. I consider myself an audiophile (whether that's a good or bad phrase is neither here nor there), and I only buy music I like. Whilst it is nice for an album I buy to be well recorded and sound fantastic, it doesn't matter if the quality isn't up to scratch, because I'm buying it because I like the music. Sometimes, I like some even albums more because there is intentionally added distortions, or because they're not perfect.

I find that with a good system, nothing actually sounds that bad - nothing is unlistenable. A better system will narrow the gap between good and what we presume to be bad sounding albums. So whilst I might use some well recorded albums when assessing a product, I find what a system does with supposedly lesser recordings to be more revealing of how good a system actually is. A recent product change in my system has massively highlighted this.