whats the point of haveing a decent hi-fi if cds are overly compressed?

[admin_exported]

Ive been learning about the loudness war and the amount of compression used in more recent recordings and how its killing sound quality in the name of making an artists cd sound louder than everyone else.

we buy a lot of cds in our house and it doesn't take long to hear what cds are OTT with loudness and compression and witch ones arnt, and it makes me wonder, if most producers/ artists are doing this to there cds because there afraid it wont sell then whats the point of investing decent money on a hi-fi if all the dynamic range has been flattened and all the background sounds have been forced to sound as loud as the foreground ones? it kinda takes the micky.

 

[Paul.]

This loudness practice doesn't happen outside of chart/radio land does it?

 

[Clare Newsome]

I know what you mean, but there are still artists making better-produced music.

I'm not going to EVER let my choice of hi-fi dictate what music I do/don't listen to, but I must admit I tend to leave the over-compressed recordings for my iPod/in the car/as background streaming at home, whereas the classier recordings get more serious-listening attention.

 

[The_Lhc]

Paul Hobbs:This loudness practice doesn't happen outside of chart/radio land does it?

Depends how you define it, rock doesn't chart much these days but it's pretty prevalent there (Metallica and RHCP are some of the worst or most famous culprits).

 

[Anonymous]

Dear Clare,

Generally it's not the Artists that compress their music. It's a dictate from on high in the record label down to their sound engineers working in their studios. I imagine most Artists are as disappointed at the results as we are as consumers.

 

[theadmans]

Not just chart CDs that are compressed in my experience.

The answer is simple - don't buy new CDs.

I spend time scouring eBay for old 1980s released CDs. In general these sound far superior to new remastered discs.

Obviously not the answer if you listen to new music. However, IMHO music was so much better in the 50s/60s/70s and 80s that this is not actually a problem.

Also I would suggest researching discs on the excellent Steve Hoffman forum - where you will learn which versions of CDs sound best.

 

[Anonymous]

theadmans:
However, IMHO music was so much better in the 50s/60s/70s and 80s

And the beer was cheaper, no-one ever got sick and kids used to play on the motorway unimpeded
;P

I did nearly fall over when I bought a Fleetwood Mack Tusk CD (originally from '79 IIRC).
There was an honest yet Naive apology on the label about "possible floors in the original analogue recording and tape storage that when converted to CD might reveal untold sonic problems".

The sound was mind bogglingly good - by anyone's standards!

 

[fatboyslimfast]

ashworth_rich:Fleetwood Mack Tusk CD (originally from '79 IIRC)

Well the LP might have been...

 

[Anonymous]

the_lhc:Paul Hobbs:This loudness practice doesn't happen outside of chart/radio land does it?

Depends how you define it, rock doesn't chart much these days but it's pretty prevalent there (Metallica and RHCP are some of the worst or most famous culprits).

interesting you should mention metalica, fans who heard one of the tracks on gitar hero complained it sounded better than the cd version!. and yep you guessed it the cd was compressed.

music now isnt necessarily any better or worse than music from the 60`s70`s80`s it just what you happen to be hearing. but i really think something needs to be done about the loudness arms race. I know there's the turn it up campaign but its realy hard to sell the idea to the bosses or the public as its very easy to sound like a bearded real ale drinking lecturer on this subject. It would great if some of the biggest artists spoke up about it, but me thinks there ether unaware or wouldn't be willing,

 

[Anonymous]

It's not just the volume that's a problem. I'm regularly disappointed with the recording quality of some of the biggest selling artists. Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay come to mind.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes , good point. I have quite a few old jazz recordings which sound much better than some of todays CDs.

Is it possible to get top quality recordings on CD of todays artists?

I would certainly pay extra if it really was that much better ie. not so compressed.

Dont understand the Sound thing as surely all you have to do is turn up the volume or have I misunderstood the point?

 

[Frank Harvey]

bj99:It's not just the volume that's a problem. I'm regularly disappointed with the recording quality of some of the biggest selling artists. Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay come to mind.
Sound engineers are well known for using bog standard cables....

 

[The_Lhc]

heros rule:
the_lhc:Paul Hobbs:This loudness practice doesn't happen outside of chart/radio land does it?

Depends how you define it, rock doesn't chart much these days but it's pretty prevalent there (Metallica and RHCP are some of the worst or most famous culprits).

interesting you should mention metalica, fans who heard one of the tracks on gitar hero complained it sounded better than the cd version!.

That's why I mentioned it, the entire Death Magnetic album was available on Guitar Hero.

and yep you guessed it the cd was compressed.

Didn't need to guess, it's quite well known...

 

[duaplex]

Sorry guys this is probably going to sound like such a novice question.

Im building a pretty good sound system at the moment at home... are we saying that CD like fleetwood is the way to go over itunes downloads which i have plenty of? Apples compression always sounds good to me. But if there is an alternative then im all up for that!

thanks

 

[Anonymous]

duaplex:
Sorry guys this is probably going to sound like such a novice question.

Im building a pretty good sound system at the moment at home... are we saying that CD like fleetwood is the way to go over itunes downloads which i have plenty of? Apples compression always sounds good to me. But if there is an alternative then im all up for that!

thanks

Try it and see!

Apple's latest 256k AAC downloads also sound OK to me, but most music I care about is bought on original CD and ripped to lossless files (since storage is now so cheap).

This has the double benefit of being cheaper since most itunes albums are £7/£8 and CDs tend to be the same or much cheaper if not currently in the charts.

Whether you'd notice on your system I can't say. If its for the car, on the tube or background music its not such a big deal. All my car tunes tend to get re-ripped at 128k for my iphone by Itunes automatically. I'd say the weak link is my car stereo not the compression.

For the latest chart CDs its a gamble, some may be as compressed as itunes. My advice is buy what's cheapest unless you love the album and know for a fact the CD was reference quality. you can learn this from the album reviews in the HiFi press.

Another fantastic recording is Steve McQueen by Prefab Sprout which was produced by Thomas Dolby. You can get a remastered "legacy" copy too.

I'm not bashing chart music either, some "electronic" music can sound superb - compressed or otherwise! I'm thinking of Nero's track "Me and You" or "like a G6" I have both from itunes and they sound great, no doubt horribly produced but hey - who knows what an 808 is supposed to sound like??