Loud, proud, and compressed...

[Elton Bear]

Or spacious and warm?

I've been listening to modern pop/rock/metal radio-ready stuff and comparing it to older stuff ie. the Beatles and some nice Dub, and I think the old stuff sounds so much nicer, without all the polished mastering...

What do people think?

 

[Massive Master]

I don't think it's the "polished mastering" as much as the "crushed-to-death dynamics" that's the big difference.

Although there is certainly "overly-polished" production going on... But again, nothing to do with the mastering process.

 

[masteringhouse]

Or spacious and warm?

I've been listening to modern pop/rock/metal radio-ready stuff and comparing it to older stuff ie. the Beatles and some nice Dub, and I think the old stuff sounds so much nicer, without all the polished mastering...

What do people think?

I think that both of them were mastered, just in different ways. I also prefer a warmer dynamic sound, but when the client wants otherwise you can suggest, but it's their final vision of what's best for their album.

Have you heard the Beatles Love CD? That sounds pretty good to me as far as a modern master of old material.

 

[Elton Bear]

Yeah that album is awesome! And there are obviously modern examples of the same sound, KT Tunstall being an immediate example...

 

[RezN8]

I think it all boils down to harsh transients. Digital audio still has a hard time with that and I think if it starts as digital and ends as digital, you really have to know how to control those "harsh" transients without losing detail.

 

[flatfinger]

It's just a matter of how much effort went into the project. Digital has improved ten fold since it first hit the scene. There are examples of songs that (when it fits the genre ) are high RMS and crest and still are'nt strident.
I don't think you can pin it solely on M.E. 's as a truly loud( and half listenable) production has to have had that vision applied right from the start.

Perhaps some Ideas like metadata (Katz) will be implemented and we can all get back to using our volume knobs. Perhaps not?

 

[Elton Bear]

On subject of the digital/analogue debate, I'm sure we must be nearing a time when the standard sample rate has to be improved to allow more fluid digital recordings, as analogue formats are slowly being made redundant - Vinyl, Cassettes, VHS etc.

But even so I don't really think that's the sound difference I'm hearing, I'm sure it must be something to do with compression and the consumer desire to get louder and louder master CDs...

 

[snow lizard]

On subject of the digital/analogue debate, I'm sure we must be nearing a time when the standard sample rate has to be improved to allow more fluid digital recordings, as analogue formats are slowly being made redundant - Vinyl, Cassettes, VHS etc.

Any such change will have to depend on the marketability of a new format. I was hopeful that DVD Audio or SACD might start to become more popular when they were announced a few years ago, but neither has taken hold. On the other hand, mp3's have become very popular which doesn't really do anything for fidelity.

I don't think an increase in sample rate alone is that big a deal. Bit depth helps.

But even so I don't really think that's the sound difference I'm hearing, I'm sure it must be something to do with compression and the consumer desire to get louder and louder master CDs...

This is really what the loudness wars are all about.

I'd like to suggest that the consumer desire to get louder and louder CDs doesn't rest in the hands of the consumer, but with the kind folks in the marketing department of the majors. Compression is nothing new, and it's part of the sound of a lot of rock & pop music. This doesn't make it necessary to flat line all of the dynamics to get CDs with higher RMS volume levels though, which is exactly what's been happening with popular music for too long now.

I'd love to see CDs come out with a notice on them, much like what was on the first genereration of old tapes remastered to CD in the '80's.

"Recent technological advances in marketing strategy have prohibited the mooks from interfering with the mastering process. This CD was engineered for good audio fidelity. Feel free to crank it up!"

or something like that.


sl