FIXING Commercial CD Audio

  • Thread starter Thread starter johnnymegabyte
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johnnymegabyte

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I have lots of CD's from albums originally recorded from 60's to 80's
The main problem is I have to turn the volume way up in my car ... AND there is no punch. Somewhat Total BS when they said CD's sounded perfect.
Newer CD seem to have more punch/bottom end and sometimes I have to turn down the bass.

QUESTION Is there a method and/or techinque to FIX, or at least PUMP UP the volume, apply some PUNCH or Bottom End, then re-Save and re-burn to CD.

Any Ideas ?
 
What CDs are you talking about? There were a lot of great recordings in that time but also some bad ones...

Unless you think you'd do a better job at remastering those tracks I'd just normalize it. If it's already pretty much normalized then something is wrong with your stereo or your ears.

You could also mess with an EQ either with the file itself or on your stereo if it has it (bass boost, etc). I wouldn't do that though.

There are a million free wave editors out there that are capable of doing this.
 
you should be complaining more that newer CDs are making you turn down the volume in your car

Nameless said:
Unless you think you'd do a better job at remastering those tracks I'd just normalize it. If it's already pretty much normalized then something is wrong with your stereo or your ears.
Click to expand...

I doubt normalizing will do much. And even if it IS normalized, that's not to say there is something wrong with the stereo or ears, it just means the overall volume is quieter than he's used to. Perfectly normal with recordings back then. But normalization only pays attention to peaks, and peaks are not what our ears perceive as "loud"
 
Nameless said:
What CDs are you talking about?
Click to expand...
Aerosmith - Live Bootleg was what I am curently listening too, also Most Cheap Trick titles -- upto around 1990 seem to have this problem, A few more artist ....

Coincidence ??? all are SONY --- CBS / Columbia / Epic
 
johnnymegabyte said:
also Most...titles -- upto around 1990 seem to have this problem
Click to expand...
Sounds like mqaybe you're listening to CDs mastered in the pre-RMS war days and comparing them to the post-1990 casualties of the RMS wars.

If so, you're hearing what are called "dynamics". That's a good thing. Your ears have probably been corupted by the flat pancakes of the 90s and 00s into thinking that's a bad thing.

G.
 
I record albums occasionally using 44.1/16. I keep the level while recording around -6db. After I have it digitally recorded,I then add 6db of gain back in and it raises the level to the commercial cd's and keeps the dynamics pretty well. It's not the greatest but it works for what use them for.
 
The old CDs are exactly what they should be. That's what everything sounded like back then. That's what mixes still should sound like before mastering.

The new CDs are squished to death. You've gotten used to hearing over-compressed stuff. It's sad really.
 
johnnymegabyte said:
...Is there a method and/or techinque to FIX, or at least PUMP UP the volume, apply some PUNCH or Bottom End, then re-Save and re-burn to CD.

Any Ideas ?
Click to expand...

Run it through a compressor with the ratio set up close to infinity to 1 with fast attack. Also crank up the output gain so your level almost hits 0dB. Then burn it back to a CD.

You'll have exactly what you want to hear...BIG, FAT, and LOUD! (...and a little grunge thrown in too, for good luck.) :D
 
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