The Mystery Behind Volume...

  • Thread starter Thread starter AlecBeretz
  • Start date Start date
"Just turn it up!" is a common rebuttal from the retarded anti-loudness crowd. The problem is, you also have to turn it back down when the shitty, sterile, uninspiring -30 rms unmastered song is finished playing and the next one comes on.
 
Greg_L said:
"Just turn it up!" is a common rebuttal from the retarded anti-loudness crowd. The problem is, you also have to turn it back down when the shitty, sterile, uninspiring -30 rms unmastered song is finished playing and the next one comes on.
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another burden .... whooeee that's a lotta work!
:D


Nah ...... I get it and don't really hate on the loudness guys like a lotta older fat/blues guys do.

And the volume thing is connected to the fact that if you listen to all your music on an ipod or whatever, you don't have a big ol' volume know sitting there you can grab and turn. Often you have to click thru a menu and find volume and then adjust it ...... by then you're halfway into the next tune.
 
Right. Loud or not loud is only a problem when you're listening to a playlist on shuffle or whatever. Back in the day when people sat and listened to entire albums, volume wasn't an issue. You jut set it where you want it and sat and listened while you stared at the cover art for an hour. Times have changed, and it's not like loudness is some new fad. It's been around for a good 15 years now. It's here, it's staying, it sells albums and singles, and most of the time it sounds fine.
 
Greg_L said:
Right. Loud or not loud is only a problem when you're listening to a playlist on shuffle or whatever. Back in the day when people sat and listened to entire albums, volume wasn't an issue. You jut set it where you want it and sat and listened while you stared at the cover art for an hour. Times have changed, and it's not like loudness is some new fad. It's been around for a good 15 years now. It's here, it's staying, it sells albums and singles, and most of the time it sounds fine.
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yep ...... I actually run into it occassionally when I use an MP3 player while I'm mowing the lawn or something.
The thing's in my pocket ....... I'm mowing ...... if a song's a little quieter I just don't hear it.
 
i do notice that to. Since i tunes converts it to mp3, by nature WMA or WAV will lose some of the sound quality. In the computer this is actually compressing the the size of the file by truncating bits of the file.
 
I haven't burdened myself yet with an earbud/iPod....so I don't have to deal with the difficulty of adjusting up/down for lower level tunes when set on auto-shuffle mode! :D

I find it amusing that the iPod bunch has Apple dictating to them what level is the right level to listen to tunes...and of course, they set the max-level for you, so you can't account for those older/lower level tunes. :rolleyes:
 
I myself cant stand to have anything in my ears. No iPod here either.
 
I've tried them...and just don't care for the sound of having music injected directly into your ear canal. I think it takes away from the quality and listening experience. IMHO...music just sound better when played out through speakers into a room where it interacts with the space and air before hitting your ears....but I can understand why joggers/etc like the earbud/iPod setup.

I don't jog. :D
 
miroslav said:
I've tried them...and just don't care for the sound of having music injected directly into your ear canal. I think it takes away from the quality and listening experience. IMHO...music just sound better when played out through speakers into a room where it interacts with the space and air before hitting your ears....but I can understand why joggers/etc like the earbud/iPod setup.

I don't jog. :D
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I don't like 'em either because I don't tend to like MP3's.

But man ...... if you're working in the yard or something it's pretty cool to be able to listen to yer tunes.

I don't have an Ipod cause I hate Apple but I have a couple of OLD Creative Zen players that I put my own music into ..... vinyl to CD to the puter to my player.

Since I'm a fan of good headphones ..... I don't have a problem using them for listening to a player.
And if you have the right ear thingies it can sound pretty damned good. I have some Etymonics that really sound good.

I can go work outside in silence or I can rock out to some Trapeze ..... or Tower of Power or ...... well, that's all I've loaded into the player so far!
:D
 
My MP3 player never leaves my pocket. I'm that guy that walks around with earbuds in. I don't wanna hear anyone else or interact with anyone else. I also use it as a composition/writing tool. I'll put an unfinished piece of music on there and casually listen to it and let my subconscious mind decide what it needs to get finished or what needs tweaking in the mix. I load it up with whatever I want and rock the fuck out in my own little world all day. I just put the first 3 Stooges albums in their entirety on there and I'm gonna listen to them in sequence while I get the car washed by the mexicans.
 
Greg_L said:
I just put the first 3 Stooges albums in their entirety on there and I'm gonna listen to them in sequence while I get the car washed by the mexicans.
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They are a lot faster up here....might only take 2-3 songs.
 
AlecBeretz said:
... i think the human ear is capable of recognizing a "quieter" part of a song even if it is compressed. "
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When you are exposed to loud for a period of time your ears turn down and will usually miss soft passages.
 
sry

Lt. Bob said:
And, if possible, without being a douche to someone who simply took their time to try and be helpful.

You did say "thanks for any and ALL info"
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you're right. sorry guys. i do appreciate the help.
 
miroslav said:
I've tried them...and just don't care for the sound of having music injected directly into your ear canal. I think it takes away from the quality and listening experience. IMHO...music just sound better when played out through speakers into a room where it interacts with the space and air before hitting your ears....but I can understand why joggers/etc like the earbud/iPod setup.

I don't jog. :D
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It's nothing new at all. Does anyone remember the earpiece that used to come with transistor radios and cassette recorders in the 60s and 70s ? I spent the 80s and 90s riding all round London on my bike with stereo headphones or earbuds. I don't really care what the music is played on, speakers or phones or buds. You actually get different perspectives of the music depending on which it is.
A funny thing though. Back in the 80s, I found that with buds going right into the ear canal {or resting on the earbone}, the music was louder and therefore I didn't wear out walkman batteries so quickly because I didn't have to turn it up so much.
 
Listening to itunes & trying to record quality audio are, largely, mutually exclusive.The point about the presets on your player are valid too.
Why is the quiet album quiet - because that was a decision made in the recording and mastering. Brahms isn't metal he's mental.
Look up Loudness Wars if you want to get into the argument.
I have an little digital player but it plays the usual MP3 but alsowav. files so wavs are all I load onto it. I don't use ear buds because I don't like the sound OR the isolation.
As for mowing & portable music - Lt Bob, I think my cassette walkman & lawnmowing are the combination that gave me tinitus - turning up the quiet bits ouch.
APPLE - I refuse to use an iPud simple because of the proprietry nature of Apple & it's devices. Why oh why do so many people enkoy being dictated to by a fashion accessory. There are many name & no name manufacturers who make better & cheaper devices that are easier to use & don't need an i in front of them.
 
rayc said:
APPLE - I refuse to use an iPud simple because of the proprietry nature of Apple & it's devices. Why oh why do so many people enkoy being dictated to by a fashion accessory. There are many name & no name manufacturers who make better & cheaper devices that are easier to use & don't need an i in front of them.
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^^^^^^ this ^^^^^^
 
rayc said:
Listening to itunes & trying to record quality audio are, largely, mutually exclusive.The point about the presets on your player are valid too.
Why is the quiet album quiet - because that was a decision made in the recording and mastering. Brahms isn't metal he's mental.
Look up Loudness Wars if you want to get into the argument.
I have an little digital player but it plays the usual MP3 but alsowav. files so wavs are all I load onto it. I don't use ear buds because I don't like the sound OR the isolation.
As for mowing & portable music - Lt Bob, I think my cassette walkman & lawnmowing are the combination that gave me tinitus - turning up the quiet bits ouch.
APPLE - I refuse to use an iPud simple because of the proprietry nature of Apple & it's devices. Why oh why do so many people enkoy being dictated to by a fashion accessory. There are many name & no name manufacturers who make better & cheaper devices that are easier to use & don't need an i in front of them.
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Ahh bullshit.

You all act like the iPod comes with manacles. The iPod is as open as any other player out there. The only DRM involved is if you're buying from the apple store, and even that is significantly different than it was years ago. Additionally, the tracks available from the iTunes store are all published at a high enough bitrate that most people (excepting the "gifted" folks who claim they can really hear a difference, which seems to be EVERYONE on a recording forum) would never be able to tell those tracks from a CD. Apple has the best customer support, and the best made devices, ignoring thing because of some principle is just silly.

Hell you don't even need to use iTunes anymore as there are about 50 other programs you can use to manage your music library as well as your iPod. Stop spreading false information. I realize it's "hip" to hate on Apple because it's "mainstream" and a product of "the man" or whatever other ridiculous reason ya'll can come up with, but if you're going to rant about something at least get your facts straight.

Listening to music while mowing the lawn is probably a bad idea anyhow, it just makes you turn the volume up more, which will only damage your hearing. You should be mowing the lawn with earplugs at least, noise reduction cans would be even better. But they ain't my ears ;-)
 
Gizzmo0815 said:
Additionally, the tracks available from the iTunes store are all published at a high enough bitrate that most people (excepting the "gifted" folks who claim they can really hear a difference, which seems to be EVERYONE on a recording forum) would never be able to tell those tracks from a CD.
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You don't have to be 'gifted' to tell the difference between a wav and an mp3 file. They really are pretty easy to tell apart.
 
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