the volume war has been won!!!

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It's actually quite an interesting article.
In a way, the way some recordings have been mastered over the duration of the so called loudness war was unsustainable over a lengthy period of time. Because many fads are unsustainable over a lengthy period of time. So it looks like things are simply back to the point where masters can be loud without people feeling the songs have been wrecked.
But there has existed since the late 50s and early 60s a debate about loud masters. Read up on any British producer or engineer from the 60s and their aim was always to get British records mastered as loudly as American ones. And the records from the US of A never sounded bad for all their loudness.
 
I don't even have iPod-like device, or iTunes installed on my computer. I assume iTunes Radio is just streaming?
 
In any event, I'm cassette and CD "nearly" old school.
 
Making records "loud" has always been the goal, even back in the stone ages of vinyl. Had the limitations of a needle on a record not existed, they too would have pushed it louder and louder. There's nothing wrong with "loud" if done right. Yeah, some albums suck bad, and those are the ones that get focused on the hardest by the "dynamics" people. But usually they come out pretty good. There are many great sounding albums that are loud. Get over it already.
 
I think the real takeaway is that once, and if, iTunes sets the level "standard" for listeners, it will most likely trickle down to all forms of commercial audio distribution. I think that's why Bob Katz is saying the war has been won.

For the guys who just make their own music for their own enjoyment, and only look to do the "CD Baby" kind of thing as a self-distribution model, they'll still be able to master their mixes any way they want...no one is going to force them to do different...
....but what the article is saying is that if your music is going to be distributed by any commercial outlet down the road, any mixes that are too LOUD, the new algorithms used by commercial outlets will simply knock your levels down to their standard, and in doing so, your mixes will suffer if they were too LOUD to begin with compared to the ones done within more conservative levels that already fell within the new loudness standard.

We’ll see what happens….

Can we expect that at some point a newb will show up on HR to ask, "My mix is too loud, how can I get the level down without messing up the mix?" :D
 
The real takeaway is that music production is now going to be dictated by itunes. So lame! :laughings:
 
I don't use iTune or iPods or iPads....however, there are MILLIONS of people who do.
That's really the point of the article.

We as home-rec/musicians tend to live somewhat in an "audio bubble", so our views and practices are specific to that...but the general public is what drives trends, and when it comes to audio/music, and what sells, and how people listen to music.....it most certainly can be affected by iTunes.
So like....if the majority of commercial releases are available on iTunes for the general public, and the audio levels are being controlled by algorithms, it only stands to reason that commercial artists and studios will tailor the levels to work with the algorithms rather than be negatively affected by them....you think?
Once that happens, if it happens....it will trickle down even into the home-rec world.

Really, the fact the music loudness was triggered by digital's ability to let the audio get compressed and limited right up to "0"...makes it pretty likely that the same digital technology can/will be used to now control the level to a standard loudness, and I'm sure if it happens, most commercial players will follow suit so that music on one distribution outlet doesn't sound out of place on another. It will all be the same loudness.
This is also being driven by the new laws regarding broadcast loudness limits....so the writing is on the wall.

I don’t much care which way it goes….I never got obsessed with having everything be LOUD! just for the sake of loudness. I mean, it just doesn’t matter, people can listen at whatever level their power amp can deliver….or their iPod. :)
 
I couldn't give a shit. I'm still going to try to get my tunes as loud as I can while still sounding as good as possible. Bottom line.

And if anyone comes into this thread with the eternally stupid "If you want it loud, just turn up the volume", I'm going to reach through my computer and punch them in the brain. It's a stupid "solution", if for no other reason than you're going to forget to turn it back down for the next tune and you'll end up blowing your head off or blowing your speakers up.

There are as many shitty "dynamic" albums are there are shitty "loud" albums.

Fuck off.

:D
 
I want my stuff so loud it will melt my car speakers.
 
miroslav said:
I think the real takeaway is that once, and if, iTunes sets the level "standard" for listeners, it will most likely trickle down to all forms of commercial audio distribution. I think that's why Bob Katz is saying the war has been won.

For the guys who just make their own music for their own enjoyment, and only look to do the "CD Baby" kind of thing as a self-distribution model, they'll still be able to master their mixes any way they want...no one is going to force them to do different...
....but what the article is saying is that if your music is going to be distributed by any commercial outlet down the road, any mixes that are too LOUD, the new algorithms used by commercial outlets will simply knock your levels down to their standard, and in doing so, your mixes will suffer if they were too LOUD to begin with compared to the ones done within more conservative levels that already fell within the new loudness standard.
Click to expand...
yes ..... that's the point. Since iTunes sorta sets the standard, if they set one that means every recording is gonna be the same loudness regardless and files that have been too squashed will sound worse, then it pushes everyone away from the current trend of smashing things to oblivion.
 
Greg_L said:
Making records "loud" has always been the goal, even back in the stone ages of vinyl. Had the limitations of a needle on a record not existed, they too would have pushed it louder and louder. .
Click to expand...
that's just simply not true. I have thousands of LPs and their volume levels are all over the map.

I hate Apple and won't have any of their stuff ...... and I mix my stuff for me so I don't really give a shit. But if a standard comes along that makes it better to actually have some dynamics I think that's a good thing.
 
RAMI said:
There are as many shitty "dynamic" albums are there are shitty "loud" albums.
Click to expand...

This ^^^^^^^

The whole loudness "debate" is friggin stupid and it always has been.

What's hilariously ironic is the notion that poor quality digital streaming is gonna "save" recorded music. :laughings:
 
Greg_L said:
What's hilariously ironic is the notion that poor quality digital streaming is gonna "save" recorded music. :laughings:
Click to expand...
for sure ..... music is done as an industry. Sure .... we all love it .... but the public has mostly moved on to other things. For the vast majority of people music has become something they put on in the background while they do something else.
 
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