Why do CDs sound better turned up?

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jndietz

The Way It Moves
I was listening to an Alter Bridge CD today and realized that when it was turned down, it sounded kind of muffled, muddy, and lots of bass. When I turned it up, everything evened out.

Whats up with that?
 
Well, there's your first first-hand experience into the world of volume. :D

This us why people think they get more "punch" out of a bass drum (for example) when they double it by taking the single track and copying it to another track. It's simply louder, and most people perceive that as "punchier".
 
My guess would be that your speakers respond better when challenged.
 
Rami has it right .....unless you moved a lot of ear wax out of the way when you turned up the volume.
:eek::D:eek:




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1) Because human hearing is non linear in response and up to a point we do perceive louder as better at least short term until we become fatigued with the louder sound

around 85 dB (SPL sound pressure level) is reckoned to be where our hearing is most responsive (although long periods of listening at that level or above could cause premature hearing loss)
This is why level matching is so important when you are trying to A/B compare something. If you don't do it the louder of the two will almost always seem to sound better at the first few listens.

2) Because higher energy frequencies (those airy or bright sounding frequencies) require more energy to drive them through the air so at very low volumes you tend to hear (proportionally) a lot more of the bass "Mud" frequencies because the higher frequncy information decays before reaching your ears.
That's why you need to check mixes at different levels to make sure you are not compensating for lack of highs because you mix quiet and then the mix sounds grating and fatiguing when turned up, etc.
This is also why bass frequencies are more of an issue in room treatment than the highs
 
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What Bristol Posse said...and also that our ears will "flatten out" frequency response with loud levels.
So what sounded bassy and/or bright at lower levels...now sounds kinda even across the frequency range.

Now that may sound like a good thing...but in reality, the longer you listen to loud music, the less you are able to discern what is really happening with the frequencies...your ears will try to compensate by dulling and flattening out the peaks/extremes.
That's why mixing at loud levels is a bad thing. It's bad for your ears and it's bad for the mix, because you will not hear it correctly.
 
The Fletcher-Munson phenomena is why the dynamic EQ was invented. When set correctly it adjusts the frequency curve as volume goes up. Those of us in live sound reinforcement use them a lot.
 
Dynamic EQ might fix the frequency issue, but it doesn nothing to curb loud volumes and save hearing.
It may actually promote louder listening..... :(
 
Wow. Crappy flat-topped limited "loud" recordings have replaced proper high-energy recordings, MP3's have replaced full-quality reproductions, tiny satellite speakers with boxy "sub woofers" that go down to 60 hz have replaced manly 4ft-tall hi-fi speaker cabinets, and ear buds have replaced real head phones. Amplifiers are just plain shoved behind the curtain. Do people even remember home hifi amps?

And now kids don't know that music sounds good when you turn it up.

They might still know that if stores sold anything that actually could be turned up anymore. Crank that iHome Sound Dock! :D
 
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Chibi Nappa said:
Wow. Crappy flat-topped limited "loud" recordings have replaced proper high-energy recordings, MP3's have replaced full-quality reproductions, tiny satellite speakers with boxy "sub woofers" that go down to 60 hz have replaced manly 4ft-tall hi-fi speaker cabinets, and ear buds have replaced real head phones. Amplifiers are just plain shoved behind the curtain. Do people even remember home hifi amps?

And now kids don't know that music sounds good when you turn it up.

They might still know that if stores sold anything that actually could be turned up anymore. Crank that iHome Sound Dock! :D
Click to expand...



.Eventually everything will come full circle (I hope) and real monitoring of music will be back.



:cool:
 
I was of the opinion to get the most clarity out of music, it needs to be played through a mobile phone hanging from your neck!!! lmao



+1 for a real monitoring revolution!!!
 
Chibi Nappa said:
Crappy flat-topped limited "loud" recordings have replaced proper high-energy recordings...
Click to expand...

FWIW, Alter Bridge's latest really isn't as bad as some - I can't say I've really dome much serious comparison, but while it's pretty hot, it's not nearly as squashed as some albums I've heard and there's a decent amount of dynamic content.

I mean, it's no Exile on Main Street, but it's a far cry from Death Magnetic. :lol:
 
I hope so too. Nothing like hearing decent (dynamic) music through a decent system
 
Bristol Posse said:
2) Because higher energy frequencies (those airy or bright sounding frequencies) require more energy to drive them through the air so at very low volumes you tend to hear (proportionally) a lot more of the bass "Mud" frequencies because the higher frequncy information decays before reaching your ears.
That's why you need to check mixes at different levels to make sure you are not compensating for lack of highs because you mix quiet and then the mix sounds grating and fatiguing when turned up, etc.
This is also why bass frequencies are more of an issue in room treatment than the highs
Click to expand...

That's interesting; I thought it was the bass that was muted when volume is turned down, thus the "loud" button on older stereos. I thought it was meant so that when you're listening to music at a low volume and you still want to hear impact of the bass, then you just push the "loud" button. I know on my car stereo there's a "loud" button which seems to push up both the bass and treble and seems relatively useless as far as doing anything except, well, making it louder and bassier.
 
Yeah, Bristol got it backwards.

Bass takes much more energy. Look at the physical waves themselves. Bass waves are a couple feet long. The high waves are fractions of an inch and less. It's like throwing a baseball through the air VS throwing an elephant through the air.

Perhaps Bristol confused distance with volume? When you hear a party "over there" it is all bass because there is so much energy in the bass waves. Bass can plow through walls and trees and people. Treble just dissipates. So the soft sound that makes it to the distant listener is "thump thump thump thump".

But if you are inches from the speaker and turn it way down, the bass goes away and the treble remains.
 
moresound said:
I thought bass waves were longer than that.



:cool:
Click to expand...

Well, let's find out.

The speed of sound at sea level under "normal" conditions is about 1125 feet per second.

A 40 Hz wave completes 40 cycles in 1 second. So it takes 0.025 seconds for one wave to pass. 1125 feet/sec traveling for 0.025 seconds is about 28 feet.

So a 20 Hz wave is about 56 feet.

A 500 Hz wave is about 2 feet.

A 2000 Hz wave is about half a foot.

A 10 kHz wave is about a tenth of a foot.



So yeah, everything is about 5 times larger than what I was thinking. But the proportions still stand.
 
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