Loud

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

"Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Californication, branded 'unlistenable' by studio experts"

(insert obvious joke in comments)

More seriously, is this degree of compression something you notice when listening to new CDs? I had noticed that you need to set the volume control at a much lower level than you do with older CDs. But, rather naively, I assumed modern 'remastering' tended to broaden the dynamic range rather than narrow it.

Maybe it is only rock records that are mastered in the way this article complains about.

Comments

[sbp.livejournal.com]

Pop stuff is often compressed a lot because a pop song doesn't generally need much dynamic range and it sounds "louder" that way. Also the radio is going to use compressors to get all the different tracks in a show sounding at a similar level, and limiters after that to make sure none of the program signal will distort the final output amplifiers. However mp3 downloads are generally taken from the CD master, so it's possible they're trying to make those sound as loud as poss too?

I would say it's more likely to be pop stuff and dance stuff that would be affected, rather than just rock.