CD Compression Depression Music Industry Idiocracy

[supervij]

gus, you're talking about a different type of compression. SACDs have uncompressed music in the way that a .wav or .flac file is uncompressed and an .mp3 file is compressed. The compression that is being discussed in this thread has more to do with decreasing the difference in volume between the loudest and softest sounds in a the mixing of music. Two very different things.

cheers,
supervij

 

[davidtwotrees]

The other message board I post on, Siamusic.net, has a median age of about 21 years. (I'm 46) I am the only audiophile that posts there. The couple times I brought up SQ I got very little response. Recently a kid posted an article from Rolling Stone regarding the Loudness Wars. Some of the kids were interested and posted on it......especially the budding musicians. I PM'ed the star of the site, Sia herself, to see if she had any comment on Compression Depression......she was very apologetic about it, but stated she was just a singer songwriter and left all the wires and tapes up to the tekkie people. Her fourth album is due out Jan. 8. She let me copy it before release. Is there any way to tell, in WMV if her work is compressed?

 

[TLS Guy]

Angst

I have been watching this thread. This whole issue seems to be creating a lot of Angst.

I suppose I'm lucky since I have no desire to listen to Brittany Spears compressed or otherwise.

And Joe, you can compress the life out of music with an analog compressor just as easily as with a digital one.

I have to say the vast majority of discs in my collection are well engineered and I don't think the producers would have it any other way.

I have to advise exploring the wonderful world of classical music.

If you want to know what a CD sounds like with no audio compression, download the CD from my site. http://www.drmarksays.com/

I was the recording engineer and did the CD master. I can vouch for the fact that absolutely no compression was used. So hang on to your tweeters when the high C trumpet really comes through at the end of the Bach Magnificat. These are amateur performances, but they are very good and spirited ones in an excellent acoustic, well preserved in the recording.

It will also be a fun project for those with the requisite computer skills to download and reconstruct this CD from the cue file. A lot of people think it can't be done, but it can, and I have had quite a number of people do this successfully. All the movements of the Magnificat are indexed and play through with no pauses, so the work is presented as it should be after reconstruction.

It's a fun project and will be a diversion from all this Angst.
A Happy New Year to one and all.

 

[davidtwotrees]

I have been watching this thread. This whole issue seems to be creating a lot of Angst.

I have to agree with the angst. I guess it stems from the feeling of not having any control of what is being done to popular music. I enjoy classical music to an extent......but I just don't have the passion for it that I do for pop music. Believe me, I have tried. I am downloading your CD as I write, Dr.Mark. I am not complaining....in the last three years I have rekindled my love of music......through my stereo and the voice of young Sia Furler....
It's all good.

 

[3db]

I have been watching this thread. This whole issue seems to be creating a lot of Angst.

I suppose I'm lucky since I have no desire to listen to Brittany Spears compressed or otherwise.

And Joe, you can compress the life out of music with an analog compressor just as easily as with a digital one.

I have to say the vast majority of discs in my collection are well engineered and I don't think the producers would have it any other way.

I have to advise exploring the wonderful world of classical music.

If you want to know what a CD sounds like with no audio compression, download the CD from my site. http://www.drmarksays.com/

I was the recording engineer and did the CD master. I can vouch for the fact that absolutely no compression was used. So hang on to your tweeters when the high C trumpet really comes through at the end of the Bach Magnificat. These are amateur performances, but they are very good and spirited ones in an excellent acoustic, well preserved in the recording.

It will also be a fun project for those with the requisite computer skills to download and reconstruct this CD from the cue file. A lot of people think it can't be done, but it can, and I have had quite a number of people do this successfully. All the movements of the Magnificat are indexed and play through with no pauses, so the work is presented as it should be after reconstruction.

It's a fun project and will be a diversion from all this Angst.
A Happy New Year to one and all.

My classical collection is about 1/3 of my total collecation of music. But there are times when I want to listen to something other than classical. My music tastes and moods vary a lot. IE, I really like the latest Evanescence album. I don't care if its EMO or whatever its classified as. There are times when I really like to listen to it and what could be a really great recording is made just mediocre becuase of marketing pressures. Its too bad its going this way. I hope more indi producers pop up and start to eat away at the big ugly corp monsters that care only about money and not about sound quality.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

I have to advise exploring the wonderful world of classical music.

The only reason I would do that is recording quality, and I never buy CDs just for that. (Any interest I might otherwise have had in classical was beaten out of me by my high school orchestra experiences, much as my English classes eliminated my interest in Shakespear.)
Those wishing to hear what hard clipping sounds like should listen to Interpol-Our Love to Admire. Even I, who am not very sensitive to clipping, hear it there.

 

[annunaki]

http://www.turnmeup.org/

This site has the right idea for the artists. I would gladly seek out albums with their logo on it.

 

[krabapple]

gus, you're talking about a different type of compression. SACDs have uncompressed music in the way that a .wav or .flac file is uncompressed

A flac file is of course (data) compressed..losslessly. SACDs (DSD layer) are actually lossless compressed too..decompression is part of the 'decoding' process.

 

[Ciloh]

(...) Is there any way to tell, in WMV if her work is compressed?

You have to convert it to WAV. Then you can have a look at it in a wave editor (e.g. Audacity).
A very convenient tool to test files or a CD for clipping and compression is the freeware ClippingAnalyzer, where you get the results in MS Excel.

 

[Pyrrho]

From what I've read, it's definitely worse now but it's not a new thing. A lot of 45s and LPs were mixed to sound good over FM radio. I think compression may not be a bad thing in a car stereo but not for home use. I wish they would just build the compression circuitry into car stereos and boom boxes and mix the CDs normally.

While dynamic range is great on a home stereo, it's not appropriate everywhere. If I leave my volume set to some normal value on the Monsoon in my car, I miss the first two minutes or so of Bolero because I can't hear it. And I'm not talking about highway driving where the tires are generating more noise.

I've heard that part of the problem is A&R guys don't know how to work their volume controls and reject anything too loud or too quiet for whatever setting they use. That's just one more reason why record labels need to die a quick but hopefully painful death.

Jim

Dynamic compression, as you say, isn't new. They are just going to greater extremes than before. And I absolutely agree with you that it would make better sense to put a dynamic compression control on car audio equipment (and home equipment, too, just like the "night time" mode for Dolby Digital) for those who want the unnatural sound of compression.

But since we cannot live in an ideal world, and must live in this one or not at all, my advice is simple: if you don't like the sound of some particular piece of pop music, regardless of whether your dislike is from dynamic compression or some other lack of judgment or taste on the part of those making the recording, stop buying their crap. They often talk about "artistic" qualities of music, but the reality is, when some item is put in a store with a price tag on it, it is about money.

 

[NuAudio419]

Thanks chas for the post! I have already referred some friends to the link...good to know someone is actually trying to do something.