The lack of dynamics in modern music

[WmAx]

That is quite depressing, but out of curiosity, what quality of gear were these people using?

These were people I know online. I sent them the files to download. I am not sure what equipment they used, except for one person, whom I know was using a Sony MDR-V600 headphone set.

-Chris

 

[pzaur]

These were people I know online. I sent them the files to download. I am not sure what equipment they used, except for one person, whom I know was using a Sony MDR-V600 headphone set.

-Chris

Can you ask them why they liked a specific version better? I'm curious as to what they liked more about the re-mastered version.

-pat

 

[Pyrrho]

Well Pyrrho, I picked up a copy of that recording of Carmina Burana - $5.47 was too cheap to pass up!

Yes, it is amazingly cheap. I originally heard this music because a friend loaned me her copy of it, and the day I returned it to her, I drove all over town to find a store that sold it and bought a copy. That was when it was full price. It is now remastered with better sound and is sold for much less. However, now it no longer comes with the lyrics printed in a book. But you can find them online with a little searching.

Anyway, please let us know what you think of it. A PM or email to me would be appreciated, as I would like to know if you like it.

 

[krabapple]

Can you ask them why they liked a specific version better? I'm curious as to what they liked more about the re-mastered version.

-pat

It's a psychoacoustic commonplace that people will tend to prefer the louder of two presentations of the same material (within reason). Often they won't recognize it as louder, they'll say things like "it's clearer' or 'I can hear everything better'. DR compression and limiting is a way to make things louder when there's no headroom left for simple level boost.

 

[Starmax]

In my opinion, instead of using a processor to compress concert music for background listening, one should simply select background music for use as background music. Handel's Water Music is a good example of background music. It is an excellent choice for that purpose. It was written for that purpose, and is therefore quite suitable for it.

You're right, Handel's Water Music was originally written to be played as background music at royal parties aboard ships docked in the harbor. The problem was Handel's music sounded too good for background music, and it's become a classical music masterpiece. I thought it was background music too, until I tried it. It's way too demanding.