Quote:
Originally Posted by jslevin  I mean, it's sad, this is what digital recording is really good at — capturing huge dynamic range — and we just piss it away. |
I agree but then again some pop music always intentionally worked with a very limited (pun intended) dynamic range. I really love Tom Petty's work and his records always sounded like they would be coming from a radio broadcast to my ears. Actually I always liked that sound FOR THAT PARTICULAR KIND OF MUSIC.
So the problem here is the hyper-limiting for volume's sake which of course will reduce the (already intentionally reduced) dynamic range even further. What's much worse though is that the sound is becoming very flat and midrangey in the process.
We all know that the volume wars are a huge problem but about a week ago I made an interesting comparison between the 'Mudcrutch' and the Plant/Krauss CD. (I totally love both of these offerings.)
Listening from the other room played thru my 'waiting for a Sub to be added' home system of a Studer CD player and a pair of Genelec 1029As, I was STUNNED by the sonics of the Plant/Krauss CD. A very dark and compressed sound that stills sounds very dimensional even though it probably also would benefit form a slightly lower volume.
The 'Mudcrutch' disc on the other hand sounds VERY boxy, undynamic and un-sparkly (if that's a word?). To be honest, I'm not sure if the quote from the article is really appropriate: '
When we did the regular CD, we had to deal with the realities of the marketplace, and we came up with a good compromise,” said Mr. Ulyate, who produced the album with the guitarist Mike Campbell.' It doesn't sound like a 'good compromise' to my ears but rather like a complete butchering job. But maybe it's just the fact that Petty's already heavily-compressed signature sound suffers more from the additional volume than the (to my ears) very 'fuzzy but natural' and organic sound of the Plant/Krauss masterpiece.
No matter what, Petty is a very cool guy. After fighting high album and ticket prices and being able to regain his copyrights after a 'David vs. Goliath'-type fight against MCA, he re-assembles his old band with spectacular results and now also fights the good fight against the loudness wars.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T!
Well, maybe I WILL buy the vinyl after all (hell, I'd rather give my hard-earned cash to Petty and the boys than most anybody else). I'm totally curious to hear the difference in the unhyped CD. It surely is a rare chance to do such a comparison - vinyl is great but much more subjective because of all the variables with the gear/pressing/turntable setup, etc.
But maybe it's a great educational tool that could be used to convince artists to go for better-sounding 'turn it up' masters.
Maybe we could establish an offical sticker that would be granted where appliable that reads 'Dynamic musical content- please turn it up for maximum enjoyment' or something.