Everything Louder Than Everything Else

This Austin360.com article on the trend of increasing compression on CDs (thanks to people mastering CDs to the maximum) and the clipping it creates is pretty good reading for audiophiles.
there are millions of copies of CDs being released that are physically exhausting listeners, most of whom probably don't know why their ears and brains are feeling worn out.
It does explain one thing I've always suspected: that Californication is a really poorly mastered album, and Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man", while a good song (great horn sample), is a pain to listen to on any proper sound system (or, as the article says, the song "sounds like you are being punched in the face on a real stereo system").

Man, I wonder how bands that use dynamics for a lot of their sound - the Pixies, Nirvana - would sound with this kind of remastering?

Comments

recordmymind said…
That's a very interesting article that I'll be sharing with the music lovers I know. I kept on wondering why I enjoy vinyl more than cds and why cds sounded "colder" and not as "warm" as vinyl. Maybe compression had a part to play. Best to avoid "remastered" cds it seems.

Hope you been keeping well!
25 February 2007 at 23:20
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