Article: Dynamic Range Day

[wwaldmanfan]

This problem is not news to anyone here. But how anyone could ignore the issue baffles me.

I would rather pass on a new release from an artist I like than pay $15-$20 for a CD, or up to $25 for a download that I can't listen to comfortably. If it says, "remastered from the original tapes" I run twice as fast.

[wwaldmanfan]

4 minutes ago, ednaz said:

I've now "blacklisted" most pop and rock music, in terms of buying HD versions of the albums.  I saw so many DR5 and lower, and didn't know how to tell before buying (grateful for the link to the database...)  The last straw was an Alabama Shakes album. JRiver said DR of 5 but it sounded much, much worse than that.

 

I experimented a bit with different files ranging from 24/96 down to MP3 at 320k and found that if the DR is really low, the album sounds no better in high res than it does in a compressed format.  The better the DR, the more there is in the high res version. Not sure I'd attribute it all to the DR, I think that albums with a wider DR also show many other signs of concern about musicality and engagement - a sound engineer that cares about DR cares about a lot of things.

 

Now, I buy pop and rock the cheapest way possible.  If it sounds better than the average iTunes file, I may re-buy in HD once I know how frequently I listen - I have heard enough comparisons now to be able to tell what is likely to be worth the extra $ for high res.

Good post. I'm with you. As you say, it is really sad when the artists themselves don't know or don't care.

Your mention of the Alabama Shakes reminds me of a friend. He considers himself an audiophile, and has a  high-end, five-figure system. He loaned me a few recently- released albums on a flash drive to check out, including that paticular record, and every one was horribly compressed. I asked him how he can possibly listen to this crap, and he replied that it doesn't bother him...

I guess you can't change the world singlehandedly, but I am mitigating my frustration by contributing to the Dynamic Range Database.

[wwaldmanfan]

4 minutes ago, AlexMetalFi said:

 

Vinyl DR scores are bogus. More than likely it was the same master and level matching was not performed. That would be my guess.

I have numerous examples in my library where the vinyl sounds excellent, with full dynamics, and the digital download/CD version of the same album is compressed junk.