Article: Dynamic Range Day

[ednaz]

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.