Loudness War

[jollelolle]

Im studying to be an audio engineer and music producer in Stockholm, Sweden and the main thing we've been talking about has been the mastering process which have led to what we say is "the Loudness war". I've been reading around on this forum and on the blogg and i've found lots of mastering tricks to find that "delicious" distortion.

I've also read that good sound quality is a dealmaker in the electrodance world and i bet everyone has seen the Deadmau5 interview on youtube where he practically stomps on Dubstep cause of its audio and mastering. So basically what im asking and wondering about.. Are some of you guys actively working to end this "Loudness war"?

[Tha Gooch]

I'm not sure what DJ's can do to stop the loudness war, that's kinda up to the artist. I read recently that NIN is releasing two versions of their album a shitty loud version for cd and iTunes and an audiophile version. I'm not sure who's still waiting for a new Nine Inch Nails album but having more choices for the fans is always a good thing.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/28/46...sitation-marks

[R01]

This has only ever been an issue for people who are too lazy to adjust the volume.

[iambiggles]

This has only ever been an issue for people who are too lazy to adjust the volume.

Its not about overall volume, its about dynamic range and the fact that many producer compress the crap out of everything leaving no peaks and troughs, but BLAMMM all the way.

http://dynamicrangeday.co.uk/

[b1sh0p]

When I get home, I'll link an article regarding the loudness war in drum and bass and how it's hurt the music. It became about engineering rather than creativity. Tunes are squashed and compressed to shit. It's all mid bass and absent of sub bass. There's been a somewhat successful movement against it recently.

[Rhashime]

Its not about overall volume, its about dynamic range and the fact that many producer compress the crap out of everything leaving no peaks and troughs, but BLAMMM all the way.

http://dynamicrangeday.co.uk/

When you play a track that is properly mastered (not pushed to its limits) next to a normal track (overly compressed), the more compressed one will be perceived as louder. If you want the proper track to sound "like" it is at the same volume, then you have to turn the volume up. This is what R01 is saying. It is only an issue for people who don't know better and are too lazy to turn the volume up.

I refuse to push my tracks to the max because for bass music it kills a lot of the low end. The major problem is that most music consumers are listening on crap speakers, headphones and in environments where dynamic range doesn't matter. Think about the stock iPhone buds while on the bus or the standard speakers in a normal car. In those cases your not going to get the benefit of the increase in dynamic range, so the overly compressed, louder tracks are actually better here. There are far less of people out there that have good headphones, proper speakers, and a proper environment to listen in that can fully appreciate the full dynamic range that comes from a properly mastered track.

So if you are an artist and your goal is to sell music or become popular to the masses, you pretty much have to over-compress it. If you don't care about selling it, becoming popular, or you only want to sell to the very niche market that wants a properly mastered track you can.

It sucks, but it's just the way it is.

[jollelolle]

Well, you really don't think that DJs can somewhat contribute to the ending of Loudness war. If Djs started to sort their music also depending on the sound quality (Just a waveanalyze in traktor can fix that) and then when you are at the club you can just kick the overall volume up a notch. Atleast some people are gonna react that the music you are playing are actually sounding a bit better then the guy before?

[padi_04]

I'm not sure who's still waiting for a new Nine Inch Nails album but having more choices for the fans is always a good thing.

I am =)

I think it's a great idea that you can listen to how the artists really intended a track to sound before it is "Apple earbud ready". It might be redundant with a lot of types of music but it still has it's place.

[HighTopFade]

I'm not sure what DJ's can do to stop the loudness war, that's kinda up to the artist. I read recently that NIN is releasing two versions of their album a shitty loud version for cd and iTunes and an audiophile version.

Nice if all labels can do this. It couldn't take too much effort.

Music released in the 70s and 80s sound way better than music released today.

[jollelolle]

That kind of depends how they master the tracks. Is mastering done before the mixing or is it done after the mixing. To release an unmastered track when the mastering is done after the mix then that wouldnt be much problem but my personal experience is that studios often master before the mixing so they can prevent destructive mastering artifacts