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  3. 139281-80260

... thoughts on Taylor Swift's REPUTATION CD...

Hello to all... Am wondering how other audiophile folks who critically listen to music as coordinated recorded sounds access the newest offering from Taylor Swift.

PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT IF YOU HAVE NOT YET HEARD THE CD IN ITS ENTIRETY.
AND PLEASE LIMIT COMMENTS WITH REGARDS TO SOUND - NOT ALL THE OTHER STUFF (looks, dating, etc) 

I find the recording fairly well done: abit thumpy throughout (which seems to be the trend in pop/indie music for the masses), but highly divergent in tones, dynamics, and harmonies. Deep and wide soundstage... Most vocals (within my system) are believeable (for the most part) but sometimes muddy up at the complicated refrains with several overdubs of her voice...

I think this is a good stereo test recording. YOUR THOUGHTS APPRECIATED...
justvintagestuff

Showing 6 responses by geoffkait

geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Don’t give up? Don’t be inept.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
I’m listening to cassettes today. They are not compressed, I even listened to one that was digitally remastered and very dynamic, open and super analog sounding. Sweet fancy Moses! Neither cassette sounded even a trifle strident in voices or any other way. The voices were impeccable. So I reckon the theory of using compression to get rid of sibilance is probably bogus.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Uh, we call that a flatline. DOA.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
I have a sneaking suspicion people are just guessing even they say oh, dynamic range is not the only thing they do to the recording, they also make it more detailed. There is no evidence for that claim at all. In other words, it’s wishful thinking. They compress dynamics to avoid clipping and so more people will buy the product, you know, because it’s louder.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Exactly! That’s the trouble. There aren’t enough CDs with great dynamic range. Hel-loo! Life is too short to listen to modest recordings. The reason so many reissued/remastered CDs show up at yard sales, flea markets is because they suck. I look for average DR of 15 or 16. Remember it’s logarithmic.

What you want is in the limo. What you get is no tomorrow.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
The whole reason for aggressive compression is to be able boost the level. Those aggregious CDs, downloads or LPs are *already loud*. But they don’t have dynamics.That’s why they call it the Loudness Wars. *Turning up the volume doesn’t help dynamics.* You can’t fool Mother Nature. It still sounds stupid. Hel-loo! As I keep saying, if it doesn’t have dynamics it ain’t music! I refuse to listen to it. But feel free to knock yourself out. 10 is not really acceptable in my book. It’s logarithmic, remember. What you want is up around 14 and above. Those are good numbers. Ten is barely acceptable. And when ten is average that means much of the recording is unacceptable.
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