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Why do mass marketed CD's sound so crappy?

I posted awhile ago here asking opinions regarding the poor sound quality of Coldplay's "A Rush of Blood to the Head" CD. Now I want to ask the same question of U2's latest (which is great, btw). I also find Sheryl Crow's CD's to sound underwhelming and dissapointing. Besides that fact that I love her music. What gives? Are the artists clueless? Don't they hear what their releases sound like? Are the record companies deliberately turning out crappy sounding CD's to please the masses that listen primarily on Ipods and walkman's? Man, it makes it real tough to enjoy music I really love to listen to when it sounds so damn bad.

The first track on U2's newest, "Vertigo" really rocks out, but it sounds boomy and muddled. I wanted to turn this up real loud, but it just sounded awful. I'm bummed.
hammergjh

Showing 1 response by honest1

honest1
586 posts
 
There was an article in Bass Player magazine about this. Bela Fleck and a famous bass player (I forget his name) did a recording. The article talked about how they struggled with the final mix. The bassist came from a classical background, and wanted no compression, and the microphone far away from his acoustic bass. Bela, being from a more pop/jazz background, wanted lots of compression so it would sound good on car radios.
Why don't we have DECOMPRESSORS anymore? When I was just starting out, I remember seeing in the HighEnd rooms DBX gear that was designed to restore the dynamics original to the music. Now that we're in the digital age, it should be easier to undo than ever.
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