Are the loudness wars fake so record companies can destroy the music?

Calling Steve Albini.

My problem with loudness is not just that the quiet passages are boosted, it's that the peaks are compressed. When it's overdone the music feels like it's been subdued with the life and dynamics missing - supermarket/elevator music style.

This effect is especially unpalatable with genres like rock or metal as fans of Motorhead on CD might find.

One real issue facing headphone users is the level of noise isolation they need from their cans, in-ear, on-ear or over ear?

I generally prefer open back phones but I've switched to closed back for my walk to work. I found I had to put the volume way too high to drown out the surprisingly loud road traffic.

So with my closed back on ear JVCs I can keep the volume low enough to still hear my surroundings and also the music. A fair bit of outside noise still gets in but a totally closed back over ear phone wouldn't be suitable for commuting either.

Therefore it's easy to conclude that as long as download / headphone users remain the target audience, then the mainstream use of heavy compression is going to remain.

Sam, are you starting each and every one of your posts with “Sam here....” to help big pharma? Because I’m getting really sick of it.

Well, I personally don’t think there is anything sinister about businesses wanting to maximize profits. I’m not saying that business doesn’t and cannot serve other purposes but money is usually the reason there is a business at all.


And I agree, money drives the nature of the commodity.

However, just because something has a certain feature does not mean that that feature is what makes that thing sell even when the business that makes that thing believes that the feature is what makes it sell. In other words, they might think DR compression sells but I’m not certain that is true. At least not in a linear fashion.

For example there is plenty of popular music coming out in which the DR (according to the database) averages around 5. To me, this is unlistenable on a hi-fi system and tolerable on ear buds or in the car. On the other hand a song with a DR of 9 can sound okay on a hi-fi system and just as good in the car or with ear buds. My point being I think the industry convinced itself that more compression = more money. I don’t think that is true.

N80, just a comment. You posted,

"Vinyl seems less likely to be but is hardly immune. So the format is not the issue."

How is an LP, recorded and mastered on a digital deck a different format than a CD. The compression and other insults occur in the mix for the master tape/file.

Also you mention Mark Knopfler but I seem to remember early Dire Straits digital recordings that were pressed to vinyl that were awful. Huge sound stage, remarkable dynamic range, improbable separation, 20-20K response, all the good things that come with great sound without great sound.

Compression of the type employed in the ’noise wars’ is a function of digital mastering/editing. In the analog domain compression, like everything else, is quite tricky and has to employed with skill and discretion if you don’t want to get laughed out of the studio.

Lastly, you said recently that there is nothing wrong with businesses wanting to maximize profit. While this is true as a standalone statement, when examined in light of what SOME companies and individuals are willing to do to maximize profit it becomes a little less innocuous. ’Wanting’ someone dead is a lot different than murder.