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> The Loudness War needs to go away according to your link, it is going away: "Analysis suggests that the loudness trend may have peaked around 2005 and subse

> The Loudness War needs to go away according to your link, it is going away: "Analysis suggests that the loudness trend may have peaked around 2005 and subsequently reduced, with a pronounced increase in overall and minimum album DR (crest factor) for albums since 2005." This tracks with what I hear on new recordings.

cthalupa 11y ago
It's gotten better, but it's still plenty prevalent, especially in rock and all of it's various subgenres. One of my favorite albums from 2014 has perhaps some of the absolute worst mastering I've ever listened to. http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/69622 http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/69622 The dynamic range is so low you actually hear clipping on the CD version. The same album, on vinyl? http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/91768 http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/91768 Now, because of the way DR is scored, a vinyl album will almost always score higher on a DR test, but you can generally see this right away without even listening, because everything will have a pretty uniform 3-4 DR boost. But this one is a dedicated vinyl master, and the score increase comes from that. (For more in depth on this specific release, the guys at AngryMetalGuy wrote up a lengthy review/screed about the loudness war/etc http://www.angrymetalguy.com/fallujah-the-flesh-prevails-prevails-review-of-the-dr10-master/ http://www.angrymetalguy.com/fallujah-the-flesh-prevails-pre... ) Mainstream rock is still really bad about it, and less-mainstream metal is some of the worst.
- vanderZwan 11y ago
  > Now, because of the way it's recorded, a vinyl album will almost always score higher on a DR test Hold up, what? As far as technological potential is concerned, CDs have a far higher dynamic range than vinyl! Just listen to classical music if you don't believe me. The only problem is the way they are mastered.
  - cthalupa 11y ago
    What I wrote was vague - I've since corrected it. The way DR is scored by automatic tools will give a needle drop a higher DR than a CD version even if they have the same original master with the same DR. I'm saying that just because an vinyl rip of the same song has a higher scored DR doesn't automatically mean it actually has a different master with more dynamic range. Edit: Metal-Fi guys have a good article on it http://www.metal-fi.com/vinyl-doesnt-measure-up/ http://www.metal-fi.com/vinyl-doesnt-measure-up/
    - vanderZwan 11y ago
      Ah, ok. Thanks for clearing that up.
- cjslep 11y ago
  > Mainstream rock is still really bad about it, and less-mainstream metal is some of the worst. I agree. In my experience as a heavy metal show radio host from 2009-2013, it seemed like a very significant proportion of heavy metal is mastered to have almost no DR whatsoever. When we would load up songs to sample for IDs and promotions, every song would be a gigantic solid rectangle of sound.

cthalupa 11y ago

It's gotten better, but it's still plenty prevalent, especially in rock and all of it's various subgenres. One of my favorite albums from 2014 has perhaps some of the absolute worst mastering I've ever listened to. http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/69622 http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/69622 The dynamic range is so low you actually hear clipping on the CD version. The same album, on vinyl? http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/91768 http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/91768 Now, because of the way DR is scored, a vinyl album will almost always score higher on a DR test, but you can generally see this right away without even listening, because everything will have a pretty uniform 3-4 DR boost. But this one is a dedicated vinyl master, and the score increase comes from that. (For more in depth on this specific release, the guys at AngryMetalGuy wrote up a lengthy review/screed about the loudness war/etc http://www.angrymetalguy.com/fallujah-the-flesh-prevails-prevails-review-of-the-dr10-master/ http://www.angrymetalguy.com/fallujah-the-flesh-prevails-pre... ) Mainstream rock is still really bad about it, and less-mainstream metal is some of the worst.

vanderZwan 11y ago
> Now, because of the way it's recorded, a vinyl album will almost always score higher on a DR test Hold up, what? As far as technological potential is concerned, CDs have a far higher dynamic range than vinyl! Just listen to classical music if you don't believe me. The only problem is the way they are mastered.
- cthalupa 11y ago
  What I wrote was vague - I've since corrected it. The way DR is scored by automatic tools will give a needle drop a higher DR than a CD version even if they have the same original master with the same DR. I'm saying that just because an vinyl rip of the same song has a higher scored DR doesn't automatically mean it actually has a different master with more dynamic range. Edit: Metal-Fi guys have a good article on it http://www.metal-fi.com/vinyl-doesnt-measure-up/ http://www.metal-fi.com/vinyl-doesnt-measure-up/
  - vanderZwan 11y ago
    Ah, ok. Thanks for clearing that up.
cjslep 11y ago
> Mainstream rock is still really bad about it, and less-mainstream metal is some of the worst. I agree. In my experience as a heavy metal show radio host from 2009-2013, it seemed like a very significant proportion of heavy metal is mastered to have almost no DR whatsoever. When we would load up songs to sample for IDs and promotions, every song would be a gigantic solid rectangle of sound.