Why Music Really Is Getting Louder

Teksty Piosenek writes "Artists and record bosses believe that the best album is the loudest one. Sound levels are being artificially enhanced so that the music punches through when it competes against background noise in pubs or cars. 'Geoff Emerick, engineer on the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album, said: "A lot of what is released today is basically a scrunched-up mess. Whole layers of sound are missing. It is because record companies don't trust the listener to decide themselves if they want to turn the volume up." Downloading has exacerbated the effect. Songs are compressed once again into digital files before being sold on iTunes and similar sites. The reduction in quality is so marked that EMI has introduced higher-quality digital tracks, albeit at a premium price, in response to consumer demand.'"

It is not too loud!

[mi]

You are too old!

New model speakers

[Bob54321]

The problem is that todays speakers go up to eleven. That one louder...

Re:What a shame!

[Eideewt]

Long live ears!

What are we talking about?

I Wonder Why It Is Louder Too

[Skeetskeetskeet]

Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and... Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten? Nigel Tufnel: Exactly. Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder? Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where? Marty DiBergi: I don't know. Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do? Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven. Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder. Marty DiBergi: Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder? Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to eleven.

Re:It is not too loud!

[Sigma 7]

You are too old!

Can you repeat that? I have trouble hearing you... </joke>

Re:Also, the Loudness War

[Penguinisto]

...and here all this time I thought it was just because the latest top-40 bands simply sucked. I never knew there was a technical explanation for it.

(The real scary part is, I can't even tell for myself if I'm just kidding or not, now that I think about it...)

/P

Good thing I don't buy music

[Cheezymadman]

Otherwise I might have to worry about getting quality for my money. Piracy means never having to say "Why did I pay for this?"

Re:It's called hearing loss

[Hal_Porter]

THAT'S NOT TRUE. HEARING LOSS CAUSED BY LOUD MUSIC IS A MYTH SPREAD BY BORING PEOPLE.

I had to put this in because the lameness filter doesn't have a sense of humour or irony.

If you want LOUD...

[__aaclcg7560]

There's a version of the 1812 Overture [wikipedia.org] with real cannon fire that will blow out your speakers if the volume is too high. I been trying to get my friend to play that on his 1969 Marshall amp to see if that would happen, how many windows it would take out in the neighborhood and how fast the landlord would kick him out.

Re:Dolby Digital has various levels for sound

[Anonymous Coward]

As you can see in this chart, X-Fi gives you sound better than studio quality, even with mp3.

http://www.overclockzone.com/pod/Year2006/1006crea tive_xmod/xfi.jpg [overclockzone.com]

Re:It is not too loud!

[sa1lnr]

I'm 53.

And my Amp goes up to 11. :P

Re:The older I get the louder I need it

[da_flo]

but ... Really who the Hell could actually stand "A Scanner Darkley" at normal speed?)

I can.
But I must admit I'm a real Dickhead.

Re:Cranked up to 11

[bl8n8r]

> just carry some in your pocket all the time, since you never know when you'll meet with loud noises.

Will my wife be able to tell I'm wearing them?

Re:It is not too loud!

[TapeCutter]

"Have you ever considered that maybe you just like terrible music?"

No, but I do wish people would stop asking me that stupid question! >:(

Re:The older I get the louder I need it

[joto]

but if you can't tell what they said, why bother with a script?

This is the next planned cost-saving mesaure.

Actually, it has already been implemented. Although it didn't really save any money, they just replaced the script with car-chases, gunfights, swordfights, and boobies. Turns out it brought in more money, so it was a good idea anyway.

Re:It ain't just music that's louder

[macraig]

Can I just wire an (air) compressor up to the backside of the execs who condone this and let 'er rip?