The "Loudness War" and the Future of Music 687
An anonymous reader notes an article up at IEEE Spectrum outlining the history and dangers of the accelerating tendency of music producers to increase the loudness and reduce the dynamic range of CDs. "The loudness war, what many audiophiles refer to as an assault on music (and ears), has been an open secret of the recording industry for nearly the past two decades and has garnered more attention in recent years as CDs have pushed the limits of loudness thanks to advances in digital technology. The 'war' refers to the competition among record companies to make louder and louder albums by compressing the dynamic range. But the loudness war could be doing more than simply pumping up the volume and angering aficionados — it could be responsible for halting technological advances in sound quality for years to come... From the mid 1980s to now, the average loudness of CDs increased by a factor of 10, and the peaks of songs are now one-tenth of what they used to be."
I have the solution (Score:5, Funny)
It's more than just music (Score:1, Funny)
And then I began looking at my digital cameras output vs my grandfathers old Yashica 35mm. The camera made in 1973 was blowing away $8000 Canons!
We are in an age of eroding quality. The DVD player you buy today likely will not last as long as the one you bought 5 years ago. Companies are cutting every corner they can to reduce cost, and telling us all the way how much better the new systems are.
Re:It's a serious problem (Score:2, Funny)
Wall of Sound (Score:5, Funny)
That's why you have a volume knob. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:It makes you wonder... (Score:4, Funny)
Sir, people have been wondering what Bob Dylan has been talking about for over 40 years.
Re:I have the solution (Score:5, Funny)
If The Music Is Too Loud... (Score:1, Funny)
Yeah, that darned Beethoven (Score:4, Funny)
Who needs sound quality? (Score:5, Funny)
Next thing somebody will write an article saying that music should have composition, harmonies, melodies, varity, and subbtle qualities. Or that vocalists should actually be able to sing - not just talk into a mic, or that "musicians" actually read and write music, or that musicians actually play a musical instrument. Or that lyrics should be more than "funk soul brotha" repeated a thousand times.
Come on folks, this is the 21st century. The point of a sound system is prove that you're a real man by being obnoxious, and irritating other people. And besides, the recording industry is a *business* it's all about your crib and your bling. Screw "sound quality."
Food analogy (Score:5, Funny)
Except not by the record companies, obviously.
Re:What pisses me off (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Is MP3 louder than uncompressed? (Score:5, Funny)
I find playing Green day to be painful to my ears no matter what I play it through.
Re:The alternative? (Score:4, Funny)
The recording engineer?
Rich
Re:What pisses me off (Score:3, Funny)
You mean the "off" button.
Re:question from an audiophile (Score:2, Funny)
Re:I have the solution (Score:5, Funny)