They over load my i/v stage because they are at 0dbfs for 99% of the recording, and compressed also at that level.
Is this for ipods so they don't blow their eardrums out with proper dynamics, and to save on another gain stage in the ipod?
F*** progress, it stinks
Cheers George
Is this for ipods so they don't blow their eardrums out with proper dynamics, and to save on another gain stage in the ipod?
F*** progress, it stinks
Cheers George
Your I/V stage should handle the output that corresponds to the MSB. The max output levels of CD are cast in stone. If the I/V genuinely doesn't handle it the design is seriously flawed. Sounds more like it's just the recordings that are poor to me.
A lot of recordings are compressed and EQ'd to a level suitable for listening on a car stereo or low quality mini hifi systems. The majority of CD sales are in this area, and they are levelled to sound their best when played on this type of equipment. Unfortunately, when listened to on good quality hifi systems, the shortcommings of the recording are all too often plain to hear.
As Mooly says, if your I/V stage doesn't handle it, then their may be a fault in the design. You could always try attenuated cables from your CD to your I/V to try and get round the issue.
As Mooly says, if your I/V stage doesn't handle it, then their may be a fault in the design. You could always try attenuated cables from your CD to your I/V to try and get round the issue.
I often find that newer recordings are clipping almost all the time. They hit 0dB almost constantly. 
yeah, do a little search for "the loudness wars" on google and you'll find all sorts of aggrivating info.
Basically, record companies pander to the basic psychological effect of volume; people put in one CD and it's ROCKING OUT LOUD ALL THE TIME, and then they put in another and it's quiet, and they have to crank up the volume, and their system might not let them crank it up as high on that CD as the other, and, well, you get the idea.
So record companies for a long time now have been constantly trying to outdo each other on loudness, which also means that they compress the hell out of the music so there's no more dynamic range. They do this without permission of the actual composers, often after final mastering is done.
There are several bands out there that are starting to put up a stand and make the problem known. I forget which band right off the top of my head, but I recall some band making a statement at some big awards show (grammy?) about their stance on the whole situation.
I've noticed it for a long time, just in how dynamic range in music is, and it's always frustrated me. When a song is going along and building up to a huge breakdown, and building up and building up, and then the breakdown hits and it's all huge... but it's the same volume as everything else. It almost seems quieter, because the expression of the instruments is obviously indicating greater dyanmics, but the volume is choked to compensate. It's really frustrating and anti-climactic.
Basically, record companies pander to the basic psychological effect of volume; people put in one CD and it's ROCKING OUT LOUD ALL THE TIME, and then they put in another and it's quiet, and they have to crank up the volume, and their system might not let them crank it up as high on that CD as the other, and, well, you get the idea.
So record companies for a long time now have been constantly trying to outdo each other on loudness, which also means that they compress the hell out of the music so there's no more dynamic range. They do this without permission of the actual composers, often after final mastering is done.
There are several bands out there that are starting to put up a stand and make the problem known. I forget which band right off the top of my head, but I recall some band making a statement at some big awards show (grammy?) about their stance on the whole situation.
I've noticed it for a long time, just in how dynamic range in music is, and it's always frustrated me. When a song is going along and building up to a huge breakdown, and building up and building up, and then the breakdown hits and it's all huge... but it's the same volume as everything else. It almost seems quieter, because the expression of the instruments is obviously indicating greater dyanmics, but the volume is choked to compensate. It's really frustrating and anti-climactic.
Mooly said:
It does, it just that I'm over buying new cd's just to find them so loud that I can't get past 9 o'clock and that's on a passive pre, gods knows I'd be just above the bump stop on an active pre. Then there's the compression issue of today's loud cd's, has the whole recording industry gone loudness mad? I just bought K.D. Lang's Hymns of the 49th Parallel and it's disgusting, gone is the liquid smoothness of her voice, now it's just continuous loud compressed grain.
Cheers George
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