Re: [ARSCLIST] Libraries disposing of records

[Parker Dinkins <parker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

on 1/6/07 5:02 PM US/Central, Aaron Levinson at aaron.levinson@xxxxxxxxxxx
wrote:

> The Loudness War is
> really the result of radio stations compressing things to death and to
> place the blame on the labels alone is really just a facile answer to a
> more complex problem.

Well, we might disagree there.

Most of the mastering sessions we do are attended, and most clients insist
that their CDs be as loud as the one they bring with them for comparison,
without regard to the preservation of transients.

As for radio processing, see
http://www.masterdigital.com/24bit/radioprocess.htm.

What radio stations do is much more than compression. Few audio engineers
have ever heard of phase rotation, yet virtually all audio you hear on the
radio undergoes this process.

Many years ago it was grounds for rejection at the CD pressing plant if
there were too many 0dBfs samples in a row. Now, it's not uncommon to see 20
or more in a row on commercially released product. And these CDs are being
mastered by first tier mastering facilities, with international reputations,
as well as in house mastering engineers at record labels.

Instead of radio, many people think the loudness war in CDs was created by
the CD changer.

Nevertheless, radio processing is also driven by the quest for loudness, but
rock CDs (for example) when broadcast are made much worse by being clipped
during the mastering process.

Radio processing lessens the level differences between various program
sources; it doesn't increase it.

-- 
Parker Dinkins
MasterDigital Corporation
Audio Restoration + CD Mastering
http://masterdigital.com