There is a good article in Rolling Stone (http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17777619/the_death_of_high_fidelity) that talks about how recording engineers are being asked to use excessive dynamic compression in order to bring up the loudness of CDs so they will sound good on MP3 players. This is a very sad reality, and there are a couple of good examples (http://www.turnmeup.org/) of how it changes the fidelity of a recording when mastered this way.

It seems like we are going to be taking a step backwards for a while until bandwidth and portable playback devices can support higher fidelity playback.

How sad. I've been concerned with SACD/DVD-A disappearing, I never thought I'd have to worry about CDs losing more fidelity!

Has anyone noticed how the price of certain DVD-A's have skyrocketed recently...

It seems like we are going to be taking a step backwards for a while until bandwidth and portable playback devices can support higher fidelity playback.
The problem is not so much bandwidth and playback devices as earbuds and car audio environments. And those are unlikely to improve much. Which is sadder still.

For pop/rock stuff the outlook is pretty dismal. I have several CD's that were obviously mastered with very low quality gear in mind. When played on even a mid range system they sound awful.

And their idea that dynamic compression makes for better MP3's is flawed. Garbage in, garbage out. Especially when you're losing quality in the process anyway.

The bottom line is that stupid lazy consumers are being allowed to flush the market right down the toilet. Who cares what people with MP3 players hear? And I say that as a person who uses one. It's great for portability but I don't pretend that it's hi-fi. To sacrifice quality on the CD because people make MP3's from them is just insane.

My friend had a recent pop CD he wanted to hear on my system (it sounded pretty cool on his car system). When we put it in, we both had looks of horror on our faces. The CD had maybe 3 dB of dynamic range. Everything was panned dead center (might as well have been a mono recording). The soundstage had ZERO depth. In short, it was the worst recording I have ever heard.

Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident, but just another indication of the trend that has ripped through recording in the last decade.

This sort of compression has been going on for a long time now; it's not related to mp3 players.

My friend had a recent pop CD he wanted to hear on my system (it sounded pretty cool on his car system). When we put it in, we both had looks of horror on our faces. The CD had maybe 3 dB of dynamic range. Everything was panned dead center (might as well have been a mono recording). The soundstage had ZERO depth. In short, it was the worst recording I have ever heard.

Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident, but just another indication of the trend that has ripped through recording in the last decade.

This is exactly why, a few of us, have added vinyl back into our systems. Not replaced but added. :)

It seems like we are going to be taking a step backwards for a while until bandwidth and portable playback devices can support higher fidelity playback.


The problem is the earbuds and background noise, not the MP3 players.

If the original MP3 encoders had, by default, applied compression for you, without it having to be on the record, we wouldn't have had as much of a problem, although we'd still have to deal with mixes that are mastered to "be the loudest on radio." Nevermind that radio stations already have their multi-band compressors set to create their own sound and dynamics compression...

Here's hoping that record companies, when they start selling MP3s, will apply compression to those, but keep the CDs for higher dynamic range. It could happen, just like some vinyl records came in "special edition" pressings.

The RIAA is too worried about file-sharing to bother with producing better recordings.

The problem is the earbuds and background noise, not the MP3 players.

If the original MP3 encoders had, by default, applied compression for you, without it having to be on the record, we wouldn't have had as much of a problem, although we'd still have to deal with mixes that are mastered to "be the loudest on radio." Nevermind that radio stations already have their multi-band compressors set to create their own sound and dynamics compression...



Earbuds and background noise are part of the problem but the bigger problem is the MP3 format it self. I mean have you ever heard a purchasable for download MP3 albums burned to a CD and played back on a good sound system or a IPod hooked up to a good sound system playing back MP3's? I have on mine and believe me it is god awful sounding!

Here's hoping that record companies, when they start selling MP3s, will apply compression to those, but keep the CDs for higher dynamic range. It could happen, just like some vinyl records came in "special edition" pressings.
In a sense, it's already happening, as record labels relicense titles to audiophile labels.

Hi i would say the death of cds won't come anytime soon as for alot companys ( small and large ) compilation cds are their bread and butter, personally i love cds, its a good feeling buying a few at a time and have a first listen on a saturday afternoon.

Also some cds are recorded well, and some not so well, but a decent system will play most well,
i agree mp3 could kill of cds but hopefully there is something round the corner MP something with full bandwidth.

We must keep buying cds and not mp3

This is exactly why, a few of us, have added vinyl back into our systems. Not replaced but added. :)

and many of us never left it!

The problem is the earbuds and background noise, not the MP3 players.

If the original MP3 encoders had, by default, applied compression for you, without it having to be on the record, we wouldn't have had as much of a problem, although we'd still have to deal with mixes that are mastered to "be the loudest on radio." Nevermind that radio stations already have their multi-band compressors set to create their own sound and dynamics compression...

Here's hoping that record companies, when they start selling MP3s, will apply compression to those, but keep the CDs for higher dynamic range. It could happen, just like some vinyl records came in "special edition" pressings.

The loudness wars were well underway before mp3s got big. Anyway, why permanently cripple the sound of a good mp3 like that? MP3 already have an (unjustly) bad name, hard coding compression into them would justify it, which would be a shame after the folks who made LAME worked so hard to get mp3s to the point of transparency.

Instead, have a switchable compressors built into the players. User can set it on or off as needed.

Btw, MP3s with essentially 'full bandwidth' already exist. The problem with mp3 sound (assuming a decent bitrate), when there is a problem today, is not bandwidth. It's usually pre-echo.

I call it the "iPod Generation". It makes perfect sense that music producers are catering to new digital distribution methods. It's less work for them to get the sound "just right" and it's easier for teenagers to copy songs onto their iPods.

I call it the "iPod Generation". It makes perfect sense that music producers are catering to new digital distribution methods. It's less work for them to get the sound "just right" and it's easier for teenagers to copy songs onto their iPods.

especially when those 'music' producers are using electronic music synthesizers instead of real instruments.