Home » Audio » General » Apple Ending the Loudness Wars?
Apple Ending the Loudness Wars? [message #78529] Tue, 03 December 2013 06:50 Go to next message
Nymeria is currently offline  Nymeria
Messages: 508
Registered: April 2011
Illuminati (1st Degree)
What do you think of this article? The interviewee posits that Apple's Sound Check algorithm will end the loudness wars, since it actually turns down loud songs instead of turning up quiet ones.
Re: Apple Ending the Loudness Wars? [message #78531 is a reply to message #78529] Tue, 03 December 2013 08:40 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Cask05 is currently offline  Cask05
Messages: 16
Registered: November 2013
Location: Arlington, Texas
Chancellor
This is not quite that simple, unfortunately. Radio in the U.S. has been regulating loudness for many years already using their own algorithms. So if you subtract out radio from this argument, the only pieces left that I see are mp3's, CDs/SACDs/DVD-As, and the various non-mp3 download services, such as HDTracks.

Apparently, the "powers that be" at the big record companies are the source of the problem. If you go over to this thread, you will see that it's really those guys that are controlling this situation. I recommend reading the entire thread referenced in this link to see the issues, including the cultural ones that the recording/ mixing/ mastering engineers now practice openly and without remorse. Until that culture changes (and good luck with that), the problem will persist and even leak into the next generation of these "engineers".

I simply pay attention to the DR Database site when buying. It's made a huge difference in my listening library makeup (popular recordings only) and my resulting listening pleasure.

YMMV.


Chris
Re: Apple Ending the Loudness Wars? [message #78694 is a reply to message #78529] Wed, 18 December 2013 12:31 Go to previous message
Cask05 is currently offline  Cask05
Messages: 16
Registered: November 2013
Location: Arlington, Texas
Chancellor
Note that there is the assumption by Mr. Katz in the article that online streaming audio will take over the marketplace from non-streaming channels. That notion may be more than a bit optimistic.

I had assumed, above, that the readers here had already come to that conclusion. However, I would definitely welcome Apple's intention to default to "Sound Check=On" mode for streaming.

However, I don't believe that this new force in the streaming music marketplace will, by itself, change current practices at the bulk of popular music record corporations or by their suppliers: recording, mixing and mastering engineers used to 20 years of Loudness War techniques as their standard tool of processing for recording "enhancements".


Chris
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