loudness wars split from Fat Bob topic

Does exactly what it says on the tin. Some of the nonsense contained herein may be very loosely related to The Sisters of Mercy, but I wouldn't bet your PayPal account on it. In keeping with the internet's general theme nothing written here should be taken as Gospel: over three quarters of it is utter gibberish, and most of the forum's denizens haven't spoken to another human being face-to-face for decades. Don't worry your pretty little heads about it. Above all else, remember this: You don't have to stay forever. I will understand.
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EvilBastard
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Syberberg wrote:Thanks guys. :notworthy:
Glad to be of service 8)
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Izzy HaveMercy
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Oh, and FGG are now Certified TurnMeUp.

And we are allowed to wield this Shield Against Loudness from now on! ;D

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This Just In!

from the Planet Rock website

Metallica Sound Row
25th September 2008

Metallica fans around the world have been complaining about the sound quality of the band’s new album, Death Magnetic.

Fans claim that the sound levels are too high on the record meaning that some of the instruments are lost in the mix – and it’s especially noticeable when compared with the version of the album released on Guitar Hero.

The problem, it seems, is that the version that appears on the album has been compressed and clipped to make the record louder, while the Guitar Hero version features individual instrument tracks that haven’t been altered a great deal.

The album’s engineer, Ted Jansen (any relation ARF!? :lol:) says that the album was altered before he had a chance to do something about it, saying "The mixes were brick-walled before I heard them. I'm not proud to be associated with this one."

The band’s co-manager Cliff Burnstein responded by telling the Wall Street Journal that the number of complaints about the sound were exaggerated and that the response had been “overwhelmingly positive.�

Sound problems or not, the sales momentum of the album shows no signs of slowing down.

After the first full week of sales Death Magnetic is at number one in a massive 26 countries around the world and its sales are already approaching 1 million copies.

and then there's this...

The Death Of The CD?
25th September 2008

A new music format is threatening to kill off the CD as it aims to unite digital and physical formats.

SanDisk’s slotMusic memory cards plan to offer a best of both worlds situation where consumers can buy a microSD card containing DRM free music, liner notes, album art and videos.

The thumbnail sized cards (not unlike the cards that you have in digital cameras) can be inserted into mobile phones, MP3 players, PCs and some personal navigation devices.

And while new formats come and go, very few have the backing that this one does. Top record labels EMI Music, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group (WMG) will all look to invest in the format.

Daniel Schreiber, general manager of SanDisk’s audio and video division, told CNN that 74% of music consumers still value a physical format, and that these new slotMusic cards will have the convenience of CDs without the limitations that some download services offer. “It’s incredible how high a barrier these [online music] services have for taking music on the go,� he said.

But what do you think? What’s so wrong with CDs? Or is downloading going to kill the physical format completely?
Last edited by James Blast on 25 Sep 2008, 18:32, edited 1 time in total.
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mh
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

About bloody time too. Hopefully those in positions of ability-to-do-something-about-this will start sitting up and taking notice.

Burnstein's reaction is mind-boggling though. Talk about trying to pretend nothing's wrong when everybody knows something is! :evil:
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I remember a few years back, when Dutch musician Hans Dulfer presented his new album on a USB stick, claiming this was the new way to go. That SanDisk thing appears to be exactly the same, but as it's thought up by a corporation, it might get more market attention than a modern jazz musician, probably remembered by most people because his daughter Candy played sax on Prince's Batman OST.

Is the CD on its way out? Maybe, maybe not. I think, though, is that like vinyl, the CD format will probably retain its appeal to a certain audience and it might be made more interesting package and content wise. I can see a - not too distant - future where albums will be offered in a digital format only, depending on the size of the SD cards offered. With 12GB and more sized cards already on the market, you could stuff a lot of uncompressed content on such a card, not just audio, but also graphic and video (in HD, even) in various formats. And in an industry that's looking to cut even more costs and gain even more profits, due to the download issue, offering such cards will enable them to do just that. The cards are small, thus less packaging and artwank to take care of, since that could all be stuffed ON the card instead of AROUND it. You'll have some naysayers, of course, who will say that after the miniaturisation of artwork in the CD era, this will be another step down in terms of buying appeal, since packaging will matter even less, but the industry will, of course, not give a damn and rake in the new found profits...
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Memory cards? Bet it goes the way of the MiniDisc.
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James Blast wrote:The album’s engineer, Ted Jansen (any relation ARF!? :lol:)
Not even by a long shot, Brer Blaast. His last name, spelled correctly, is JEnsen, you see... ;)
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it becomes clearer...
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SanDisks are pretty easy to lose too. I can just see my 2016 icosaphonic remaster of FALAA (still not quite right) going behind the sofa forever. :urff:
If I told them once, I told them a hundred times to put 'Spinal Tap' first and 'Puppet Show' last.
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Dark wrote:Memory cards? Bet it goes the way of the MiniDisc.
Agreed.

And it's a bit of a sore point for me; I still have my HiFi minidisc deck...

Time to eBay it methinks.
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IIRC, MiniDisc recorders were meant to be very good for bootlegging?
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Believe it or not, but there's actually a petition online to get Death Magnetic remastered/remixed (seems the general public don't know the difference between mixing and mastering...or production, for that matter either. Ho hum).

I signed it to find out how many people have put their moniker upon it: 11684.

More here.

I wonder how much Burnstein is being paid to talk out of his arse?

@Iz :notworthy: 8) 8) 8) :notworthy: ;D
I don't necessarily agree with everything I think.
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Ahráyeph wrote:I think, though, is that like vinyl, the CD format will probably retain its appeal to a certain audience
I think vinyl has more of a future ahead of it than the CD.

(I don't say that because I'm a nostalgic luddite but simply because in the future the CD will get replaced completely by the net and vinyl is still a physical, palpable, artsy, changing kind of thing, like a real painting vs. a hi-res digital image, and hence its attraction lies beyond just the aural information of a flac or mp3.)
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I don't really care as long as it sounds good
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Dark wrote:IIRC, MiniDisc recorders were meant to be very good for bootlegging?
Not mine. Mains-powered full-size hifi separates are quite tricky to smuggle into a venue. :lol:
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Dark wrote:IIRC, MiniDisc recorders were meant to be very good for bootlegging?
If you had one that could record directly into pcm format, then i suppose so, but the atrac format (well, when it was first around) was just as lossy as an mp3 really.
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markfiend
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Pista wrote:
Dark wrote:IIRC, MiniDisc recorders were meant to be very good for bootlegging?
If you had one that could record directly into pcm format, then i suppose so, but the atrac format (well, when it was first around) was just as lossy as an mp3 really.
Yeah, I was quite pissed off when I found that out; I was sold minidisc as "CD-quality sound" when it's not.
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Ah right, I thought they did record in PCM.. am I also wrong in thinking that they record at a higher sample rate (48kHz as opposed to 44.1khZ)? :oops:
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I think you're thinking of DAT.
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Nowadays some of the best boots are done on HD recorders.
Usual weapon of choice is the Edirol R09.
I have some bl00dy amazing stuff recorded off those things.
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markfiend wrote:I think you're thinking of DAT.
Ah, looks like it. :urff:
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Pista wrote:Nowadays some of the best boots are done on HD recorders.
Usual weapon of choice is the Edirol R09.
I have some bl00dy amazing stuff recorded off those things.
Zoom H2 here, bloody useful for 200 euro.

Mainly for fieldrecording. Now I want some TIME to USE it! :evil:

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I have a couple of shows done on the zoom & they're not bad either.
Trick is to use good external mics & not rely on the on board ones.
Oh, & of course, stand in a good spot.
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Izzy HaveMercy
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Pista wrote:I have a couple of shows done on the zoom & they're not bad either.
Trick is to use good external mics & not rely on the on board ones.
Oh, & of course, stand in a good spot.
Hmm... I disagree there. The Zoom H2 has four mics which give a superb result when used either in front or back only rec as well as in 4-channel surround recording.

I looked into this particularly because I am an 'urban' fieldrecorder and I can't be having with carrying around some external cables, a couple of yards worth of mic poles, a bunch of external mics and a car battery. It needs to fit in the palm of my hand :)

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Izzy HaveMercy
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Found this on another forum:

Master Of Puppets, Death Magnetic style:

End of session day, Rubin works away:
I'm your source of song-destruction
Tunes that hurt you ear, poor sound engineer
Leaving spikes on my instruction
Trust me you will see
Volumes all you need
Dedicated to
How I'll limit you

Compressing faster
Limit your Master
Album sells faster
With a loud Master
Master

Mastered by muppets, brickwalling your dreams
Clipping, distorting and smashing extremes
Ruined by me, you can't hear a thing
Just spiking snares, and auto-tuned screams
Mastered
Mastered
Rubins my name, and I'll hear you scream
Bastard
Bastard

Need to mix this way, never you dismay
Loud makes death magnetic clearer
Gain monopoly, ritual Waves L3
Squash your tracks til its severe
Gate and you will see
More and more dB
Dedicated to
How I'm killing you

Compressing faster
Limit your Master
Album sells faster
With a loud Master
Master

Mastered by muppets, brickwalling your dreams
Clipping, distorting and smashing extremes
Ruined by me, you can't hear a thing
Just spiking snares, and auto-tuned screams
Mastered
Mastered
Rubins my name, and I'll hear you scream
Bastard
Bastard

Master, Master, where's the version I've been after?
Bearded, Bastard, you promised only lies
Blaster, Blaster, recorded on a ghetto blaster?
Laughter, laughter, laughing at those highs
Spike to me!

Lars ain't worth all that natural kick and hats
Kirk adds wah without a reason
Never ending phrase, Jaymz goes on for days
Rob, your shirt is out of season
Ill record til 5 (then)
I will help you buy
Sandals that suit you
Now you look cool too

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