Distinctly untrendy, but does R3 still fall into that category?
(Where was I reading that even the source CDs are horribly compressed these days?)
cheers, clive
Not as bad as most - and it varies according to the time of day when they reckon most will be listening in cars.
It's 'interesting' that many old analogue recordings have their dynamic range reduced when released on a recent CD - on a medium that for all practical purposes has an infinite dynamic range.
I can see why they do it there. My most recent similar experience was on a plane - one of the films I watched had rather too much range (loud songs, quiet dialogue), which meant lots of playing with volume controls. Could have done with being compressed for that environment. Actually can you get circuits to do that automagically? (VOGAD?) Would that solve the dilemma - let the radio transmit it as it should be, but people in noisy places have a circuit to make the quiet bits louder by a user-selectable amount?
Doh! I can see that being annoying.
cheers, clive
Isn't that what the loudness button is for?
I've read that online somewhere. It's done to allegedly make it sound louder overall, and of course, to hide the shortcomings of cheap stereos. It's increasingly the norm for pop/rock.
No, that's slightly different. Loudness boosts bass & treble artificially at low volume, rather than compressing the dynamic range.
Well yes, but why should it be degraded for everybody - since not all will be listening in a hostile environment? It should be an option in this day and age - indeed DAB was *meant* to offer this facility.
A simple compressor would work fine for non critical listening like this. And I'd guess most airlines prepare their own AV stuff rather than just playing a commercial DVD so that could be processed at transfer time.
No - that simply tips up the ends of the spectrum. The theory being the ear isn't linear frequency response wise to level changes.
Radio Scotland isn't actually processed enough.
On the morning news, they often have speakers on and their dynamic range can be a llover the place. One minute you can hardly hear them, the next it's blowing your ears off.
I'm not looking for the normal degree of compressing the life out if it, but just squeezing it a bit would help in making it easier to listen in the car.
I half feel like sending them 30 quid worth of Behringer Multicom and asking them just to put the slightest smidge of compression on the news.
That's the job of the sound mixer. Although knowing the cutbacks for this sort of thing they've probably replaced him/her with a machine.
I'd be very surprised if compressors weren't in use already, although inserts to the main prog can be a problem with journos recording and editing their own material with little or no technical training. And the item being transmitted with no technical checks beforehand.
...but played on equipment that, like, doesn't.
Even a small portable has a dynamic range far greater than most of these over processed recordings.
Not a brilliant theory...
Heh - I just installed a new amp today... in fact two of them. MC Squared E25. Proper rock and roll.
Can ANYTHING sound so bad that running it through a Multicom can make it sound *better* ? The only Behringer compressor I've found worth having is the hugely overrated Composer Pro...
Interestingly, if you have one, stick your own meters on the in and out - they get there "transparency" by actually delivering less gain reduction than the meters say, on my setup for internet broadcasting I've got one running as compress/limit for the feed and you can run bonkers numbers but they're not actually doing much...
For some reason modern compressor/limiters just don't sound as good. I've got a pair of ancient Neve one I drag around when I need decent sounding ones. Of course they cost a fortune when new - but you'd have thought a digital one could synthesise near any accurately. But I never rely on any compressor metering to set it up - unless I know the actual device well.
I have virtually no outboard at all since going LS9 for everyday use. I have a feeling that the meters on modern compressors are just designed to protect the innocent, the GR meters on the LS9 are certainly not lying.
Neve. Still in the business too - - still cost a fortune.
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