Music just sounds bad these days.

[Looneybomber]

*edit* I just noticed we have a media forum for a discussion like this. If any mods want to move this, go on ahead

There has been something I noticed about music for years now that I couldn't quite explain other than it didn't sound right. I don't mean anything about how bad the song is, but how the song sounded. Some songs seem to really stand out in an almost compelling sense. Prime example. Phil Collins - Another day in paradise. I love the beginning of that song.

It wasn't until I saw a post on another forum mentioning a Poison song. He had one of their original CD's from the early 90's and then bought a "remastered" greatest hits album. He listened to one of the songs on the greatest hits album and went on to say it sounded lifeless and perfered the original 90's version. That's when he ripped it and analyzed the ocilliscope. He noticed the remastered song lacked a lot of dynamics that the original song had, but was overall louder.

I then saw this video on Youtube.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ

After I saw that, everything clicked! The intro to Another Day In Paradise is very dynamic. Another song I love is Blues Traveler - Run Around and is another dynamic song.

A song I don't like? Gwens Banana song. It sounds like it's at one solid volume doesn't it? Coincidence?
Modified by Looneybomber at 3:05 AM 5/20/2007

[jdm_master_X]

old school and underground is all that is quality now. i think music has finally reached its peak, artists do it just for the money, stupidity is the new cool, and the young'ns are buying into the ignorance.

Run DMC, Beastie Boys, Prince and the Revolution FTMFW!

[Looneybomber]

old school and underground is all that is quality now. i think music has finally reached its peak, artists do it just for the money, stupidity is the new cool, and the young'ns are buying into the ignorance.

Run DMC, Beastie Boys, Prince and the Revolution FTMFW!

Yeah I listen to a lot more 80's and 90's music now. I used to only listen to the "back in the day cafe" or "retro lunch hour" a few times/week, but now I have more and more CD's burned off that I keep in my radio that I can play at a moments notice.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

good catch. I wonder if it will ever go the other way, or if it will get worse? (Industry wise)

[bobotech]

I can't stand how modern music is rendered like that these days.

I forgot the term, but modern music (pop) has its overall volumes all evened out at the high end which causes distortion with spikes. Not good BUT it sounds louder on radios which the record companies like.

Problem is all music is volume pushed these days making it all sound like a bag of suck.

Normalization? I think that might be part of the term.

[MinisterofDOOM]

As a person who mostly listens to a lot of older music, I've been more or less aware of (and annoyed by) this problem for a while.

My problem wasn't with the actual remasterings, though...it was with my Pioneer CD player.I LOVE the CD player. What I don't love is the equalization settings. It seems like the only way to make the music more powerful is to boost the bass or do the volume increase shown in the video you posted. But if I crank the bass, it neuters some of the song (trebble loses it's sharpness or is completely lost, and the whole song sounds a bit "cottony"). If I do the volume increase ("Loud" or a number of other options on the headunit) I loose the punch of the bass.

I have a TON of Zeppelin on CD, some of it "original" masters and some remastered.I'm going to have to compare the two now...see if there's much difference.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Furthermore, I think some of the highest quality music I have heard (other than in concert) is from Vynal. Something aobut it just gave it more punch...

[PapaSmurf2k3]

wow, this thread died right off when it went into the media forum.

[Looneybomber]

One of the reasons I believe music is getting compressed like it is, is because of the way it's played. How much music gets played over the FM, XM and Series radio? How much gets downloaded as an MP3? How much gets ripped from a CD to an MP3? I would bet that maybe 99% or more of people listening to music these days will either listen to it with an MP3 player, on their computer in MP3 format, or over the radio.

Compressed/normalized music is the way to go if you're going to play it with some crappy earbuds or over the radio because it will help cover up noise and other distortions. MP3 (or other compression format) is the way to store music on your computer. MP3s will really show their bad sides with quiet music in the highest octave (12Khz+) due to all the compression artifacts. Normalizing the sound so the quiet sections aren't so quiet can cover up a lot of the computers noise too.

Any way you look at it, it's the vast majority of the population and our lifestyle that has spelled doom for our music quality today.

Furthermore, I think some of the highest quality music I have heard (other than in concert) is from Vynal. Something aobut it just gave it more punch...

Vinyl has a lot of things going for it, like a lack of compression and normalization (though those can be added to it). A lot of the "audiophiles" perfer vinyl, vacuum tube amps and full range drivers in huge horn enclosures. Reason being there is no XO (crossover) to degrade music or DAC's (Digital to Analog Converter) to cause graininess or artifacts.

I want to know just how many of these "artifacts" these people actually here over the constant hiss and kuthunk of the needle surfing around on the record!? I honestly can't hear any of them over that noise. So is it really necessar to buy 100grand worth of clean equipment to play a record? I think not.

Built correctly, a XO should never be heard, but the effects of it modifying a speakers bad manners like cone breakup and adding BSC (Baffle Step Compensation) to deal with floor and wall interactions will flatten the frequency response, ultimately creating better sounding music.

I can't get started on arguing chips vs tubes in amps and preamps because that's out of my realm, but I know I cannot hear a difference between the two, so to me, that's good enough.

[Black on Gold]

Looney, i really have to agree with you on the music just isnt where it used to be. I cant stand Fergy or Gwen. There sound is just plain annoying and have absolutely no meaning or relation.

Im in your boat. I've always loved 80's and 90's music. Third Eye Blind, Goo Goo Dolls, Blue's Traveler's, Hootie and the Blowfish, Sister Hazel, Barenaked Ladies,Bush, Deep Blue Something,Everclear, Goldfinger, Gin Blossoms, man i could go on for days

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I think the best recording I have ever heard on CD has got to be Boston's debut album. I can't beleive that shiz was recorded in a basement. Its a damn shame that Brad Delp took his life...

[Mr1der]

right now, I've turned to Europe for good metal.

the US state of metal has sucked for about 10 years.

well....longer really...closing in on 20.

[Looneybomber]

Yeah, metal has not been real good for quite a while. I'm not a metal fan, yet even I know this. I think it's all resulting from a lack of creativity due to having so many songs already produced about so many different things.

One song I do like that came out not too long ago, Danzig - Mother.

[brisknfade]

Danzig is bad ***. I don't really care for metal, or the Misfits, but Danzig is always in my playlists. Ha.

"Danzig Mother ****er."

[Mr1der]

good lord...Mother came out in like '92 man!

I miss old Misfits...wish they had better recording technology back then for the indie labels

[Looneybomber]

good lord...Mother came out in like '92 man!``

Yeah well, I just heard it a couple years ago.
Modified by Looneybomber at 5:09 PM 5/26/2007

[Mr1der]

it's funnier if I continue to think you've just developed alzheimers at a young age.

[Looneybomber]

it's funnier if I continue to think you've just developed alzheimers at a young age.

Who are you and why're you talking to me

[Thrust]

Must admit, there are a lot of good metal bands from europe and asia. Music on the radio has been stale. Plus a lot of these bands don't get the exposure they deserve over in the states. A lot of good stuff out there.