Jan

7

The death of hi-fi sound

January 7, 2008 |

Rolling StoneRobert Levine writes for Rolling Stone magazine on The Death of High Fidelity: “In the age of mp3s, sound quality is worse than ever… Over the past decade and a half, a revolution in recording technology has changed the way albums are produced, mixed and mastered - almost always for the worse. “They make it loud to get [listeners’] attention,” Bendeth says. Engineers do that by applying dynamic range compression, which reduces the difference between the loudest and softest sounds in a song. Like many of his peers, Bendeth believes that relying too much on this effect can obscure sonic detail, rob music of its emotional power and leave listeners with what engineers call ear fatigue. “I think most everything is mastered a little too loud,” Bendeth says. “The industry decided that it’s a volume contest.” http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17777619/the_death_of_high_fidelity?source=music_news_rssfeed


Comments

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Speak your mind

tixdaq

Featured MP3: Eimear Bradley

Eimear Bradley

Featured Album: Ken Haddock



Featured Book: Jimmy Kennedy

"MY SONG GOES ROUND THE WORLD" the book about Co. Tyrone lyricist Jimmy Kennedy, writer of "Red Sails in the Sunset", "The Teddy Bears' Picnic", "South of the Border"...