The loudness wars aren't over, things just change. Just because streaming services even things out, doesn't change the fact that everyone is still wwf slamming everything into oblivion
Interesting. The waveform of the 'remastered for iTunes' version of Death Magnetic still looks like it's completely brick walled, just with a lower overall volume. It literally looks like someone took the entire song and just reduced it by 6db. There still don't appear to be any dynamics whatsoever. It sounds way better though.
I remember returning 'Californication' back to the shop from which it was bought back in 1999 because I could hear distortion. Not everyone could hear it. The shop owners played the CD over the shop speakers and said they couldn't hear and issues. Like really? The replacement CD sounded exact the same. Little did I know it had been mastered this way on purpose and was a victim of the 'loudness war'. Disgraceful.
@@franky9928 , yes but compression causes artifacting and clipping resulting in clipping. To my ears, it sounds like distortion, for example on the guitar solos during Scar Tissues. Of course, compression increases loudness at lower gain volumes narrows the dynamic range.
The drums in death magnetic were mixed too loud for my taste and when you turn down the limiter the transients of the drums become too upfront and in your face but i think that's just what lars likes
Death Magnetic sounds like you're listening to music at a concert and its way to loud and you have no earplugs. My ears get fatigued and get a headache. Funny part is I am playing it at a low volume.
I'm pretty hip to dynamics in music. I even use Perfect Declipper to increase dynamic range on all of my CDs, so when I tell you this, know that it's not coming from someone who has no clue what he's on about: You didn't lower the volume on the Metallica track enough, and for whatever reason, the drums sound _great_ on it. I listened to a level-matched A/B of the guitar hero track versus the CD, and the Guitar Hero track had clearly superior and clear drumming, but in the example you're giving us-partly due to not being properly level matched and PROBABLY partly due to the songs being totally different, including mastered differently-the Metallica track I think ends up sounding far better!
Go watch the RUclips video that directly A/B compares _the Day That Never Comes_ Guitar Hero version and CD version. It's more obvious that the drums pop out on the Guitar Hero version.
loudness is good, concentrated and full sound wave......sounds good on every device, a really small percentage of people have amplified hifi system......every idiot can make a dynamic mix, and dynamic mix sounds like shit on low-medium volume, listening to music on high volumes gives you ear fatigue really quickly....people think making loud master is a trivial thing, but in reality when you're going for a loud master, you have to make pinpoint accurate priorities about what gets slamed down, and what stays at max volume, its by far the hardest part of mastering....if you concentrate the soundwave properly, dynamic mix will sound like shit compared to a properly done loud master, even on high volumes
I agree, you have to have a lot of skill to make a track sound as dull as possible. Removing _all_ of the punch, energy and sizzle from music takes a lot of practice! O.K., but seriously, I've heard a couple phenomenal but loud masters. Specifically, Tyr's album _Hel_ comes to mind. It's a DR6, which is industry standard and what I would normally consider to be abysmal; however, _somehow_ the mastering engineer managed to make the drums pop despite crushing the track. That said, I enhanced the dynamics with a rather expensive piece of software, and naturally it sounds even better when the instruments sound like they do in real life, rather than unnaturally compressed.
The loudness wars aren't over, things just change. Just because streaming services even things out, doesn't change the fact that everyone is still wwf slamming everything into oblivion
Interesting. The waveform of the 'remastered for iTunes' version of Death Magnetic still looks like it's completely brick walled, just with a lower overall volume. It literally looks like someone took the entire song and just reduced it by 6db. There still don't appear to be any dynamics whatsoever. It sounds way better though.
I measured a similar thing on spotify. Its just the same crushed mix turned down!
The best mix you're ever going to hear of the tracks on that album is off Guitar Hero Metallica. They did it REAL good.
I remember returning 'Californication' back to the shop from which it was bought back in 1999 because I could hear distortion. Not everyone could hear it. The shop owners played the CD over the shop speakers and said they couldn't hear and issues. Like really? The replacement CD sounded exact the same. Little did I know it had been mastered this way on purpose and was a victim of the 'loudness war'. Disgraceful.
That's one of their best albums song wise, sadly it sounds like poop
@@franky9928 , yes but compression causes artifacting and clipping resulting in clipping. To my ears, it sounds like distortion, for example on the guitar solos during Scar Tissues. Of course, compression increases loudness at lower gain volumes narrows the dynamic range.
Death magnetic literally gives me a headache
Lol it's kind of funny that Bob Ludwig did the "quiet" master, considering he basically started the loudness war.
He didn't...his clients did.
It's crazy to see how sausage'd the Death Magnetic mixes are. They're exactly how I thought it would be.
Not just you. Makes my vision narrow and my body withdrawl.
Great Video and a very nice example. Thank you for that one!
The drums in death magnetic were mixed too loud for my taste and when you turn down the limiter the transients of the drums become too upfront and in your face but i think that's just what lars likes
Death Magnetic sounds like you're listening to music at a concert and its way to loud and you have no earplugs. My ears get fatigued and get a headache. Funny part is I am playing it at a low volume.
I'm pretty hip to dynamics in music. I even use Perfect Declipper to increase dynamic range on all of my CDs, so when I tell you this, know that it's not coming from someone who has no clue what he's on about:
You didn't lower the volume on the Metallica track enough, and for whatever reason, the drums sound _great_ on it.
I listened to a level-matched A/B of the guitar hero track versus the CD, and the Guitar Hero track had clearly superior and clear drumming, but in the example you're giving us-partly due to not being properly level matched and PROBABLY partly due to the songs being totally different, including mastered differently-the Metallica track I think ends up sounding far better!
This is the reason I stopped listening to Rick Rubin productions. Just listen to the horrible ending of Johnny Cash "Hurt".
I need to listen to Metallic now. But I don't hear the difference.
Go watch the RUclips video that directly A/B compares _the Day That Never Comes_ Guitar Hero version and CD version. It's more obvious that the drums pop out on the Guitar Hero version.
That GnR track sounded AWFUL!
I came here to say this. At least the Metallica song is good.
loudness is good, concentrated and full sound wave......sounds good on every device, a really small percentage of people have amplified hifi system......every idiot can make a dynamic mix, and dynamic mix sounds like shit on low-medium volume, listening to music on high volumes gives you ear fatigue really quickly....people think making loud master is a trivial thing, but in reality when you're going for a loud master, you have to make pinpoint accurate priorities about what gets slamed down, and what stays at max volume, its by far the hardest part of mastering....if you concentrate the soundwave properly, dynamic mix will sound like shit compared to a properly done loud master, even on high volumes
I agree, you have to have a lot of skill to make a track sound as dull as possible. Removing _all_ of the punch, energy and sizzle from music takes a lot of practice!
O.K., but seriously, I've heard a couple phenomenal but loud masters. Specifically, Tyr's album _Hel_ comes to mind. It's a DR6, which is industry standard and what I would normally consider to be abysmal; however, _somehow_ the mastering engineer managed to make the drums pop despite crushing the track.
That said, I enhanced the dynamics with a rather expensive piece of software, and naturally it sounds even better when the instruments sound like they do in real life, rather than unnaturally compressed.
What a load of BS