New Vinyl and Compression, NOT a vinyl vs digital thread Options

[indybrett]

In general... would vinyl versions of recently mastered audio also suffer from over compression? I suppose the answer would change as we worked our way back in time.

I have a decent turntable that isn't being used, and was contemplating getting vinyl versions of things like Metallica's Black Album, and even more recently mastered music if the audio is less "squashed" than the CD version.

I found this thread, but it covers a lot more than the one simple aspect I'm asking about.

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....st&p=722028

Edit: grammar

This post has been edited by indybrett: Feb 10 2012, 19:56

[slks]

Radio isn't the only reason, in fact it's become even less of a reason now in the digital age. The real reason they make CDs as loud as possible is that when a properly-recorded, dynamic track comes up on shuffle right after a compressed/brickwalled track, it's going to sound "too quiet". When people put their iTunes libraries on shuffle, or make mix CDs, tracks from different releases get played side-by-side. Unless you have put in effort to ReplayGain everything (which most people aren't going to do), a dynamic track is going to sound too quiet.

The reality is that 19 out of 20 releases are too loud, and any CD that gets put out is going to be competing directly with overly loud recordings. That's why producers feel such a need to maximize the volume. That's the origin of the term "Loudness War".

I think it's got very little to do with the radio. Stations run their entire broadcast through compressors, anyway. The radio is always going to be compressed, regardless of how the song itself is mixed.