Wow,,,someone is a big fan of compression...

Read the exchange started when CLASSVT joins in defence of compression....I found it funny.

http://www.contour.org/ceg-vb/showthread.php?t=15251

 

That might be the dumbest thing I've ever read.

 

Glad I'm not a member of that forum. I would have been enraged at that guy's attempted explanation of compression. It worries me that he claims to have gone to school for sound engineering. If that's what they teach now, we're in trouble in the future!!

Frank R.

 

Maybe it was a mail your diploma school...

 

Pete Townsend loves compression.

 

Music for people who don't like listening to music. Or something like that.

 

Saying that digital mastering compression is the current trend or what the consumer wants is one thing. Saying that it actually sounds better is just insane. Anyone with good ears should know that.

 

I think they guy forgot to mention he's a record company shill who's legally hearing impaired.

RL

 

Sadly, I moderate that forum and it has deteriorated signficantly over the years. Used to be frequented by a number of intelligent members, but as the cars aged and the collective group got younger, it isn't what it used to be. I hope my limited knowledge of compression wasn't too evident. I'm no sound engineer, but I play one on the internet.

 

Townsend's hearing is now compressed, mostly because of Keith Moon though!

 

Ughh. Why has everyone forgotten about dynamic range?

I mean, they even used that as a major selling point of CDs originally.

 

Townshend mixed the surround version of Tommy, and I like the sound of that quite a bit! He also mixed Endless Wire, and although it doesn't sound great, it doesn't sound terrible either. Especially for a guy who is as deaf as everyone says he is! FWIW, he has tinnitis, or ringing in his ears more than actual hearing loss from what I understand.

Frank R.

 

Not only that, but saying that sound quality is eleventy billion times better now is just nonsense. It's not even a tiny bit better.

 

I don't see anything bad on compression per se, when used as a creative tool it can produce that cool floating sound (She Said, She Said or Taxman overcompressed drum sound is great). Also, rock vocals would sound dry and uneven uncompressed using a condensator mic. Screaming into a dynamic mic adds a bit of compression too. Our ears and brains do "compress" at high levels too. An analog and digital compression only mimics that physiological compression on lower levels, which is a part of perception of loud sounds. Limiting the most prominent transients during recording or mastering makes sounds better and helps to use dynamic range of a medium more effectively. As with a lot things in this world there must be a balance between too little and too much compression/limiting. Our answer to loudness war is very simple: Don't buy it a let that know to artists/recording industry/consumer electronic manufacturers as loud as possible!!!

 

I use compression/limiting recording various instruments on my records. This is an artistic approach if done intelligently. Certainly folks like Norman Smith, Geoff Emerick and Larry Levine did too. It's hard limiting the mastering bus on the final mix that gives the ultra maximized crappy sound we hear on modern discs. Yuck!

Bobby Sutliff

 

Excellent post, you made over there!

 

Welcome to SH.TV. Hang around here for a few days and you'll be a convert for life!

 

Ah, I get it. It's just a different form of "...these go to 11".
Marty? Nigel? You out there? C'mon out, guys...

 

Ok, that's a fair description, if a bit technically inaccurate.

But a more consistent volume? Has this tool ever heard of DYNAMICS?

 

I love it! Sounds like the kind of thing Dr. John or Slim Gaillard would use.

 

or something to do with air conditioning!

 

Next thing you know, he'll be telling us that, besides constant volume, the song also needs to play at a constant pitch. Yeah, that's the ticket, the same note, over and over...

 

Great stuff you said over there. Way to try to straighten it out. I can't believe anyone actually thinks that way. The only time moderately-used compression is a good thing is in the car. Otherwise, not so much.

Ed

 

I like Endless Wire but I'm not so sure I agree about the mix. I have the vinyl and it's kind of like a big sloggy midrangey mess. But I still enjoy it from time to time.

Anyway, compression:

Last night I had to play a show where they were running some compression on my piano because of dynamic issues in the hall and I was using ears and at first they were putting the compression in my ears and OH BOY DID IT SOUND ROTTEN. What compression can do to a piano is scary.

Anyway, I don't agree that it's always bad though. Sometimes if you put a little compression on a particular mix it makes it jump into focus nicely. It just depends on the type of music, and the specifics of the particular track.

I've definitely seen a case where like two songs on an album fit the album better with a little compression on them, when the rest of the album was completely uncompressed.

-s

 

Wow. I can't believe this guy. Here's one of his quotes:

"Take for example classical music. Try putting a CD of Bach or whoever you want in your stereo at home or in your car. This music is so dynamic that you constatly have to ride the volume control to hear the quiet parts, and then not blow your speakers during the loud parts. It's stimulating to listen to music this way, especially live, but not always pleasant. You will find yourself being startled quite often, when the loud parts kick in and out."

I sure don't wanna be startled!