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Everything this forum aims for is, I’m sure, fundamentally correct. I just want to note the major issue in our listening enjoyment.
Look, we have DACs which are transparent costing $100, and yet some still pay $1,000 fa ‘better’ one which is no better at worst, and only a tiny bit better at best.
But this isn’t where the biggest problem is. The biggest problem is with the mastering. Poorly mastered, unbalanced, brick-walled, loudness wars, shoddy mastering.
Is there nothing we can do? There appear to be quite a few people in the ‘audiophile’ community with contacts to the music industry, and there do genuinely appear to be people involved who care a lot about quality.
Can we not have some sort of campaign. I mean how difficult can it be to master stuff properly, at least within a number of set parameters?
Wouldn’t the success of such a campaign give us all better-sounding music FOR FREE, without having to upgrade any of our kit?
And, on the other hand, what’s the point in listening to your favourite music through a pair of $4,000 headphones if the mastering is shoddy.
My apologies, just venting.
The biggest problem is with the mastering.
No, the speakers/room is a bigger problem usually.
I agree that mastering is a much larger problem than HiFi electronics, and I "do something" by looking for the best (reputedly) masters or editions I can find.
We need to devote more attention to measuring compression artifacts on different releases. I know of only one guy who does that comparison.