Distortion in some recordings - on purpose, bad DAC, or just bad recording engineers?

[PHD]

I've noticed that on a few recordings, occasionally, I can hear clear distortion. Here is an example at 1:10, you can hear the classic guitar note is highly distorted:

Is this done deliberately? Is this an example of inter-sample distortion and bad DAC implementation?

At first, I thought that it was my Denon X4800H, but then I discovered that I can hear it on any other platform. I even ordered the LP from Amazon to check if it happens in an analog source.

I have many more examples, which I'll link here later. If this was a bad recording take, then why not take another one and fix it? So, I suspect it is an inter-sample distortion.

I'd appreciate some experts' opinions.

 

[somebodyelse]

'Video not available' - did it get taken down for copyright?'

 

[danadam]

'Video not available' - did it get taken down for copyright?'

Calexico - Glowing Heart of the World

I don't know, to me it sounds like he played it like that on purpose.

 

[DVDdoug]

Not every recording/production is perfect...

If it was rock or pop I would assume it's "intentional"... An "acceptable" side effect of the loudness war.

With classical guitar I'd say poor production. It could happen anywhere along the way in the production process and it could be a compromise for loudness even if they aren't trying to win the loudness war.

I suspect it is an inter-sample distortion.

I'm don't think you can hear inter-sample overs under normal conditions. As far as I know, I've never heard one. Of course there is no information between the digital samples so if you get clipping from an inter-sample over you can blame the DAC. And if you have a software volume control (like on a computer) you can turn down the volume by 1 or 2 dB to prevent it.

 

[JustJones]

Sounds like the guitar vibrating to me. Sometimes it's intended like on Nilsson's "Jump into the Fire" where Herbie Flowers detuned the Bass.

 

[Torin Krell]

Distortion is of course also often used, and and occasionally overused, as just another sound effect in music production. (For a recent example of overuse IMHO listen to Billie Eilish's track "Happier Than Ever" after the 3 minute mark:

Interestingly less distortion is used when she plays this track live:

Sometimes a great performance is preferred over a recording that is recorded with technical perfection. Listening to the track "Glowing Heart of the World" (as discussed above) on Tidal (youtube often smears transients) the "distortion" at 1:10 sounds mainly like fret buzz exacerbated by close mic placement and possibly a fast acting limiter. (I have recorded acoustic guitar in a studio on several occasions.)

 

[babadono]

Not every recording/production is perfect...

Wow that's a mouthful
In fact some recordings are downright bad. The better your system, especially speakers and room, the worse some recordings become.

 

[dasdoing]

the fist track hits -9 LUFSi if you look at stats for nerds. and half the song is quiet, so the loud part is way over -9 LUFSi. it is most certainly distortion from the limiting (audiophiles call it compression).....but wanted cause even a kid can hear it

 

[Torin Krell]

In recording studios compression and limiting are expressed and differentiated by their ratios. Generally speaking from just over utility gain to roughly 10:1 is called compression, while over 10:1 and certainly over 20:1 is called limiting.

 

[Ropeburn]

Wow that's a mouthful
In fact some recordings are downright bad. The better your system, especially speakers and room, the worse some recordings become.

It's a great indicator that your system reaches the infamous "resolving enough" threshold a certain subgroup of audiophiles keep mentioning.

 

[babadono]

It's a great indicator that your system reaches the infamous "resolving enough" threshold a certain subgroup of audiophiles keep mentioning.

And the flip side of course is good recordings sound excellent.