Remastering (Improving) your own Audio Albums as Big F.Y. to corporate Loudness War trend.

[Bounce44.1]

Loudness normalization absolutely does push back against the excessive use of peak limiting, because it uses RMS (or a similar measure) to normalize tracks. So a track that uses a lot of peak limiting and then cranks up the RMS will simply be re-lowered in volume by loudness normalization, defeating the purpose of the peak limiting.

What loudness normalization does not deal with is more conventional forms of compression, where all soft sounds are boosted and all loud sounds attenuated. The kind of compression can be a real sonic problem of course, but it's been going on forever and unlike peak limiting it is a longstanding part not only of the mastering of rock/pop music, but also of the recording of individual instruments and of the mixing process.

Parallel compression. One does not destroy the tune simply to trick the normalization. One empowers the tune to embrace the normalization

 

[captain paranoia]

Given the processing capability of the playback devices being used to drive the earbuds that continue to drive appalling mastering, it really ought to be possible to put the 'make it loud' compression button in the hands of the user. Leaving the unbutchered masters for those who appreciate DR and good sound. Such a button could be built into streaming apps, too.

 

[MRC01]

Given the processing capability of the playback devices being used ... it really ought to be possible to put the 'make it loud' compression button in the hands of the user. ...

I've seen car stereos with this: a dynamic range compression feature. It can be useful when listening to music with big dynamic range, like classical or others.
And I agree, the playback system is exactly where this feature belongs. Not in the recording!

 

[PaulD]

I've seen car stereos with this: a dynamic range compression feature. It can be useful when listening to music with big dynamic range, like classical or others.
And I agree, the playback system is exactly where this feature belongs. Not in the recording!

Too true, but moving the industry in this direction will, sadly, probably not happen for decades.

 

[tmtomh]

Given the processing capability of the playback devices being used to drive the earbuds that continue to drive appalling mastering, it really ought to be possible to put the 'make it loud' compression button in the hands of the user. Leaving the unbutchered masters for those who appreciate DR and good sound. Such a button could be built into streaming apps, too.

As flawed and pointless as HDCD was, its Peak Extend feature was sort of like that - an HDCD with Peak Extend will play back in undecoded form with chopped-off peaks and a louder RMS. With Peak Extend encoded (aka with Peak Extend engaged), it will play back with restored peaks and a correspondingly lower RMS (I believe 4dB if memory serves).

 

[Tool]

By the way screenshot of new tool song HD 24/96! (mistake apology for 32) (Though I've seen worse) Dr 7 But Hd download Should be better.

 

[digitalfrost]

Where did you get 32bit?

 

[audimus]

Trying to change the existing ecosystem for higher quality mastering is the tail wagging the dog.

There is an opportunity here for an entrepreneur that is more of a marketeer than a techie geek. And that is to exploit the strong growth of multi-channel home systems over the last decade.

Revive the old hybrid SACD concept and have lossless audio available in both stereo and multi-channel layers BUT make it work with a blu-ray player. SACD failed by requiring a different player and that was necessary because of the limitations of the cd player at the time. This should no longer be necessary. Make it available for streaming as well over the existing HD streaming solutions but using most of the bandwidth for audio and a minimal video to display artwork and info while playing. Perhaps, even have adaptive bitrate playing for audio to provide it with different levels of compression based on available bandwidth. In other words, make it fit seamlessly into the existing HT and video steaming setups and you have a significant market to sell into that will be a superset of the old stereo audiophiles wanting high dynamic range, high quality mastering.

 

[MRC01]

This sounds like DVD-Audio. It seems to have died commercially, though I burn my own DVD-A from FLAC files so I can play them on my disc player.

 

[audimus]

Yes, both SACD and DVD-Audio were premature to market and with barriers. SACD because there was a chicken-and-egg problem requiring a specific player. Until, there was enough content for it, people were not going to buy the player and without enough SACD players, more content was not forthcoming. Nobody took a lead to break that problem. There weren’t enough multi-channel systems deployed at that time to make the DVD-audio compelling for end users or for producers.

Now the situation is different.

The key is to make the availability of lossless audio for music work seamlessly with an existing and growing trend than try to change consumer behavior with a new trend. That means both the ability to provide content for existing HT equipment to play multi-channel or stereo lossless formats without requiring any additional equipment as well as ability to stream for different bandwidths in an adaptive fashion to cater to multiple end points that will default to stereo when that is more relevant. The enabling technology already exists but the technologists in their narrow bubbles don’t have the imagination or the vision to envision the new markets and to work with the above seamless integration requirements. They suddenly start thinking of some new standard or format because everything else sucks according to them and thus guaranteeing lack of market success.

It requires a market-savvy person with Steve Jobs like conviction and heavy hand to set the direction and beat technologists to submission and deliver the above without them running every which way as they normally tend to do.

 

[Julf]

By the way screenshot of new tool song HD 24/96! (mistake apology for 32) (Though I've seen worse) Dr 7 But Hd download Should be better.

Any chance of a spectral plot?

 

[captain paranoia]

The enabling technology already exists but the technologists in their narrow bubbles don’t have the imagination or the vision to envision the new markets

Creating new markets (or not) is done by the marketeers and money men, not the technologists. It's not the technologists who get to choose what technology is marketed, or why; we just try to provide technical solutions to what the marketeers ask for (product engineering is a subordinate division of Marketing). We try to tell them they're mistaken, but they know better...

 

[Tool]

Any chance of a spectral plot?

That's the Screenshot with Spectral but it's improved dr, but thats the same song 32/96 (was 24/96)

 

[Julf]

That's the Screenshot with Spectral but it's improved dr, but thats the same song 32/96 (was 24/96)

Thanks! A total frequency distribution plot over the whole track (so amplitude as a function of frequency as opposed to frequency range as a function of time) would be useful. By the way, 32 bit fixed or floating point?

 

[Tool]

Thanks! A total frequency distribution plot over the whole track (so amplitude as a function of frequency as opposed to frequency range as a function of time) would be useful. By the way, 32 bit fixed or floating point?

It's Fixed 32, sorry but I didn't get it, do you need some more info or it's enough what I've send?

 

[Julf]

do you need some more info or it's enough what I've send?

A plot of total energy content as a function of frequency would be helpful, if possible.

 

[Julf]

product engineering is a subordinate division of Marketing

Indeed. Always preferred to be in independent R&D rather than in product development under marketing.

 

[Dro]

Thanks! A total frequency distribution plot over the whole track (so amplitude as a function of frequency as opposed to frequency range as a function of time) would be useful. By the way, 32 bit fixed or floating point?

 

[Julf]

Thanks!

 

[Tool]

A plot of total energy content as a function of frequency would be helpful, if possible.

That's what i'v got so far, ask if you need anything else.