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| The phrase '''loudness war''' refers to the practice of recording music at progressively higher and higher levels, to create CDs that are as loud as possible. Louder CDs sound louder when played with the same equipment at the same settings. One reason for this practice is that when comparing two CDs, the louder one will sound better on first impression. Higher levels can result in better sounding recordings on low quality reproduction systems, such as web audio formats, AM radio, mono television and telephones, but since most of the material affected is delivered via CD audio, it is largely seen as detrimental to overall quality, given that one of the initial benefits of a CD was its enhanced dynamic range. | The phrase '''loudness war''' refers to the practice of recording music at progressively higher and higher levels, to create CDs that are as loud as possible. Louder CDs sound louder when played with the same equipment at the same settings. One reason for this practice is that when comparing two CDs, the louder one will sound better on first impression. Higher levels can result in better sounding recordings on low quality reproduction systems, such as web audio formats, AM radio, mono television and telephones, but since most of the material affected is delivered via CD audio, it is largely seen as detrimental to overall quality, given that one of the initial benefits of a CD was its enhanced dynamic range. | ||
Revision as of 11:58, 10 January 2006
 | It has been suggested that this article be merged into Audio mastering. (Discuss) |
The phrase loudness war refers to the practice of recording music at progressively higher and higher levels, to create CDs that are as loud as possible. Louder CDs sound louder when played with the same equipment at the same settings. One reason for this practice is that when comparing two CDs, the louder one will sound better on first impression. Higher levels can result in better sounding recordings on low quality reproduction systems, such as web audio formats, AM radio, mono television and telephones, but since most of the material affected is delivered via CD audio, it is largely seen as detrimental to overall quality, given that one of the initial benefits of a CD was its enhanced dynamic range.
To educated ears this practice is unnecessary, since if listeners want to listen to loud music, they can simply turn up the volume on their playback equipment. If a CD is broadcast by a radio station, the station will have its own equipment that flattens everything it broadcasts to the same level, regardless of the original recording's loudness. ,
This practice often results in a form of distortion known as clipping (see Clipping (music)). The loudness wars have reached a point at which most pop CDs, and many classical and jazz CDs, have large amounts of digital clipping, making them harsh and fatiguing to listen to, especially, ironically, on high quality equipment.
Further, current compression and limiter equipment allows engineers to create a recording that has a nearly uniform dynamic level. When that level is set very close to the maximum allowed by the CD format, this creates nearly non-stop distortion throughout the disk.
This situation has been widely condemned. Some have petitioned their favorite groups to rerelease some CD's with less distortion. Others have even said that recording engineers who knowingly push their recording equipment past clipping should be blacklisted and not allowed to "victimize artists or music lovers."
It should be made clear that this distortion is different from other kinds of distortion such as overdrive or feedback (see Overdrive (music)), which is created by electronic musical instruments, not by the recording process, and which can be an intentional and integral part of the performance (see Jimi Hendrix.) Digital clipping is created by recording engineers, not by musicians.
Another consequence of the loudness war is that even if there is no distortion, every song on a CD, and every moment within each song, will have the same dynamic (i.e., loudness) level, with no rise or fall or any sense of dynamic shaping. The music has been flattened against the ceiling, so to speak. Pop music in general has not been interested in the expressive possibilities of crescendos, diminuendoes, sudden loudness or quietness, or any of the the other dynamic devices available to musicians, but the loudness war has eliminated even the possibility of dynamic expressiveness in recorded pop music.