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Old Aug 15, 2012, 12:32 PM
GoldfishX GoldfishX is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Xenofan 29A View Post
It's not naturally, though, as much of classical music has a dynamic range reaching above digital full scale. The adjustments are just less obvious. It's very rare to find an example like the following (my benchmark for what orchestral music should sound like):
When I say "naturally", I mean in the sense that I do not need to process Wavegain adjustments. Most of the time, a classical CD matches the 90db I have my entire library set to. In some cases, it is actually softer (and in those cases, I prefer to turn the volume up than to boost the DB values). I can rip the CD to FLAC and pretty much just throw it in my library.



Quote:
But here's the thing: that's not even desirable with most types of music. This is a very particular, extreme example that you really can't and shouldn't extrapolate any kind of rule from. Decisions on production and mastering are discretionary and should be bent to fit each particular case.
I think dynamics are a necessary part of all music. With no soft, there can be no loud. I agree, the graph you presented is very nice and those peaks mean a lot more when they are scarcely used. But I think having those type of dynamics (although not to THAT extreme) is just as important in rock music as well. Might not be as clean cut as your example, but having those dynamics in place make the music much more exciting.

Quote:
Although certain VGM albums are caught up in the trends of the loudness war, there are a good many that have passed them by entirely, for one reason or another, and if you find you enjoy 80s-early 90s VGM more than almost anything out there today, that implies that the musical style of those games is what attracts you more than anything relating to production/mastering.
Music from the late 80's/early 90's is far from perfect. There are questionable synth choices, boring tracks, bad programmed drums, thin guitars, cookie cutter melodies, etc but there is nothing wrong with how the music, good or bad, sounds. If I like something, there is nothing stupid like excessive clipping or lack of headroom or general listening fatigue that keeps me from wanting to revisit it.

Contrast that to nowadays, where anytime I come across a rock doujin, there is a damn good chance it's clipped and compressed to hell, making the majority of them essentially worthless. Street Fighter Tribute, Black Mages, the Sunsoft arrange, Arcana Heart 3, Mighty Switch Force, King of Fighters XIII, Dynasty Warriors, Guilty Gear XX, just about anything from new school Falcom...If any of these had been put to CD in the late 80's/early 90's, they would have been better off and probably in my listening rotation. Likewise, half the stuff I come across on Bandcamp is WAY too loud to even consider getting into.

Obviously a lot of music I can't comment on -most electronica albums, most orchestral albums, most ambient albums- but I'm not imagining the flaws on the above albums either. Likewise, I'm careful not to confuse my own tastes with the music's production quality. It's just a funny coincidence that a lot of the music from that era that suits my taste happened before the stupidity of the loudness wars creeped in.

From the sound of things, you just sound like you listen to a wider variety of music than me. Probably about 85% of my listening is either chiptunes, synthpop, 80's style pop/j-pop or classic hard rock/heavy metal or some combination of them, with the 15% being classical or whatever I get thrown within the context of a VGM album.

Last edited by GoldfishX; Aug 15, 2012 at 12:50 PM.
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