Axehole

Retired Aerospace systems engineer Mike Richter takes a look at audio compression and mastering, a subject that may not be rocket science, but sometimes seems that way.

His article, The Death of Dynamic Range, visually explores the dynamic levels and peak levels of CDs mastered over the last 20 years, and shows how the mastering of some pop music has evolved to maximize loudness, at the expense of dynamic range.

Richter argues that “The record companies are not only filling your CDs with distorted, corrupted audio, they are forcing you to listen to your music in a certain manner — do you really want that?”

While Richter’s discussion is interesting, it ignores the fact that there are some benefits to compressed audio dynamics. Listening to a traditionally-mastered CD of classical music in a noisy car is nearly impossible, because quiet sections are completely lost in the din of automobile noise.
Don’t be surprised if, someday, someone finds a correlation between hyper-compressed mastering and the appearance of CD players in cars.