First it was Frank Zappa’s widow complaining about compression killing the music; then AC/DC chimed in with its opinions on iTunes. So how else is Apple destroying the music?
Well, it appears that the proliferation of iPods is adversely affecting the musical quality of heavy metal. An article in the Wall Street Journal—and I am the only one wondering about the intersection of Journal writers and heavy metal fans?—suggests that as portable music player technology has progressed, music’s dynamic range has become the victim. The fact that most portable music players use relatively low-fidelity headphones means that music producers instead focus on a quality that listeners can detect: namely, louder volumes.
At the center of this controversy is Metallica’s latest album “Death Magnetic.” Vocal fans have complained about the album’s mix, saying that the sound is “tinny and brittle.” Even the album’s mastering engineer has been quoted as saying: “Believe me, I’m not proud to be associated with this one.”
I’m not an audiophile like our own Mr. Dahlquist—I can barely tell high fidelity from Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity. The music I listen to sounds fine to me, for the most part, even if it is compressed to hell, lacking dynamic range, and yes, is sold by the heathens at the iTunes Store. Am I missing out here?
Well, I'm somewhat of an audiophile and I definitely notice compression artifacts in compressed music. I do use high-end IEMs (Triple.fi 10's) and every flaw tends to be noticeable with that class of phones.
But I've heard some tracks that are so bad they make you want your money back. Cracking and popping and hissing and even the bubbly noise of compression are clearly heard. It's not the norm, but clearly there is music out there that is sub-par when recorded.
Seems pretty obvious to me that one can't miss what one doesn't hear in the first place.
iTunes/iPod is a venture intended for the mass market. It's not about audiophile quality any more than the cheap record player of the 60s & 70s was. Portable music for the masses is basically what it is.
It cracks me up when I hear people paying all kinds of crazy money on audiophile equipment then connect their iPod to it and wonder why it sounds like garbage to them! While you can play lossless music on the iPod, the electronics of the device aren't designed for flawless playing like a $2000 receiver.
I'm surely no audiophile, but if you hear Metallica's recent album, "Death Magnetic", you'll see what people are talking about.
It's absolute crap! (not only the songs, but the production as well)
It's AM radio all over again (in effect).
Part of Berry Gordy's Motown genius was mixing songs that played well on the mass reproduction system of his time - AM (car) radios.
MP3 is the AM radio of our time.
I'm not an audiophile either, but I still like my music, when, that is I'm not constantly aware of my tinnitus.
There's something rather odd and almost comical about this article. I mean, if there was a problem with sound quality, wouldn't there be concerns from followers of Classical music, contemporary jazz, and the likes?
Surely iTunes should be accepted as another way in which to listen to stuff. I mean, Have we become so reliant on this convenient form of technology, that it supersedes all other forms of immediate technology?
I'm an old metal fan, and I've been to countless rock venues and metal gigs in my time, and the only time I've really appreciated sound is when some acoustic guitar solo breaks the mold of constant head-banging.
Just because Metallica hasn't made any decent albums in 18 years doesn't mean something else is to blame.
Ipods aren't the problem: it's Metallica's lack of creativity that is the problem.
And I do think you're right on questioning WJ's addressing of metal fan's concern and guessing why the situation arose.
True, apple's headphones are lo-fi, but you don't have to spend alot of money to get decent hi-fi headphones that also give you decent bass. Skullcandy makes some great earbuds for around $30-$40, and they transmit sound as good as my car's upgraded (i.e. really good-sounding) audio system....including the bass. I think most people with taste use decent hi-fi phones as well, so that debunks the whole thing with the trend being focused on those with lo-fi ear buds.
Metallica needs to stop claiming victimhood here (or people need to stop claiming victimhood for them), and admit that they've been dead for 18 years already.
This is why Sound Check was developed. It's not the iPod, it's what producers think people want. The same goes for movie previews. The louder it is, the more exciting. Or maybe people are plugging their ears or standing in the hall waiting for them to end.
In truth, the iPod--like the home theater system--is an attempt by the viewer/listener to regain control. Music producers are trying to combat that control, but the user ultimately has the volume knob. Compressing the dynamic range is risky if the listener exercises that control.
The idea of making things louder because of crappy headphones makes no sense. You're overdriving the crappy headphones. All that does is disappoint the listener (in addition to inducing hearing loss).
It's a little silly to suggest that iPods/portable music players are to blame for sound compression - record companies have been doing it pretty much since the CD became the dominant format. Keane's debut album (the self-styled "no guitars" rock band") is louder than Guns 'n' Roses' Appetite for Destruction.
Loud records are easier to distinguish in clubs, pubs, on the radio - and therefore easier to sell, but companies have been doing it for so long that to start blaming the advent of portable music players or their headphones is a little backwards, and I just can't really imagine anyone mastering a record with listeners' iPods in mind.
. . . Let's face it the mass market MP3 and iTunes music is a FAR cry from the the highest quality music we once had available to us. Would anyone put up with B&W television from 1950 again? Yet, that is about the quality of the music we are forced to buy online these days.
Berry Gordy did most of his mixing using a single car speaker as a reference, and the Motown catalog turned out just fine. If there's a problem, it's between the chair and the mixer.
Sound compression and digital compression are two different things, but they both can be detrimental to the listening experience.
I won't expand upon my opinion of the music, but the mix for Death Magnetic is horrific. I couldn't listen to the entire thing based upon the MIX alone. I wasn't listening to compressed mp3s either.
The iPod and/or any other digital audio player have nothing to do with it.