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In Reply to: RE: Hmm.... posted by RGA on October 7, 2017 at 23:57:19:
> > 2017 - buy a freaking turntable to get better sound. It's funny because it's true. < <
It can be true, but not necessarily. The main difference between mastering for vinyl versus digital *used to be* that there were physical limitations to the vinyl medium. Hence bass was almost always mixed to the center (mono) as it would track better on cheap turntables. Dynamics had to be compressed if the playing time per side exceeded 16 or 18 minutes. Groove spacing had to be manually adjusted when loud sections and soft sections alternated to avoid deformation of the soft lacquer that would result in pre-echo or post-echo. The list is nearly endless.
With early digital most of those restrictions went away, allowing for better, more dynamic mastering on digital media. But then a funny thing happened - digital audio in the car. The background noise levels in a car prevent large dynamic contrasts from being usable - quiet passages will be buried under the background noise.
Originally this was handled by radio stations, as that was the major music source for car audio. Now that digital audio can be easily played in cars and other noisy environments, it is almost mandatory for large amounts of dynamic range compression to be used for digital audio. In contrast, vinyl playback is only possible in the home, and usually by a focused listener. Not many people put on vinyl for background music in 2017.
In addition, not many cheap, crappy turntables are being used in 2017. So no when mastering for vinyl, the engineer can be fairly confident that even "entry-level" turntables will track large groove excursions far better than the average turntables of the '60s or '70s. He can also be fairly confident that the listener is planning to play the entire album side while sitting in front of the stereo, and not just as background music while working in the garage with power tools.
The solution is quite simple - just master all digital for the "best" dynamic range that is appropriate for that particular piece of music. Then on car stereos or other devices that may be used in noisy environments, simply add a "dynamic compression" button that the listener can engage when needed.
This is not a new idea. In the early '90s I bought a Miata convertible - noisy with the top up and extremely noisy with the top down. One popular after-market accessory was an inline box with a microphone that would measure the ambient noise and adjust the volume of the audio system to compensate. This is still done in more sophisticated car audio systems, but I don't know if the "feature" (bug?) is defeatable.
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Follow Ups
- RE: Hmm.... - Charles Hansen 10/8/1702:17:45 10/8/17 (1)
- RE: Hmm.... - RGA 04:22:08 10/8/17 (0)
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