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RE: Applying MP3 to dynamically compressed recordings

Posted by Christine Tham (R) on March 10, 2009 at 17:04:23

In Reply to: RE: Applying MP3 to dynamically compressed recordings posted by Tony Lauck on March 10, 2009 at 08:20:18:

*** I think we are talking about different definitions of "quality". ***

I think you misunderstood the point I was making.

The statement you made originally was

*** Given the square waves created by many modern pop recordings, I would have no trouble believing that these would be improved sonically by being compressed ***

What I was trying to show was that this belief is not correct. Dynamically compressed recordings will suffer more perceived "damage" from being lossy compressed (at a particular bitrate) compared with the equivalent non-dynamically compressed recording.

I know you were being somewhat flippant and you were probably trying to say "it's so damaged anyway it can only get better." However, I don't agree. I know these days it's fashionable to deplore the amount of compression used in commercial recordings, and yes we've all seen some truly horrendous examples.

But I don't believe non-linear dynamic compression is necessarily evil. I tend to apply it to my own recordings, though not nearly as aggressive as say TV broadcast standards. It's kind of impossible to get that "commercial" sound without using some form of compression, especially on vocals and drums. In other words, the technique is not just used to "make the music louder" - it's an intentional sound effect layered onto the music.

Of course you can say "I hate that kind of music/sound" and certainly it is your prerogative. But some people do like it. Certain types of music require that kind of sound - it's as much part of the music as the notes and the lyrics.

As you correctly pointed out, dynamic compression introduces additional high frequency harmonics into the signal. These harmonics are essential to the overall "sound" of the recording. These additional harmonics actually make it harder to compress, and therefore an MP3 version of a dynamically compressed recording is less likely to sound "better" than the original (if you take the view that the compressed "sound" is the intent of the engineer, and these additional harmonic content is essential in preserving the nature of that sound).

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