While transferring a song from an LP, I watched the graphical decibel meter. While finding the maximum recording level I couldn’t help but notice how dynamic the recording is.
I’ve seen this before with certain records. The overall sound level can seem low, because the loud parts would cause distortion if the quieter parts were made louder. But there are ways to deal with this, typically called “normalize levels” or something similar.
But the funny thing is, songs on CD often don’t have this problem, because it seems their levels have already been normalized. That means their dynamic range has been reduced.
One of the advantages first touted for CD was its greater dynamic range compared to LP. But my impression of CD sound is that everything is made to sound loud. So much for dynamic range. This is certainly true of more recent releases, where the expectation is the music will be heard on an iPod or MP3 player.
The audio player below has the song that got me marveling yet again at how good some records still sound. This is “Ain’t Superstitious,” from Jeff Beck’s Truth, with Rod Stewart on vocals. I did nothing to eliminate pops or clicks. No equalization or loudness adjustment. The bass and drums take this to the volume input limit, yet the overall output seems low compared to most CD rips.
I bought this record for $1.50 at a pawn shop in Westfield during my DJ days, many years ago. The track is at the end of the side, where the phenomenon known as “groove compression” occurs, reducing the maximum level of loudness and the bass potential. So this recording has a lot going against it, and yet it sounds like this ……..
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/JAN07/AintSuperstitious.mp3]….. and while we’re tripping out here, let’s listen to the first track of side 1. The first half of a side is where vinyl tends to sound its best. Beck and Stewart redid the Yardbirds’ song, “Shape of Things.” I’m hearing some things in here that seem to have perhaps been influential on Black Sabbath, but the overall effect helps to explain why the Beck-Stewart team didn’t hit it big the way Jimmy Page and Robert Plant did.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/JAN07/ShapeofThings.mp3]
I own two pairs of Allison loudpeakers — the Model 3, purchased in 1979, and the LC-110, that I bought in 1988. Both pairs are still working perfectly. Roy Allison isn’t a household name like Amar Bose, but he is a legend in audio circles, especially in the Boston Area.
Besides having an excellent ear for neutral sound reproduction, Roy Allison is a true gentleman. He helped a competitor, Andy Kotsatos, start the still-extant company Boston Acoustics. (I also own a pair of Boston Acoustics A40 speakers, purchased in 1983.) Allison was put out of business during the recession of ’89-’95 in Massachusetts, when his bank called in his loans. Those were tough times around here, believe me, while the minicomputer industry was in its death throes, before the Internet boom saved us.