The Wall Street Journal has another good article about the loss of fidelity in today’s recordings: Even Heavy-Metal Fans Complain That Today’s Music Is Too Loud!!!

Over the years, rock and pop artists have increasingly sought to make their recordings sound louder to stand out on the radio, jukeboxes and, especially, iPods.

But audiophiles, recording professionals and some ordinary fans say the extra sonic wallop comes at a steep price. To make recorded music seem louder, engineers must reduce the “dynamic range,” minimizing the difference between the soft and loud parts and creating a tidal wave of aural blandness.

They interview a couple of mastering engineers, Ted Jensen and Bob Ludwig, who both put the blame on directly on musicians, producers and record-company executives who demand loudness at the sake of fidelity and dynamic range.

If it’s good enough for iPod earbuds, is that good enough?

Previously: Are Audiophiles Just Fogeyists? (2007).

Via Idolator.

The Consumerist asks the musical question, Do Coat Hangers Sound As Good Monster Cables? The answer is yes:

Keeping us blind folded, my brother switched out the Belden wire (are you ready for this) with simple coat hanger wire! Unknown to me and our 12 audiophile buddies, prior to the ABX blind test, he took apart four coat hangers, reconnected them and twisted them into a pair of speaker cables. Connections were soldered. He stashed them in a closet within the testing room so we were not privy to what he was up to. This made for a pair of 2 meter cables, the exact length of the other wires. The test was conducted. After 5 tests, none could determine which was the Monster 1000 cable or the coat hanger wire. Further, when music was played through the coat hanger wire, we were asked if what we heard sounded good to us. All agreed that what was heard sounded excellent, however, when A-B tests occurred, it was impossible to determine which sounded best the majority of the time and which wire was in use.

I’m not surprised that their experiments pitting Monster against standard issue Belden cables resulted in no audible difference, but I’ve got to admit to being a little shocked by the results of the coat hanger comparison. That’s just crazy.

Via bb.

What Happened To Dynamic Range? “Our music today doesn’t have any life. It’s been squashed to death. There’s no excitement, no texture, and certainly no reason to buy it.” Louder does not equal better.

How to make great-sounding MP3s.