Today you see more & more big name acts releasing new albums in vinyl. Some even before the official CD release. Why is that? If vinyl was the superior music medium then CD’s would have never made it, and we would still be buying vinyl albums.
So what can we attribute this resurgence to? When asked, most people say that the music just sounds better on vinyl. And to that reply, I have to agree. But why does it sound better? The reason can’t be from the vinyl itself, CD’s have the potential to offer us perfect clarity. So what’s the deal?
For the answer to that question, it is my opinion that you have to look at the mastering process. Everyone has heard of the loudness wars. Metallica even helped bring the issue even to the forefront with their latest release. The negative press that they received (mostly the mastering engineer/facility) told everyone that there was an issue.
Does that mean that it is the mastering process to blame? I seriously doubt it. It is the result of war and we just perform the services that the client demands. Most mastering engineers that I work with hate this war. It causes distortion, ear fatigue and often destroys dynamics. Now instead of helping recreate musical performances, we push and squeeze.
I believe that this has been a progression since the first CD was released. Now, almost everyone wants to be the loudest. I deal with this issue daily. What everyone must realize is with increased volume, dynamics are sacrificed. When you listen to live music, the music moves from soft to hard and quiet to loud. That experience is diminished in most commercial music released today.
See, you cannot achieve the same volume level that is used for today’s standard commercial CD’s on vinyl. The reason being is too much volume causes the vinyl record to skip. This tidbit of information I learned from studying under Bob Olhsson (Mastering Engineer for Motown during their most successful thru their final years).
If you were to compare a vinyl album to today’s commercially released CD, you would notice a volume difference (at least 2-5db). The same could be said of a CD that was released in the 80’s. Less volume squeeze and more dynamics.
So in conclusion, I believe that instead of going back to an inferior medium, that we should go back to the mastering standards that was used on the medium to create the better sound. Also, if we used that standard music would be close to the same level across the board.
So next time that you see someone shouting “louder, louder“ to a mastering engineer, try to remember:
“It just sounds better.”
Rob Follis
fhmastering.com
