Well, I thought I was a critical listener too, but it turns out I'm not.
It's whatever YOU enjoy that mattersWell, I thought I was a critical listener too, but it turns out I'm not.
Dynamic Range is a very complex thing that will never be sorted or understood here.
A Pro-Audio site. (Audio Engineer, Mastering Engineer ect).May I point out the name of this site/forum, if not here then where?
Whoops sorry. Do you need any more info?I am the OP.
More like mastering mangler.During the mastering process there is often more compression added by the mastering engineer.
Yes BUT not all of them crank it up "all the way" (ok at least they didn't used to). FM can sound REALLY REALLY great. How badly FM broadcasts sound most of the time is a disgrace.so FM radio stations add a lot too.
DR gives you a reasonable idea of how a track will sound if the DR is low, but if it's high, it's not so accurate as it depends on how it was mastered. An example could be a track that when it was mixed/mastered from the multitracks, all the instruments + the vocals were compressed/limited down to a DR1, but the high-hat was untouched & left with 18dB of headroom... so in this case, the track would seem to be a DR18, but clearly it's not (extreme case example).
I think you've hit on the key point here: While too many people.......
Not possible to change the DR of the source, no, but very possible to increase it's playback. Same as it would be possible to reduce the DR of the source by running it thru a compresser before playback. Not snake oil."Soundwise", it's not possible to add DR or sound back into a track, but you can make the waves appear more dynamic.
You cannot master for Vinyl below DR9, otherwise the needle will jump out of the groove. Records have a dynamic range of anything from 9dB to 20dB, so the Phase Linear 1000 was just old-school snake oil.
I had a Phase Linear 1000 back in the day. It contained Bob Carvers "Peak Unlimiter and Downward Expander" circuit to add DR back into the music on the compressed LP's of the day...
Not possible to change the DR of the source, no, but very possible to increase it's playback. Same as it would be possible to reduce the DR of the source by running it thru a compresser before playback. Not snake oil.
And I have owned/heard modern LPs from digital masters sounding as brick walled as the CD version, but not as clean or as precise in low-level detail.Vinyl DR readings are not reliable. The vinyl mastering, cutting and playback processes can all contribute to an LP made from the exact same compressed, buzzcut mastering as a CD reading 2-4dB higher on the DR meter. Now, while vinyl cutting and vinyl playback in particular add imprecision, resonances, crosstalk, and so on that do make buzzcut peaks more randomized/natural-looking, I would argue that an LP cut from a highly peak-limited or compressed digital master is not actually more dynamic than a CD or digital file from the same source. In fact, I have seen vinyl rips whose DR readings are only 1dB higher than the CD/digital-file equivalent.