Are the loudness wars fake so record companies can destroy the music?

Agree about Fleming to a certain extent. But ’luck’ often happens to folks who know how to look for it a recognize it even if it wasn’t the exact ’luck’ they were looking for.


As far as over compressed audio, again, I agree, there is no conspiracy. But at the same time I think the reason it is used is not as necessary as those using it think it is.


Conspiracy or not I still think uberwaltz, Cleeds and dougy are covering something up. Just not sure what it is yet.

Money is the short answer to most business questions in this country.

@rickytickytwo,

Yes, and all the nice delusions we like to to entertain in our heads can’t change that brutal fact. Nor can what most people tell us or would like us to believe.

Honesty amongst the successful rich and famous is virtually unknown. And behind them stand the impossibly wealthy.

As they say, if you want to uncover any answers then ’follow the money’.

And if you want some truth, then think for yourself. Once you emerge from the ’education system’ that is.

So the obvious conclusion here must be is that loudness sells.

Calling Steve Albini.

My problem with loudness is not just that the quiet passages are boosted, it's that the peaks are compressed. When it's overdone the music feels like it's been subdued with the life and dynamics missing - supermarket/elevator music style.

This effect is especially unpalatable with genres like rock or metal as fans of Motorhead on CD might find.

One real issue facing headphone users is the level of noise isolation they need from their cans, in-ear, on-ear or over ear?

I generally prefer open back phones but I've switched to closed back for my walk to work. I found I had to put the volume way too high to drown out the surprisingly loud road traffic.

So with my closed back on ear JVCs I can keep the volume low enough to still hear my surroundings and also the music. A fair bit of outside noise still gets in but a totally closed back over ear phone wouldn't be suitable for commuting either.

Therefore it's easy to conclude that as long as download / headphone users remain the target audience, then the mainstream use of heavy compression is going to remain.