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What coloured DR ratings do you prefer?

What colour of DR rating do you prefer?

  • Red

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Orange

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Yellow

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Light green

    Votes: 1 11.1%

  • Dark green

    Votes: 8 88.9%

  • No Preference

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    9
I spend much of my time hunting very early Japanese and West German CD masterings down as they tend to be flat master transfers with no additional compression, so very ‘green’ for me! This emphasised by my buying far more jazz and classical these days which does tend to be mastered with real dynamic range.
 
Lindsay,

Green here as well, but I don’t care for the colours used in the dynamic range database. They’re garish, like the text highlight colours in MS Word.

Joe
 
smegger68 said:
Why would anyone WANT a low DR score?
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Its amazing how many people actually like extreme compression. Audiophiles too! I remember being at a hi-fi shop meet-up about 10-15 or so years ago around the time the Rhino Yes remasters had come out and listening to people singing their praises even though they sounded utterly dreadful to my ears. Just horrible compressed and edgy crap that sounds nothing like the original vinyl or the mid-80s original Atlantic CD masterings (pretty much flat master transfers). Even so people seemed to like them for some reason that escaped me entirely. By saying that I’ve played around with studio compressors for hours on end, so I know what I’m listening to, and their overuse is just so obvious to me. Compression is essential in certain contexts, but has been hopelessly overused since people moved to listening to pop music on earbuds on the tube rather than anything approaching a proper stereo.
 
smegger68 said:
Why would anyone WANT a low DR score?
Click to expand...

Technically, you can use an expander to do negative compression, with results potentially just as unappealing as an overly compressed recording. Doesn't seem to be a real world issue though.

A certain amount of compression is beneficial for lots of recorded music. To take an extreme example, I don't think I'd like to play a version of Carmina Burana that hadn't had some compression applied, as I'd either hardly hear the quiet bits or be disturbing the whole street/blowing up my system with the loud bits.

Still, in most real cases, all other things being equal, I prefer high DR. But sometimes all other things are not equal. Modern remasterings of classic rock are often more compressed than the originals, but some (not all) still sound better for other reasons.

I try not to get too hung up about the numbers: if it sounds good, it is.

Kind regards

- Garry
 
I was hoping for a few more than 4 votes on this poll.

If it were in the audio section, there would have been more votes, but then it doesn't really belong in there. So I'll have to be patient...

And BTW for listening in the car or in a factory or noisy warehouse then yes a certain amount of compression is beneficial, But then historically radio stations have applied compression on their broadcasts. Classic FM being a prime example of in car radio listening, whilst being unsatisfying for listening at home.
 
Just as a question, a low DR doesn't always have to be a result of compression, does it?
 
Seeker_UK said:
Just as a question, a low DR doesn't always have to be a result of compression, does it?
Click to expand...

Correct.

For example, a test tone has little or no DR, even without using a compressor, but Stravinsky’s Rites of Spring has high DR, even with a little compression.
 
Just checked the CDs I tend to pull out when testing new kit, or mods to existing hardware, and the tracks mostly seem to be in the light green band.
Not exactly scientific, but that's where I think I'm at.
 
lindsayt said:
If it features an adult singing, if it's not dark green I'd be struggling to explain how that happened without dynamic compression.
Click to expand...

True but there's a whole load of good music out there, electric and electronic in nature that may have a much reduced DR.
 
paulfromcamden said:
I'd forgotten about this database - very handy. Thanks!

Agree with some of the other posters - compression has been an essential part of the recording process since the 1950s. Most rock records would sound very odd indeed if no compression had been applied to any of the channels.

There's an interesting article on the history of the legendary Fairchild compressors here: https://vintageking.com/fairchild-660-670-compressor-limiter
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There's room for personal tastes here. But I'd prefer ALL my rock albums to be totally uncompressed.
Steppenwolf's Wolftracks with a DR of 18 is a great example of a rock album sounding all the better for having minimal compression.
If I play a dark red rock album back to back with Wolftracks with an appropriate adjustment of the volume, the dark red album doesn't half sound flat as a pancake and unnatural - to my ears.

Seeker_UK said:
True but there's a whole load of good music out there, electric and electronic in nature that may have a much reduced DR.
Click to expand...
I was listening to Aaliyah recently (CD with the mainly red artwork). Musically it's a good album for that poppy / dance genre of music. And I enjoyed listening to it. I would have enjoyed listening to it more if it had been dark green instead of red.

And Kraftwerk are as electronic as you can get. Their dark green DR albums sound fine.
 
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