Post by Rabbit on May 26, 2014 9:36:24 GMT
Has anyone got a CD copy and a digital copy of their new album? (Ghost Stories)
I've been listening to a digital copy and the compression seems to be absolutely dire. 'Always in my Head' wheezes away like an old Grandad on the levels and that plus the the strong compression makes it into a distorted mess.
I'm hoping it's just the copy that I have.
I can only listen to this on cheap headphones that cover up problems. If I listen on the K601 or t40, it's verging on unlistenable in terms of distortion, compression and the awful wheezing associated with nasty volume levellers of old. I'm thinking 80's here, where guys like Phil Collins used the same thing on purpose on his drum sounds followed by a strong cut off, done with a noise gate.
It's surprising since given the type of music that they play, it kind of relies on the purity and clarity of its sound in order to be effective. It's very intimate sounding music and that 'intimacy' gets destroyed by the quality of the recording. Some genres of music work fine at whatever levels etc., but some really need a glass like clarity for them to work and I include Coldplay in this category. The quality of sound is just as important as the music itself. I feel the same about electronic music - the quality of reproduction is 'key' to it working well whereas with some other genres, the words or melody ot bass line is more important and quality of reproduction doesn't harm it so much. (Having said that - quality ought to be there all of the time really!!)
I was listening to Black Sabbath recently on a friends set up and although everything was there and it had impact (especially in the bass), I felt that something was wrong. Playing the same album at home revealed a lovely 'rubber band' bass guitar, distortion effects that were actually very pleasant on the guitars and a 'hear through' quality in Ozzie's voice that was really missing from my mate's system. For that reason, it sounds more 'alive' on my system and therefore you can hear more into the band than just a bass line and tune with grungy guitar going on. ie - it communicates better - even with this kind of loud rock stuff. (Mind you, that's also compressed to hell, but not to the extent of this Coldplay copy)
I'm hoping its just my copy in the case of Coldplay. Their music is a bit more delicate and needs that clarity. Anyone get this effect on CD. Via speakers, it's bloody awful. No real depth and just sounds off kilter.
I've been listening to a digital copy and the compression seems to be absolutely dire. 'Always in my Head' wheezes away like an old Grandad on the levels and that plus the the strong compression makes it into a distorted mess.
I'm hoping it's just the copy that I have.
I can only listen to this on cheap headphones that cover up problems. If I listen on the K601 or t40, it's verging on unlistenable in terms of distortion, compression and the awful wheezing associated with nasty volume levellers of old. I'm thinking 80's here, where guys like Phil Collins used the same thing on purpose on his drum sounds followed by a strong cut off, done with a noise gate.
It's surprising since given the type of music that they play, it kind of relies on the purity and clarity of its sound in order to be effective. It's very intimate sounding music and that 'intimacy' gets destroyed by the quality of the recording. Some genres of music work fine at whatever levels etc., but some really need a glass like clarity for them to work and I include Coldplay in this category. The quality of sound is just as important as the music itself. I feel the same about electronic music - the quality of reproduction is 'key' to it working well whereas with some other genres, the words or melody ot bass line is more important and quality of reproduction doesn't harm it so much. (Having said that - quality ought to be there all of the time really!!)
I was listening to Black Sabbath recently on a friends set up and although everything was there and it had impact (especially in the bass), I felt that something was wrong. Playing the same album at home revealed a lovely 'rubber band' bass guitar, distortion effects that were actually very pleasant on the guitars and a 'hear through' quality in Ozzie's voice that was really missing from my mate's system. For that reason, it sounds more 'alive' on my system and therefore you can hear more into the band than just a bass line and tune with grungy guitar going on. ie - it communicates better - even with this kind of loud rock stuff. (Mind you, that's also compressed to hell, but not to the extent of this Coldplay copy)
I'm hoping its just my copy in the case of Coldplay. Their music is a bit more delicate and needs that clarity. Anyone get this effect on CD. Via speakers, it's bloody awful. No real depth and just sounds off kilter.