Clipping on purchased music?

[TheIntrospectionist]

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[rogue star]

I think it is a result of badly mastered material. I am sure that there can be other factors involved but these are negligible in comparison, especially when you can here audibly that a lot of material being released hasn't gone through the right processes or given to the right people.

The main thing to worry about is ear fatigue. When you listen to music at high volumes especially when it is distorted and limited as is the trend now, you will find yourself getting tired and your hearing will suffer as a result. Most people will struggle to listen for a full hour of limited music let alone a whole evening.

Unfortunately the digital age has made some people think they are mastering engineers because they have access to certain software without having any idea about the process involved or the why behind the how. This trend is not exclusive to dubstep or dance music in general. There are some very big acts who are releasing very distorted and badly mastered material (check out some of the newer big rap acts or the remastered Metallica album). Everyone is competing with no thought to the overall quality of the finished product or the impact it has on the listeners.

As more people begin to notice and speak out about it, hopefully these overly limited songs will begin to dwindle and we can go back to dynamic sounding music as it was intended.

[EliteLennon117]

i notice this a lot in mainstream music. for instance on the Yeezus album I had to listen to it at about 2% volume otherwise it was too loud.

[topmo3]

^^^k lol u'd expect with that amount of money production resources etc they'd at least come up with something ht at doesnt clip / isnt too loud

[TheIntrospectionist]

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[kirsten889]

Clipping and brickwalling is common in mainstream music, but I've noticed that sometimes entire labels can do this. For example, most newer Warp Records digital releases are extremely brickwalled. A good source that I use to check the dynamic range of an album before I buy it is the Unofficial Dynamic Range Database at http://www.dr.loudness-war.info/. Also, a good thing to note is that vinyl is usually less affected by brickwalling and clipping due to limits on how loud a record can be pressed. So if you want to avoid the effects of the loudness wars, vinyl is a good way to go.

[TheIntrospectionist]

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[didi]

clipping is a legit mastering tool

also @introblah get some turntables and a laptop and buy digital and vinyl to your hearts content.

[wub]

clipping is a legit mastering tool

also @introblah get some turntables and a laptop and buy digital and vinyl to your hearts content.

Or better still, buy the vinyl, rip it, then sell it on ebay and make your money back.

[didi]

clipping is a legit mastering tool

also @introblah get some turntables and a laptop and buy digital and vinyl to your hearts content.

Or better still, buy the vinyl, rip it, then sell it on ebay and make your money back.

#realhustle

or invest in turntables, wait 80 years 'til vinyl's obsolete and a working turntable is an antique item sell it for thousands (not accounting for inflation).

#realhustle2

[rorz9992]

I bought Platinum Notes the other week to sort the clipping issue I have with some of my digital tracks.
I can understand why people would be hesitant to put tracks through an automated process to modify them but I've had good result so far with it.

[lysergene]

I limit my material with a maximum of 3dB gain reduction and the limiter output set to -0.2 dB. My mixes tend to sound a little quieter than some, and DJ's often ask for it to be mastered more brutally.

I tend to tell people to simply turn the volume/gain up when playing/mixing the final product, I do like some dynamic range!