Or is my stereo crap I'm very happy with the sound of almost all my CD's, especially the live ones, which sound great to me. But every killers album i have just doesn't sound like it 'should' or how i want it too.. in fact sometimes it just sounds rubbish. they're one of my favourite bands so it's quite annoying!

[soundstory]

Well it's bit hard to comment really,

I have all 3 cds and can't say I've noticed anything ......

[signs]

I have the first two ,and both seem fine to me

[Ightenhill]

Its the final digital mastering not the production thats a mess

[HeadBanger]

Yes I agree they sound awful; so compressed and thin sounding. So many band’s sound engineers seem to be employing ‘we must sound the loudest’ compression technique now.

I wish the bands / sound engineers would go back to proper dynamic hi-fi recordings.

[karkus30]

Originally Posted by fraserhall3051

Or is my stereo crap I'm very happy with the sound of almost all my CD's, especially the live ones, which sound great to me. But every killers album i have just doesn't sound like it 'should' or how i want it too.. in fact sometimes it just sounds rubbish.

I would agree.......they just sound rubbish

[drummerjohn]

That and the Arctic Monkeys. Great music - crap reproduction.

[eviljohn2]

The Arctic Monkeys are amongst the worst. The Killers are OK - the vocals sit on top of everything and it's all discernable but there aren't really any dynamics in the tracks I've listened to.

Every sound engineer that I know would prefer to mix tracks properly but the bands and producers want it all compressed and up top so have make it all as loud as they can. Everyone has aspects of their job which they don't like.

[overkill]

Originally Posted by karkus30

I would agree.......they just sound rubbish

I didn't want to say that for fear of being flamed, but hey, you did it for me anyway!

Ditto the tuneless, talentless Arctic monkeys.

[karkus30]

Originally Posted by overkill

I didn't want to say that for fear of being flamed, but hey, you did it for me anyway!

Ditto the tuneless, talentless Arctic monkeys.

I was discussing this with my drum tutor tonight.........they are alright and thats about it, good for a band that has only been playing a couple of years, but when someone said to me the other day "that drummer out of Arctic Monkeys is brilliant" In what sense brilliant ? Someone like Mick Tucker from Sweet or Clem Burke would have walked all over him and then some and I reckon he would happily agree (I have read some of his drummer interviews, he is very self effacing and aware of his limitations).

[soundstory]

It's interesting to see how loud modern cds are.

Run the program MP3 Gain, and see what I mean, I analysed a couple of cds recently (don't ask me which ones, there are just too many).

CDs from the late 80's averaged 89 decibels, where as cds from last year (Killers I think) where hitting 99 decibels !!!

[FeisalK]

A casualty of the war, it seems

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ

[insomniak123]

Originally Posted by eviljohn2

The Killers are OK - the vocals sit on top of everything and it's all discernable but there aren't really any dynamics in the tracks I've listened to.

bizarre that, if i was producing the Killers album, I'd want to hide the painfully obvious fact the guy can't sing, rather than bring it to the forefront

[overkill]

Originally Posted by soundstory

It's interesting to see how loud modern cds are.

Run the program MP3 Gain, and see what I mean, I analysed a couple of cds recently (don't ask me which ones, there are just too many).

CDs from the late 80's averaged 89 decibels, where as cds from last year (Killers I think) where hitting 99 decibels !!!

I use Soundforge, and the amount of clipping that goes on with the average CD is very scary! They are basically chopping off large chunks of the music...............

[huwg]

So which CD's (either modern or not) are considered to be good in terms of dynamics, minimal clippling etc?

I'm currently giving Larks Tongues in Aspic an outing (the album, not the food), and that covers a fairly broad spectrum of sound levels in the first track alone. Obviously, that could still be clipped, but you'd struggle to find a modern CD that has such quiet passages.

Originally Posted by huwg

So which CD's (either modern or not) are considered to be good in terms of dynamics, minimal clippling etc?

I'm no expert and i've never done any testing but i listen to a few CDs which seem to sound a lot better than the rest of my collection, especially in the intricate things like cymbal sounds and the timbre of drums:

Older:
the police- most of their stuff!
hendrix- ladyland
Led Zeppelin- II & IV
The clash- London Calling

Newish:
Jamiroquai
Smashing Pumpkins
Stone Roses


they all blow me away when i crank them up

[drummerjohn]

Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope (2006)

One of the few modern CDs that still give me hope (excuse the pun).

Other modern releases that have great dynamics...
Radiohead - In Rainbows
We Are Scientists - With Love & Squalor
Gossip - Standing In The Way of Control

[huwg]

Thanks.

I've just dug out a fairly recent ELO compilation - shockingly flat