History Main / LoudnessWar

One potential way to find non-loud versions of songs is that video clips posted to video services like Website/YouTube often avoid the loudness issue as they are mastered separately. In many cases, versions of albums that are specially mastered for iTunes (which are often advertised as being such) also have more dynamic range (although frequently you can only buy these in lossy versions, which carry their own problems; fortunately, the compression algorithm used to sell iTunes music in .m4a format is very, very good, to the point where the vast majority of people will be unable to tell the difference from a lossless source[[note]]Specifically, the frequencies missing from iTunes files are almost exclusively above 20 kHz, which is beyond the normal range of human hearing, except for small children's and under certain laboratory conditions - and since the supersonic frequencies have to be louder than 100 dB to be perceptible, the missing frequencies won't be perceptible in everyday music listening[[/note]]). Failing that, people will KeepCirculatingTheTapes of whichever version is the least clipped or even look for places to rip masters from (full-band RhythmGame[=s=] are one source) so they can try their hand at mixing themselves.

* The unusually low dynamic range of Music/DavidBowie[='s=] ''Music/{{Blackstar}}'', coming in at just 5, is suspected to be a case of this. [="DR5"=] happens to be an abbreviation for the surface receptor protein death receptor 5, which mediates apoptosis (cell death). Monoclonal antibodies targeting this receptor protein have been under testing as an experimental treatment for cancer patients; it's likely that the choice to master ''Blackstar'' so restrictively was done primarily as a reference to this treatment, seeing as how Bowie himself was dying of liver cancer during the album's production.

By contrast, one of the sadder aspects that Nick Southall highlighted was the belief that if you master the songs loud, they'll be played more on the radio. It doesn't work like that: Radio stations (as well as TV stations) have their own compressors and equalisers to squash everything up to the same volume, with the result that any CD will get hit with this a ''second time'' for broadcast and an already hyper-compressed CD will just sound like shit squared. The existence of technologies such as [=ReplayGain=] and iTunes Radio's Sound Check additionally means that the volume of pieces played on internet radio is now frequently normalised to the same level, meaning that the only effect loudness war stunts will have on material played through these sources is making it less punchy. Mastering engineer Bob Katz' comments on this have been widely reported and discussed, and some sources believe that this will lead to the less widespread use of the practice in future recordings. (Indeed, some studies have suggested that the trend has already waned, with the average loudness of commercial releases peaking in around 2005.)

When loud music is used as a weapon, that's LoudOfWar. Not to be confused with ''[[Roleplay/RecordOfLodossWar Lodoss War]]''.

The absolute peak of loudness started slowly creeping up in 1995 when Owen Morris mastered Music/{{Oasis}}' ''(What's the Story) Morning Glory?'' to -8 dB RMS. [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks Since then]] the tendency has been to make records louder. The resulting [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war loudness war]] is due to a variety of factors, such as commercial concerns, [[ExecutiveMeddling stupid executives]], [[FollowTheLeader following the leader]] or listeners / musicians who are unaware of this phenomenon, [[SlobsVersusSnobs can't tell the difference and don't care]], actually LIKE how it sounds, or are taking advantage of it for artistic purposes.

Also note that this article is '''extremely''' technical and the majority of music listeners will simply not care or roll their eyes at the technical mumbo jumbo audiophiles use. Except in the absolute worst cases, the issues of loudness and clipping may be largely unobtrusive unless you know what to listen for and have high-end speakers or at least decent-quality headphones. (The effects are ''particularly'' annoying on high-quality headphones, perhaps unsurprisingly; conversely, on all but perhaps the highest-end car stereos, the loudness war's effects will probably remain comparatively subtle except in the absolute worst cases.[[note]]The effects of dynamic range compression are usually much more immediate on headphones, because the audio source is right next to your ears. With speakers, on the other hand, the left and right channels will inevitably [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interference_(wave_propagation) cross their signals]] somewhat by the time they reach your ears, meaning that even a solid brick wall is likely to end up with some amplitude variance, particularly if you're not sitting directly between the speakers. (We told you this article was technical.) By contrast, [[WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad loudness war'd]] albums have been known to induce headaches when played through good enough headphones; some sources have even alleged that they can contribute to hearing loss. It's a rather bizarre and unfortunate irony of the modern music industry that higher quality audio equipment will in many cases result in a ''less pleasant'' listening experience.[[/note]])

Ever since the dawn of humanity, it's been a known fact that people respond more easily to louder audio stimuli. Thus the illusion that '''"[[BiggerIsBetter LOUDER = BETTER]]"'''. With the advent of music recording technology, the music industry sought to capitalize on this; if our album is louder than their album, and the listeners don't adjust their volume dials to compensate (or can't, if they're hearing it in a bar, [[OlderThanYouThink a gramophone with no volume dial]] etc.), our album will sound better! However, vinyl records suffer from physical limitations[[note]]for example, too much bass can bump the needle out of place, and too much high end can destroy the printing needle when creating a record![[/note]] that necessarily constrain the physical (and perceived) loudness of a record. The search for loudness became easier with the introduction of the compact disc in 1982; now working with a ''digital'' storage medium, sound engineers found themselves liberated from the former physical constraints on perceived loudness.

Any recording medium has an absolute limit when it comes to amplitude, and compact discs are no exception. Once audio engineers managed to max out, the only solution to go even more UpToEleven and [[BuffySpeak out-loud]] those [[LensmanArmsRace other CDs]] was to break out the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_range_compression dynamic range compression]], which squashes every bit up to the same volume level, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listener_fatigue causing listener fatigue]].[[note]]In addition to dynamic range compression, sound engineers can use overdrive distortion (or [[UpToEleven outright digital clipping]]) to further increase the average amplitude of a track. Another trick is to increase the "perceived loudness" of a track by emphasizing frequency ranges the human ear is more sensitive to (highs and high-mids) and de-emphasizing others (very low sub bass and sometimes mids).[[/note]] The often-used analogy here is that of attempting to read a text written entirely in capitals with a huge font. In movies, OrangeBlueContrast has a similar effect; since the contrast is pleasing to the eye, producers will push at as far as possible, often over-saturating the film in these colours and squashing out more subtle colours entirely.

[[TropesAreTools Compression is not inherently bad]]. In fact, it is an essential part of the sound engineer's toolkit, used to level out inconsistent volume in a track.[[note]]This is practically guaranteed to happen when recording live material. Especially bass guitars.[[/note]] Furthermore, it can be used creatively to manipulate the sound of a single instrument[[note]]especially drums, where compression is often used to emphasize the body or tail of a strike[[/note]] or even a full mix, "gluing" the tracks together. However, if used ineptly, it can result in unpleasant changes like undesired pumping, outright distortion, or a more abstract loss of "life" or "impact".

It is important to distinguish between [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_range_compression#Limiting brickwall limiting]], an extreme form of dynamic range compression that prevents the amplitude from exceeding a certain threshold, and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipping_(audio) digital clipping]], which actually introduces digital distortion into the signal by removing the peaks and troughs from a waveform. Another important thing to note is that compressing[[note]]namely, using [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_compression?#Audio ''data compression'']], an [[NamesTheSame entirely different concept]] from ''dynamic range compression''[[/note]] music to a lossy format like AAC or [=MP3=] can introduce digital clipping through intersample peaks. This can introduce clipping to heavily brickwalled material that previously did not clip at all, and needless to say, makes already clipping material sound even worse. ([=MP3=] is often considered to do a worse job compressing loud music than other lossy formats such as AAC and Ogg Vorbis do, which is one reason the format has a negative reputation among audiophiles.)

The absolute peak of loudness started slowly creeping up in 1995, when Owen Morris mastered Music/{{Oasis}}' ''(What's the Story) Morning Glory?'' to -8 dB RMS. [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks Since then]] the tendency has been to make records louder. The resulting [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war loudness war]] is due to a variety of factors, such as commercial concerns, [[ExecutiveMeddling stupid executives]], [[FollowTheLeader following the leader]] or listeners / musicians who are unaware of this phenomenon, [[SlobsVersusSnobs can't tell the difference and don't care]], actually LIKE how it sounds, or are taking advantage of it for artistic purposes.

By contrast, one of the sadder aspects that Nick Southall highlighted was the belief that if you master the songs loud, they'll be played more on the radio. It doesn't work like that: Radio stations (as well as TV stations) have their own compressors and equalisers to squash everything up to the same volume, with the result that any CD will get hit with this a ''second time'' for broadcast and an already hyper-compressed CD will just sound like shit squared. The existence of technologies such as [=ReplayGain=] and iTunes Radio's Sound Check additionally means that the volume of pieces played on internet radio is now frequently normalised to the same level, meaning that the only effect loudness war stunts will have on material played through these sources is making it less punchy. Mastering engineer Bob Katz' comments on this have been widely reported and discussed, and some sources believe that this will lead to less widespread use of the practice in future recordings. (Indeed, some studies have suggested that the trend has already waned, with the average loudness of commercial releases peaking in around 2005.)

This is the main reason why people say vinyl records are "higher quality" (besides personal taste reasons such as the crackle and hum of records). The inherent quality of [=CDs=] is far better than records, but since "records are for audiophiles", there is far less incentive for audio engineers to trade-off quality for loudness on records. Additionally, vinyls have a smaller dynamic range, which actually serves to nullify the ability to pull off loudness war stunts, even though it seems counterintuitive that this would be the case. While it's commonly believed that it's impossible to press a low-dynamic-range master to vinyl, this isn't strictly true; however, the format's limitations are of ''average loudness'' (as contrasted with digital formats, whose limitations are of ''peak loudness''), meaning that if you want to press a low-dynamic-range master to vinyl, you will need to lower the volume to do so. If you tried to press a [=DR3=] recording with the same loudness as it would have on CD, it would usually just throw off the needle or make the record unplayable. Since loudness war stunts will have little to no effect on a vinyl record's average loudness, this reduces the incentive to pull off such stunts; a [=DR10=] master would stand out over a [=DR3=] one on vinyl even more than it would on other formats, meaning that the only incentive for labels to press loudness war masters to vinyl is simply being too lazy to master the album separately (which, unfortunately, still happens fairly often). The {{Irony}} in all this, of course, is that digital formats like the CD finally made it possible to make audio as ''quiet'' as you wanted without any analog hiss obscuring it, but with a lot of equipment out there accommodating the audio levels of the War, exploiting this quality will often make things simply too quiet to hear.

(Alternatively, a quick, cheap partial solution, using a program like Nero Wave Editor, is to simply reduce the bass using the graphic equalizer, since bass-boosting is usually part of the loudness enhancement process. If done properly the bass-reduced version will sound only marginally 'thinner' than the original, while having more peak fluctuations; the "Normalize" function can also be used to adjust the volume of sections of the song, although care must be taken to avoid sudden jumps in volume between sections. Another potential quick solution is to run the song through a high pass filter, which mimics the effect of pressing an album to vinyl. A CD run through a high pass filter with the right settings will be virtually indistinguishable from a vinyl rip from a comparable-sounding master, and will wind up with substantially higher dynamic range scores than the original recording. A third possible solution is to use a phase rotation filter - 90 degrees is, of course, the optimal amount [180 degrees would just invert the waveform, naturally]. Note that the clipping will still be present if any of these solutions are used; it will probably, however, be substantially less annoying and fatiguing to listen to.)

One potential way to find non-loud versions of songs is that video clips posted to video services like Website/YouTube often avoid the loudness issue as they are mastered separately. In many cases, versions of albums that are specially mastered for iTunes (which are often advertised as being such) also have more dynamic range (although frequently you can only buy these in lossy versions, which carry their own problems; fortunately, the compression algorithm used to sell iTunes music in .m4a format is very, very good, to the point where the vast majority of people will be unable to tell the difference from a lossless source[[note]]Specifically, the frequencies missing from iTunes files are almost exclusively above 20 kHz, which is beyond the normal range of human hearing, except for small children's and under certain laboratory conditions - and since the supersonic frequencies have to be louder than 100 dB to be perceptible, the missing frequencies won't be perceptible in everyday music listening[[/note]]). Failing that, people will KeepCirculatingTheTapes of whichever version is the least clipped, or even look for places to rip masters from (full-band RhythmGame[=s=] are one source) so they can try their hand at mixing themselves.

* Music/{{Low}}'s 2018 album Double Negative features very obvious distortion as part of the album's aesthetic. Two of the songs are [=DR0=] (the ending of Tempest in particular couldn't be more clipped if the band wanted to). Unlike many other extreme examples, it's a mostly mellow listen.

* The unusually low dynamic range of Music/DavidBowie[='s=] ''Music/{{Blackstar}}'', coming in at just 5, is suspected to be a case of this. [="DR5"=] happens to be an abbreviation for the surface receptor protein death receptor 5, which mediates apoptosis (cell death). Monoclonal antibodies targeting this receptor protein have been under testing as an experimental treatment for cancer patients; it's likely that the choice to master ''Blackstar'' so restrictively was done primarily as a reference to this treatment, seeing as how Bowie himself was dying of liver cancer during the ablum's production.

Also note that this article is '''extremely''' technical and the majority of music listeners will simply not care or simply roll their eyes at the technical mumbo jumbo audiophiles use. Except in the absolute worst cases, the issues of loudness and clipping may be largely unobtrusive unless you know what to listen for and have high-end speakers or at least decent-quality headphones. (The effects are ''particularly'' annoying on high-quality headphones, perhaps unsurprisingly; conversely, on all but perhaps the highest-end car stereos, the loudness war's effects will probably remain comparatively subtle except in the absolute worst cases.[[note]]The effects of dynamic range compression are usually much more immediate on headphones, because the audio source is right next to your ears. With speakers, on the other hand, the left and right channels will inevitably [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interference_(wave_propagation) cross their signals]] somewhat by the time they reach your ears, meaning that even a solid brick wall is likely to end up with some amplitude variance, particularly if you're not sitting directly between the speakers. (We told you this article was technical.) By contrast, [[WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad loudness war'd]] albums have been known to induce headaches when played through good enough headphones; some sources have even alleged that they can contribute to hearing loss. It's a rather bizarre and unfortunate irony of the modern music industry that higher quality audio equipment will in many cases result in a ''less pleasant'' listening experience.[[/note]])

Also note that this article is '''extremely''' technical; except in the absolute worst cases, the issues of loudness and clipping may be largely unobtrusive unless you know what to listen for and have high-end speakers or at least decent-quality headphones. (The effects are ''particularly'' annoying on high-quality headphones, perhaps unsurprisingly; conversely, on all but perhaps the highest-end car stereos, the loudness war's effects will probably remain comparatively subtle except in the absolute worst cases.[[note]]The effects of dynamic range compression are usually much more immediate on headphones, because the audio source is right next to your ears. With speakers, on the other hand, the left and right channels will inevitably [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interference_(wave_propagation) cross their signals]] somewhat by the time they reach your ears, meaning that even a solid brick wall is likely to end up with some amplitude variance, particularly if you're not sitting directly between the speakers. (We told you this article was technical.) By contrast, [[WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad loudness war'd]] albums have been known to induce headaches when played through good enough headphones; some sources have even alleged that they can contribute to hearing loss. It's a rather bizarre and unfortunate irony of the modern music industry that higher quality audio equipment will in many cases result in a ''less pleasant'' listening experience.[[/note]])

* Deliberate over-amplification is part of the voice treatment for [[Series/DoctorWho the Daleks]].

It is important to distinguish between [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_range_compression#Limiting brickwall limiting]], an extreme form of dynamic range compression that prevents the amplitude from exceeding a certain threshold, and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipping_(audio) digital clipping]], which actually introduces digital distortion into the signal by removing the peaks and troughs from a waveform. Another important thing to note is that compressing[[note]]namely, using [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_compression?#Audio ''data compression'']], an [[NamesTheSame entirely different concept]] from ''dynamic range compression''[[/note]] music to a lossy format like AAC or MP3 can introduce digital clipping through intersample peaks. This can introduce clipping to heavily brickwalled material that previously did not clip at all, and needless to say, makes already clipping material sound even worse. ([=MP3=] is often considered to do a worse job compressing loud music than other lossy formats such as AAC and Ogg Vorbis do, which is one reason the format has a negative reputation among audiophiles.)

One of the most {{egregious}} aspects of the industry's reliance on increasing loudness is that hundreds of albums that originally had good dynamic range are now being "digitally remastered" with almost completely brickwalled peak levels.[[note]]Not to mention terrible adjustments to frequency balance.[[/note]]

Ever since the dawn of humanity, it's been a known fact that people respond more easily to louder audio stimuli. Thus the illusion that '''"[[BiggerIsBetter LOUDER = BETTER]]"'''. With the advent of music recording technology, the music industry sought to capitalize on this; if our album is louder than their album, and the listeners don't adjust their volume dials to compensate (or can't, if they're hearing it in a bar, [[OlderThanYouThink a gramophone with no volume dial]] etc.), our album will sound better! However, vinyl records suffer from physical limitations[[note]]for example, too much bass can bump the needle out of place, and too much high end can destroy the printing needle when creating a record![[/note]] that necessarily limit the physical (and perceived) loudness of a record. The search for loudness became easier with the introduction of the compact disc in 1982; now working with a ''digital'' storage medium, sound engineers found themselves liberated from the former physical constraints on perceived loudness.

(Alternatively, a quick, cheap partial solution, using a program like Nero Wave Editor, is to simply reduce the bass using the graphic equalizer, since bass-boosting is usually part of the loudness enhancement process. If done properly the bass-reduced version will sound only marginally 'thinner' than the original, while having more peak fluctuations; the "Normalize" function can also be used to adjust the volume of sections of the song, although care must be taken to avoid sudden jumps in volume between sections. Another potential quick solution is to run the song through a high pass filter, which mimics the effect of pressing an album to vinyl. A CD run through a high pass filter with the right settings will be virtually indistinguishable from a vinyl rip from a comparable-sounding master, and will wind up with substantially higher dynamic range scores than the original recording. Note that the clipping will still be present if either of these solutions are used; it will probably, however, be substantially less annoying and fatiguing to listen to.)

Also note that this article is '''extremely''' technical; except in the absolute worst cases, the issues of loudness and clipping may be largely unobtrusive unless you know what to listen for and have high-end speakers or at least decent-quality headphones. (The effects are ''particularly'' annoying on high-quality headphones, perhaps unsurprisingly; by contrast, on all but perhaps the highest-end car stereos, the loudness war's effects will probably remain comparatively subtle except in the absolute worst cases.[[note]]The effects of dynamic range compression are usually much more immediate on headphones, because the audio source is right next to your ears. With speakers, on the other hand, the left and right channels will inevitably [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interference_(wave_propagation) cross their signals]] somewhat by the time they reach your ears, meaning that even a solid brick wall is likely to end up with some amplitude variance - particularly if you're not sitting directly between them. (We told you this article was technical.) By contrast, [[WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad loudness war'd]] albums have been known to induce headaches when played through good enough headphones; some sources have even alleged that they can contribute to hearing loss. It's a rather bizarre and unfortunate irony of the modern music industry that higher quality audio equipment will in many cases result in a ''less pleasant'' listening experience.[[/note]])

It is important to distinguish between [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_range_compression#Limiting brickwall limiting]], an extreme form of dynamic range compression that prevents the amplitude from exceeding a certain threshold, and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipping_(audio) digital clipping]], which actually introduces digital distortion into the signal by removing the peaks and troughs from a waveform. Another important thing to note is that compressing[[note]]namely, using [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_compression?#Audio ''data compression'']], an [[NamesTheSame entirely different concept]] from ''dynamic range compression''[[/note]] music to a lossy format like AAC or MP3 can introduce digital clipping through intersample peaks. This can introduce clipping to heavily brickwalled material that previously did not clip at all, and needless to say, makes already clipping material sound even worse. ([=MP3=] is often considered to do a worse job compressing loud music than other lossy formats such as AAC and Ogg Vorbis do, which is one reason the format has a negative reputation among audiophiles).

By contrast, one of the sadder aspects that Nick Southall highlighted was the belief that if you master the songs loud, they'll be played more on the radio. It doesn't work like that: Radio stations (as well as TV stations) have their own compressors and equalisers to squash everything up to the same volume, with the result that any CD will get hit with this a ''second time'' for broadcast and an already hyper-compressed CD will just sound like shit squared. The existence of technologies such as [=ReplayGain=] and iTunes Radio's Sound Check additionally means that the volume of pieces played on internet radio is now frequently normalised to the same level, meaning that the only effect loudness war stunts will have on material played through these sources is making it less punchy. Mastering engineer Bob Katz' comments on this have been widely reported and discussed, and some sources believe that this will lead to less widespread use of the practice in future recordings. (Indeed, some studies have suggested that the trend has already waned, with the average loudness of commercial releases peaking in around 2005).

There are algorithms that can be used to repair clipped audio to a certain extent; none of them are perfect, but they will generally produce end results that sound, at least to most ears, [[BetterThanCanon better than the commercially released versions with clipping]]. More info on one of them is available [[http://tinyurl.com/pbkquca here]]. (Note that the next page of the forum thread in this link contains rather disorganised information on Adobe Audition's declipper, which is much more sophisticated and produces much better-sounding results, but does not have the benefit of being free software. [=iZotope=] RX, also not free software, has an even more sophisticated algorithm, and is fairly straightforward to use; the forum thread linked here doesn't currently go into it, but iZotope's own manual provides all the essential info about how to use it.)

* While the production on Music/{{Merzbow}} albums tends to be [[HellIsThatNoise frighteningly clear]], in the mid-90s he made what are quite possibly the two loudest albums ever in ''Venereology'' and ''Pulse Demon'', whose dynamic range comes down to [=DR0=] and which contain what is generally held to be the loudest track ever in "I Lead You Towards Glorious Times". Given that the majority of his releases are much more clearly mastered, it's safe to say this was intentional.

Also note that this article is '''extremely''' technical; except in the absolute worst cases, the issues of loudness and clipping may be largely unobtrusive unless you know what to listen for and have high-end speakers or at least decent-quality headphones. (The effects are ''particularly'' annoying on high-quality headphones, perhaps unsurprisingly; by contrast, on all but perhaps the highest-end car stereos, the loudness war's effects will probably remain comparatively subtle except in the absolute worst cases.[[note]]The effects of dynamic range compression are usually much more immediate on headphones, because the audio source is right next to your ears. With speakers, on the other hand, the left and right channels will inevitably cross their signals somewhat by the time they reach your ears, meaning that even a solid brick wall will end up with some amplitude variance. (We told you this article was technical.) By contrast, [[WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad loudness war'd]] albums have been known to induce headaches when played through good enough headphones; some sources have even alleged that they can contribute to hearing loss. It's a rather bizarre and unfortunate irony of the modern music industry that higher quality audio equipment will in many cases result in a ''less pleasant'' listening experience.[[/note]])

Also note that this article is '''extremely''' technical; except in the absolute worst cases, the issues of loudness and clipping may be largely unobtrusive unless you know what to listen for and have high-end speakers or at least decent-quality headphones. (The effects are ''particularly'' annoying on high-quality headphones, perhaps unsurprisingly.[[note]]The effects of clipping are usually much more immediate on headphones, because they provide a much more direct feed of the audio signal to your ears than speakers do. With speakers, the left and right channels will inevitably cross their signals somewhat by the time they reach your ears, meaning that even a solid brick wall will end up with some amplitude variance by the time it reaches your ears. (We told you this article was technical.) By contrast, [[WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad loudness war'd]] albums have been known to induce headaches when played through good enough headphones; some sources have even alleged that they can contribute to hearing loss. It's a rather bizarre and unfortunate irony of the modern music industry that higher quality audio equipment will in many cases result in a ''less pleasant'' listening experience.[[/note]])

Also note that this article is '''extremely''' technical; except in the absolute worst cases, the issues of loudness and clipping may be largely unobtrusive unless you know what to listen for and have high-end speakers or at least decent-quality headphones. (The effects are ''particularly'' annoying on high-quality headphones, perhaps unsurprisingly.[[note]]The effects of clipping are usually much more immediate on headphones, because they provide a much more direct feed of the audio signal to your ears than speakers do. With speakers, the left and right channels will inevitably cross their signals somewhat by the time they reach your ears, meaning that even a solid brick wall will end up having some amplitude variance by the time it reaches your ears. (We told you this article was technical.) By contrast, it's actually not unheard of for [[WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail loudness war'd]] records to induce headaches when played through headphones.[[/note]])

Also note that this article is '''extremely''' technical; the issues of loudness and clipping are generally only noticeable if you know what to look for and have really high-end audio equipment. (They're particularly annoying when listening on high-quality headphones, incidentally.)

There are algorithms that can be used to repair clipped audio to a certain extent; none of them are perfect, but they will generally produce end results that sound better than the commercially released versions with clipping. More info on one of them is available [[http://tinyurl.com/pbkquca here]]. (Note that the next page of the forum thread in this link contains rather disorganised information on Adobe Audition's declipper, which is much more sophisticated and produces much better-sounding results but does not have the benefit of being free software. [=iZotope=] RX, also not free software, has an even more sophisticated algorithm, and is fairly straightforward to use; however, the forum thread linked here doesn't currently go into it.)

By contrast, one of the sadder aspects that Nick Southall highlighted was the belief that if you master the songs loud, they'll be played more on the radio. It doesn't work like that: Radio stations (as well as TV stations) have their own compressors and equalisers to squash everything up to the same volume, with the result that any CD will get [[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner loudness war'd]] for broadcast and an already hyper-compressed CD will just sound like shit squared. The existence of technologies such as [=ReplayGain=] and iTunes Radio's Sound Check additionally means that the volume of pieces played on internet radio is now frequently normalised to the same level, meaning that the only effect loudness war stunts will have on material played through these sources is making it less punchy. Mastering engineer Bob Katz' comments on this have been widely reported and discussed, and some sources believe that this will lead to less widespread use of the practice in future recordings. (Indeed, some studies have suggested that the trend has already waned, with the average loudness of commercial releases peaking in around 2005).

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'''s Self Radio added in the PC version is badly wrecked by the game's horrendously compressed audio. Depending on the song, it can either be quiet to the point of being drowned out by engine noises or louder than the game itself!

One potential way to find non-loud versions of songs is that video clips posted to video services like Website/YouTube often avoid the loudness issue as they are mastered separately. In many cases, versions of albums that are specially mastered for iTunes (which are often advertised as being such) also have more dynamic range (although frequently you can only buy these in lossy versions, which carry their own problems; fortunately, the compression algorithm used to sell iTunes music in .m4a format is very, very good, to the point where many people will not be able to tell the difference from a lossless source). Failing that, people will KeepCirculatingTheTapes of whichever version is the least clipped, or even look for places to rip masters from (full-band RhythmGame[=s=] are one source) so they can try their hand at mixing themselves.

(Alternatively, a quick, cheap partial solution, using a program like Nero Wave Editor, is to simply reduce the bass using the graphic equalizer, since bass-boosting is usually part of the loudness enhancement process. If done properly the bass-reduced version will sound only marginally 'thinner' than the original, while having more peak fluctuations; the "Normalize" function can also be used to adjust the volume of sections of the song, although care must be taken to avoid sudden jumps in volume between sections. Another potential quick solution is to run the song through a high pass filter, which mimics the effect of pressing an album to vinyl. A CD run through a high pass filter with the right settings will be virtually indistinguishable from a vinyl rip from a comparable-sounding master, and will wind up with substantially higher dynamic range than the original recording. Note that the clipping will still be present if either of these solutions are used; it will probably, however, be substantially less annoying.)

There are algorithms that can be used to repair clipped audio to a certain extent; none of them are perfect, but they will generally produce end results that sound better than the commercially released versions with clipping. More info on one of them is available [[http://tinyurl.com/pbkquca here]]. (Note that the next page of the forum thread in this link contains rather disorganised information on Adobe Audition's declipper, which is much more sophisticated and produces much better-sounding results but does not have the benefit of being free software.)

Also note that this article is '''extremely''' technical; the issues of loudness and clipping are generally only noticeable if you know what to look for and have really high-end audio equipment.