Skip to main content ↑ ↓

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.
Topic: Loudest CD Ever? (Read 9434 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Loudest CD Ever?



Times New Viking's new album. Of course it's almost entirely distortion, but still somehow pleasant to listen to.

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #1 –
Laughably quiet.

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #2 –
Quote
posted by myself in /mu/ a  while ago:
If you have Winamp:

Go to Preferences > plug-ins > DSP/Effect and select Nullsoft Signal Processing Studio, Configure

Paste the following into the Per sample box:
spl0=sign(spl0);spl1=sign(spl1)

Instant Guitar Wolf.

Try that one with diskwriter as output and scan the resulting files.

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #3 –
This is not good. -10 of the last few years could end up as -17 sooner or later. Remember that someone has to try first. Distorsion could be the sound of 2010 , . static the sound of 2015

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #4 –
Oh my! The loudest record I have is around -13 and most of my cds from the last eight years are between -7 and -11. I wonder how that record sounds like at -17.

Edit:
Are these the guys you are talking about? http://www.myspace.com/timesnewviking. Damn that song from their latest abum Rip It Off sounds awful. Master stereo bus clipped.

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #5 –
The maximum RG value is produced by a full scale square wave at 3.4Khz, which results in ~ -24dB gain. So still lots of headroom for that record 

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #7 –
Good heavens! I think they've won the loudness war.



Ouch!

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #9 –
So loud it has to be good!

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #10 –
From Wikipedia:
Quote
Times New Viking is a lo-fi indie rock band based out of Columbus, Ohio


The quality is bad on purpose.
Dissent!

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #11 –
lol.. wow only 18 dB! with all the energy and harmonic distortion you get when the signal is clipped and overloaded, i'm starting to wonder if at some point music this loud may actually damage your speakers.

Quote from: Daniel Beaver on
From Wikipedia:
Quote

Times New Viking is a lo-fi indie rock band based out of Columbus, Ohio


The quality is bad on purpose.

that's like a first.. to purposefully make your recording sound extraordinarily bad and unlistenable. i don't quite get the logic of this lo-fi thing.
Be healthy, be kind, grow rich and prosper

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #12 –
You can easily outdo that band and make them feel stupid if you would re-record their songs, which aren't bad, using musicians who are willing to play in tune and with a decent setup.

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #13 –
wait guys...

we will get another "brilliant" Oasis album this May and I'm sure that this time will overcome Morning Glory.

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #14 –
From Wikipedia:
Quote
Times New Viking is a lo-fi indie rock band based out of Columbus, Ohio


Not lo-fi, loud-fi maybe. 

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #15 –
Jeezus, did I stumble onto another audiophile forum by accident? Next thing I know, I'll be hearing yall complain about what "the youth" is listening to nowadays. Along with glowing reviews of Viagra.

Yall are missing the point of the group, and of lo-fi in general. The distortion is a deliberate artistic effect. You can take or leave it (I'll leave it), but I don't think it is indicative of anything beyond, well, lo-fi.

Pitchfork rated "Rip It Off" very highly (8.4!), with the following commentary about its sound quality:

Quote
The layer of fuzz works like a security blanket-- a way of creating not just a distinctive sound, but of putting up an awning of safety over them and their listeners. Only the slightest bit of straining brings you to the pop virtues of these songs, on the band's own terms. Sure, it's an affectation, but its just another way of using the studio as an instrument in a way that makes these songs more intimate by design-- for better or worse, you can't sell a Volkswagen with a Times New Viking song. If cleaner production means truckloads of new bands who can summon their influences with little effort, and even less enthusiasm or creativity, then I'll stick with my tinnitus, thanks.

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #16 –
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this record, and I actually like the distortion. I'm not really too keen on playing this at high volumes through my nice stereo system though

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #17 –
As there are peaks above 1, I assume the RG values are for lossily compressed audio. So if you are referring to a CD, the values of a lossless version would be more useful and comparable.
FLAC.

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #19 –
I think it works (the music + recording, I mean).

It would sound better (IMO) with more bass, but maybe that's not lo-fi enough.

It would sound even better if they delivered a clean recording, and then left it to the fans to play it at levels which created distortion. Locally generated distortion can sound more raw and energetic than recorded distortion, but since that would be a bit hit-and-miss, it's obvious why they include it on the track.

However, the way mp3 artefacts get added to the distortion (second track on myspace page) doesn't work for me at all.


It's not an age thing - older people "enjoy" the "sound" of faulty recordings from all eras for various reasons - whether it's the slightly overdriven low pass mono on a 1950s vintage pop track, or crackles and even lower bandwidth of one from the 1930s. This is just a technical limitation used intentionally and artistically.

The problem is when all music starts to sound like this. (Though didn't a BBC producer say the same the first time they played an Elvis record on "The Light Programme" in the 1950s? She couldn't imagine whole programmes playing rock-and-roll!)

Cheers,
David.

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #20 –
Quote from: Axon on
JYall are missing the point of the group, and of lo-fi in general.
I am not.

Quote from: Axon on
The distortion is a deliberate artistic effect.
Which I don't like, although I mainly listen to Indie Pop and Rock. In fact I find it expecially painful, when these independent artists deliberately choose distortion for the same braindead reasons like their major-label colleagues: "louder is better". Of course, I know that being an indie artist (or producer) doesn't mean you automatically are that enlightened about music production as you are about music business. So there are also plenty of cases where they didn't knew what they were doing. Now this has both nothing to do with lo-fi, which as a back-to-the-roots efforts has its place.

How TNW fits in there as I see it, they are the "loudest is best" type, probably with a lot of self-irony. But the problem is that whatever motivation or attitude they have doesn't make their music more listenable. I don't care why they choose that sound, it sucks and they suck because it sucks. 

Quote from: Axon on
You can take or leave it (I'll leave it), but I don't think it is indicative of anything beyond, well, lo-fi.
No, this goes far beyond lo-fi. As exec said, it's loud-fi. And people who like original lo-fi might not necessarily enjoy Times New Viking.

Pitchfork rated "Rip It Off" very highly (8.4!), with the following commentary about its sound quality:

Quote
Sure, it's an affectation, but its just another way of using the studio as an instrument in a way that makes these songs more intimate by design-- for better or worse, you can't sell a Volkswagen with a Times New Viking song.
That's where I absolutely disagree. It's true there are beatiful pop songs underneath this crust of dirt, but still what you hear is the crust. A crust of dirt, that doesn't make these songs more "intimate", but the quite the opposite. If they feel ashamed about their own songs then they should instead practice some more, so they don't have to compensate what they lack in musicianship with distortion. 

Quote
If cleaner production means truckloads of new bands who can summon their influences with little effort, and even less enthusiasm or creativity, then I'll stick with my tinnitus, thanks.
This is the biggest pile of crap I've read in a long time. I think it's way easier to get away with your un-creativity by going "loud-fi" or "loud". No, cleaner producton doesn't mean truckloads of new bands who can summon their influences with little effort, and eve less entusiam or creativity, you don't have to damage your hearing even further, Mr. Pitchfork scribbler.

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #21 –
why any group would WANT to be lo-fi is absurd.  rubbish from the start.  and Bourne - that IS a brilliantly written album that was tarnished by a sh*t recording process.

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #22 –
Fandango, while I still disagree with your opinions on lo-fi vs TNV, I  agree that excessive distortion speaks of artistic insecurity. Massive distortion is gimmickry, I believe, that appeals to those desiring a "new" or more "authentic" sound (and the Pitchfork review drips with allusions to that sort of thing). Just like gated reverb, this sort of thing seems like a fad to me, and while hipsters of course go apesh*t over it, like any gimmick, it will eventually sound dated and old - much older than less distorted productions.
 

Loudest CD Ever?

Reply #23 –
@n3tfury

When WTSMG came out, I liked it... but as the years have passed, and with my growing dislikement towards the dickheaded brothers, and the stupid non-sense loud-to-death mastering technique... I kinda started to realize this album is actually crap. I don't know if I even like Oasis anymore... but this is certainly a case where the loudness ruined everything I had the potential to like, but it turned out that I actually started to hate it.