For years and years, someone, somewhere, has been insisting that music released on CD should sound shitty. Did you ever buy a CD featuring music you loved, but found you couldn't listen to it for long before finding it excessively abrasive?
Although I'm not an audio engineer, I've known about the process of "mastering hot" for a long time (you can read a fantastic video explanation/demo of it here). It seems now that more of the general public does too, thanks to the fact that Metallica's latest album actually sounds better in a video game than it does on their actual CD.
Yes, if you listen to the tracks through Guitar Hero 3, you get unclipped versions of the tracks. The CD, by comparison, sounds like took a shit on the disc stamper.
Since the story has actually made mainstream news, fans have retaliated, and a superior, illegal version of the album which contains the unmolested tracks recorded from the video game, is circulating Torrent sites. Hilariously, it was actually Metallica who complained so bitterly about illegal downloads of their music in the days of Napster.
This issue is actually closer to me than you'd think, because the process of limiting the range on a CD is, at least in principle, similar to the frequency limitation that's standard on DVDs (and has even affected some high-def Blu-ray Discs). At least with MPEG-compressed video, there are sometimes genuine reasons for doing it, however.
To play us out, here's some comments taken from around the web, which shows that, just like with video, there are average joes who don't understand issues, but nevertheless feels compelled to talk about them as if they are experts:
Although I'm not an audio engineer, I've known about the process of "mastering hot" for a long time (you can read a fantastic video explanation/demo of it here). It seems now that more of the general public does too, thanks to the fact that Metallica's latest album actually sounds better in a video game than it does on their actual CD.
Yes, if you listen to the tracks through Guitar Hero 3, you get unclipped versions of the tracks. The CD, by comparison, sounds like took a shit on the disc stamper.
Since the story has actually made mainstream news, fans have retaliated, and a superior, illegal version of the album which contains the unmolested tracks recorded from the video game, is circulating Torrent sites. Hilariously, it was actually Metallica who complained so bitterly about illegal downloads of their music in the days of Napster.
This issue is actually closer to me than you'd think, because the process of limiting the range on a CD is, at least in principle, similar to the frequency limitation that's standard on DVDs (and has even affected some high-def Blu-ray Discs). At least with MPEG-compressed video, there are sometimes genuine reasons for doing it, however.
To play us out, here's some comments taken from around the web, which shows that, just like with video, there are average joes who don't understand issues, but nevertheless feels compelled to talk about them as if they are experts:
People should just buy a decent CD player, not the shit Alba or whatever churn out through Argos.
Just to echo fireman and Sparrowmans comments really. Great album, crap sound. As my friend has just pointed out, it's no wonder the Guitar Hero game sounds better than the CD. The game is on a DVD and you can fit loads more data on a DVD than a CD - it's obvious really.
bloody hell. people complain about anything and everything thesedays!
why dont u quit whinnin and enjoy the aceness of a new kick ass Metallica album......? ? ? ? ?
I'm a music production student in my 2nd year studying Mastering......and even i think these people need to get out moreDon't give up the day job, then.
Leave a comment