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making your music sound great

So, Justin Bieber is louder than Motorhead, AC/DC and The Sex Pistols... - wait, WHAT ?

February 20th, 2011 BY 

(Click on the image for a larger version)


Hopefully this speaks for itself ! If not, to find out more about the Loudness War and Dynamic Range Dayclick here.

Questions to ask:

  • Which of these albums sound the loudest to you ?
  • Which of these albums sound the punchiest ?
  • Which of these albums sound incredible ?
  • What's more helpful for great sound, high average level (so-called "loudness") or wide dynamic range ?
  • Do sales have anything to do with "loudness" ? (That's a trick question - more info here.)

I would love this to go viral, if you think it deserves to - please spread the word !

You can download a higher-quality PDF version here.

"DR" values measured by the offline TT Loudness Meter.

Information collected via the excellent Unofficial Dynamic Range Database. I chose the songs looking for acts that most people would recognise as "loud", plus some top-sellers (new and old) for comparison.

If you would like to suggest ways to improve this, or can beautify it for me, please comment !

ABOUT IAN SHEPHERD

My name is Ian Shepherd - I'm a professional mastering engineer with over 25 years experience and I run the Production Advice website with over 50,000 readers each month

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