[MLA] from the trenches...

Mon Jan 15 18:27:18 CET 2018

Bob has presented a problem and I'm just doing some fantasy brainstorming.
Try to go with it for a little bit. Sometimes this leads interesting places.

Yes, "suggested playback level" would counteract normalization - if enabled
by the listener.

A player supporting this would have three normalization options:

   1. Loudness normalize
   2. Original level
   3. Suggested level

Loudness normalize would be the default. Original level is simple 0 dB
playback. Suggested level plays pack with a gain indicated by metadata
provided by the content producer.

I agree that this would likely create a shitshow but it could also be an
educational exercise for producers and artists. Bob could ask clients, "How
much louder do you want it?" And then he simply dials in that number and,
without crushing, can beat anything the mix engineer has done. If we can
move the loudness war to metadata, we can save the audio.

Would any listener ever choose Suggested level playback? The feature is
marketable as, "listening to music as the artist intended." This is a
fundamental selling point for high resolution audio which does have some
market traction. If, somehow, the feature did not result in a shitshow, it
might provide a usable listener experience and, for instance, solve Bob
Katz's "acoustic advantage" problem. If it turns into a shitshow, no one
will use it - this will be the educational part of the exercise.

Is it possible to implement this feature? If listeners had a calibrated
playback system, Suggested level could be specified in SPL. If a track
specified a playback level higher than the equipment was able to safely
produce, a warning could be issued and a more reasonable level used. Users
may still want a volume override to nudge playback a specified amount above
or below the Suggested level. Calibrated playback is already not difficult
for (factory) earbuds and home theater systems (calibrated using an AVR
with a supplied measurement mic). It also should be possible to get it done
for other constrained listening scenarios - laptop speakers, bluetooth
speakers, automotive.

Kevin Gross - AVA Networks

On Fri, Jan 12, 2018 at 1:55 PM, Grimm | Eelco <eelco at grimmaudio.com> wrote:

> Hi Kevin,
>
> If they want actual loud, maybe we can work on adding "suggested playback
> level" metadata to recordings.
>
>
> ? What do you mean exactly? The way I read it would be counteracting the
> normalization. But on the other hand everybody and their mother would turn
> that button to '11', so if it is turned fully up for all songs, we can just
> as well leave it out :-)
>
> Cheers,
> Eelco
>
> I don't expect this would actually work and it would likely get ridiculous
> quickly but it might also be educational and it might relieve some pressure
> to crush.
>
> Kevin Gross - AVA Networks
>
> On Tue, Jan 9, 2018 at 7:32 PM, Bob Ludwig <gatewaybob at mac.com> wrote:
>
>> Thanks for the encouraging words, Eelco!
>>
>> Best,
>> Bob L
>>
>> On Jan 9, 2018, at 7:27 PM, Grimm | Eelco <eelco at grimmaudio.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Bob,
>>
>> I very much pity you. But also your artist.
>>
>> From another viewpoint: at least he is aware that Spotify applies
>> normalization. He says it sucks but he cannot do anything about it. I
>> always said that normalization will not stop people from crushing their
>> masters. The main goal is to offer a plain playing field so people who
>> don't crush their masters will sound equallty loud (or louder). The artists
>> who really love the crushed sound with 'the better brightness' can just
>> keep on demolishing their art - and that's fine with me.
>>
>> But to be their mastering engineer must make you seriously ill, I am sure.
>>
>> The good news is that in the indie world many people are picking it up
>> already. At my school all the current students want to learn about making
>> dynamic mixes and masters at the moment, and a good friend of mine (a
>> talented mix & mastering engineer) never has to master above -13 LUFS for
>> about a year now because of Spotify...
>>
>> Take care,
>> Eelco
>>
>>
>> On 9 jan. 2018, at 22:27, Robert Ludwig <gatewaybob at mac.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>> As is so often the case now, I’m mastering an album where the mix
>> engineer has premastered it for their client’s “listening references”  SO
>> loudly, and the client expects me to at least match it.
>>
>> By far, for me the loudness wars are the worst they have ever been and
>> now it isn’t so much the artists or A&R, it’s the mixers themselves.
>>
>> I’m doing this new album, the engineer sent me his crushed “listening
>> refs” and his “less compressed mixes”.
>> In addition to matching his level (with hopefully a more clear sound), I
>> also did one with *some* dynamics, about -1dB less compressed.  These
>> were labeled “even louder” and “loud” !!
>>
>> Here is a comment I just got from the artist:
>>
>> "Between ‘skip rate data’ and being ‘loudness normalized’, Spotify really
>> needs to give everyone a break. Jeez louise, soooo laaaaaaame!!!!!!!
>>
>> I don’t actually know what to suggest. Especially now I know that
>> whatever loudness I want my music to be, Spotify are just going to turn my
>> shit down. That sucks. I still have Bob’s “louder and even louder” mixes
>> and I’ve always gone straight to “Even louder”, feels obvious, no? This is
>> probably part of the reason why I felt what he sent most recently was that
>> bit *less* impactful. To cut to the chase, I don’t want this music to
>> exist at anything other than Bob’s “even louder” level. That gives it the
>> better brightness too, for me.”
>>
>> This makes me ill…
>> Bob L.
>>
>> PS. please don’t quote this any place, it will get back to the artist
>> eventually.
>>
>>
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