More on the Loudness war. This article from the Times of London, Why Music Really is Getting Louder, includes this insight from Abbey Road’s senior mastering engineer, Peter Mew. Using a hard limiter during CD mastering causes waves to get squared off when they hit 0db. This causes an unpleasant, unnatural buzzing sound. This sound can make listeners feel ill.

The brain is not geared to accept buzzing. The CDs induce a sense of fatigue in the listeners. It becomes psychologically tiring and almost impossible to listen to. This could be the reason why CD sales are in a slump.

I wholeheartedly agree. As a musical luddite, I tend to prefer naturalistic sounds. I find the sound of most contemporary CDs, even by performers I like, fatiguing and thoroughly unmusical. As a result, I’ve virtually stopped buying CDs.

Read the full article at TimesOnline.co.uk:

Why Music Really is Getting Louder