#1651975 - 05/24/09 11:24 AM
Distortion ! It may not be the playback system.
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TtownCLS
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So you have been building that dream audio system for many years now, and you still can’t seem to figure out why you hear distortion in the music. You took all the steps to make sure you have the best install, speakers, amplifiers, electrical system………the list goes on, yet you still hear distortion on some of your favorite music. It’s not like you are just pushing the system too far either. The distortion seems to be there at almost any volume level. What could it be? This is a question I had many times over the years. The subject came up again recently while searching for some current music to use as a demo for the car at shows. For the sake of keeping things as simple as possible, we’ll discuss just two songs.
I found several songs that seem popular with the younger crowd, and are pleasing enough to me that I wouldn’t be cringing while playing it back in my car. The two I’ll be referring to here are “Say it right” by Nelly Furtado, and “Apologize” by One Republic. Both songs have the ability to “pull you in” and get you involved in the music. Suffice it to say, I like both songs.
While playing “Apologize” in the car I kept hearing what sounded like distortion in the rhythm, or bass line. I’m referring to track 13 on the disk, which is a remix version. I initially thought I had something wrong with the system. I played the same track using my old 1991 era Kenwood home system with Sennheiser headphones, and to my surprise, the distortion was there even at low volume using the headphones. The next step would be to analyze the song in a WAV editor to see what is going on. I used Nero Ultra to view the track. I was really hoping it was something I could fix in my system since there is NOTHING I can do about poor recordings. Do you notice anything wrong with this picture?
This makes me wonder if the person doing the recording was even paying attention. I’ll be the first to admit I know next to nothing about producing, mixing, and mastering music, but can guarantee I can set the appropriate levels in a recording. The shame is there is nothing else wrong with the song. The musicians, and writers did an outstanding job of “making music”, only to have it slaughtered before we get to hear it. This is some of the most extreme clipping I have seen. There is no way that was an accident. The only explanation is ignorance, apathy, or a sad combination of both. That disc was thrown into the useless bin. Moving on to “Say it right” by Nelly Furtado. This song just caught my attention for some reason. During the playback, however, I noticed the distortion again. This time the distortion appeared to be “different”. It seemed like the distortion was actually lower in volume than other parts of the song. I played the track back using the headphones with the same results. It was time for another analysis. Here is what I saw when I zoomed in to look at the section of the track that seemed the most distorted to me.
As I stated before, I am no expert on mastering, mixing, etc. for the recording industry, but I know what a clipped signal looks like. What is strange about this one, is the clipping occurred well below the 0db point. I assume this would mean the signal was clipped prior to mixing. It seems almost intentional. I would hope that is not the case. I decided to see if there were any common threads to these two songs. At first glance, there is nothing in common to the two artists. I happened to catch something while reading the discography of the Nelly album. While both use different recording engineers, the songs were apparently done with Timbaland running the show. A quick glance at some of his other work answered the question of whether these two were exceptions, or the rule for his style. I can’t imagine why anyone would think this “sounds good”. I hope Nelly and One Republic find someone else to work with in the future. I would love it if they would have these songs cut again, only this time, the right way.
It doesn’t matter if you want a “loud” system or a pure “sound quality” system. This type of clipping will sound horrible in either. You can’t fix it with any setting on any of your audio equipment. The recording is the first piece of the playback system, and in this case, it’s garbage. The old saying “Garbage in, Garbage out” holds true in audio too.
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#1652099 - 05/24/09 05:07 PM
Re: Distortion ! It may not be the playback system.
[Re: TtownCLS]
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jcresci
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Registered: 12/25/08
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Timbaland is a great producer but that is sad to see and hear.
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#1652374 - 05/25/09 05:27 PM
Re: Distortion ! It may not be the playback system.
[Re: jcresci]
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keep_hope_alive
in another life, i'm a serial killer
SD I Power Bombed the Undertaker
Registered: 04/24/07
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Loc: Quad Cities, IL
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proof that being able to recognize talent does not mean you understand anything about audio. i hear distortion inherent in the recording/mastering process a lot. it takes on many forms. improper use of a compressor and limiter can remove dynamics. improper level setting gives the results above. the second graph looks like it was clipped then later on the overall level was reduce. pretty sad.
well done Robert. very informative. Thanks!
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#1652939 - 05/26/09 03:24 PM
Re: Distortion ! It may not be the playback system.
[Re: keep_hope_alive]
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:rock:
fat pothead
SD I eat the big piece of chicken
Registered: 12/04/07
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Loc: Rochester, Ny
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great thread. just to make sure, these were off of the official CD and not downloads, correct?
<----hates downloaded music even though this is proof that compressed music isn't the only culprit of a bad sounding track.
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#1653040 - 05/26/09 05:52 PM
Re: Distortion ! It may not be the playback system.
[Re: :rock:]
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TtownCLS
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Those are from the original CD's bought at a music store.
I would love to hear these songs recorded and mixed at Telarc or Chesky with their producers and engineers.
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