Mondo Knows Facts
Records got measurably louder and flatter
Heavy compression raised average level while squashing peaks Engineers competed for a louder master, because louder often sounds better in a quick comparison. The cost is punch, and some streaming services now normalise levels to reduce the incentive. Meters that average loudness replaced peak readings in mastering. It sits in Mondo's music collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
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Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
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More facts like this
The loudness war flattened CD masters for two decadesEngineers squeezed peaks with compressors so their records would sound louderMastering for vinyl cuts a physical grooveA lathe engraves a lacquer disc that is plated and pressedMP3 shrank music by throwing detail awayFraunhofer's perceptual coder became part of an ISO standard in 1993MP3 throws away sound you would not noticeIt drops detail masked by louder sounds nearby in frequency and timeStreaming services turn loud masters downSpotify plays most tracks at about minus 14 LUFS, so a hotter master gains nothingVinyl cutters fold deep bass into monoOut-of-phase low frequencies would throw the stylus out of the groove
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Tags: mastering, compression, production
Records got measurably louder and flatter: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Heavy compression raised average level while squashing peaks. The figure is taken from Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a music fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Music shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.