Yes, alot of complaints about MAF about it clipping or something. I'm no expert but does a high definition CD make a difference to how loud you can get the CD without distortions and clipping?
I think my Gooner friend knows something about all of that malarky.
My understanding is that the clipping and subsequent distortions are in the CD, and will be present no matter what volume the CD is played at.
If you have some software that lets you view the waveforms of a commercial CD, here's something to do that is really pretty interesting. You'll need an early version Beatles CD , and also a current pop CD.
Open up your software. There are two main differences in how they look:
1) If you adjust the zoom so that the whole song is visible on one computer screen, the Beatles CD has a LOT of variation between the peaks and valleys. It looks like the Himalayas - peaks and valleys, followed by peaks and valleys.
The current pop CD looks like a Sausage - no peaks and valleys, just soft at the beginning, one constant HIGH volume throughout, then maybe twisted off at the end with a soft ending.
This constant Max volume is very hard on the ears, and makes unpleasant to listen to more than a song or two at a time. The Beatles CD has dynamics - soft parts, loud parts, which make it look like peaks and valleys, and more importantly, make the ears interested in hearing more. They have dynamics not only between different songs, but WITHIN songs - I Want to Hold Your Hand is a great example - the chorus is lower volume, and other parts are much louder, but with variation as well. I haven't heard that Chili Peppers album, but I've read it is a classic example of exactly the opposite - no variation in volume between parts.
2) The 2nd difference between a well recorded CD and a poorly one can be seen by zooming WAY in on the song. In the Beatles CD, the tops of each peak are almost ALWAYS sharp - go up, come down. In the new pop CD, the tops are flattened - looking like somebody took a knife and cut off the tops of all the Himalayas. This is done to make the overall volume of the CD louder than they used to be in the old days, but the problem is that if you have more than a few flattened peaks in a row, there is horrible distortion (the more peaks flattened off before coming down into a valley, the worse the distortion).
The problem is that, FOR A BRIEF PERIOD OF LISTENING, the brain interprets louder music as better. So, there is a race among recording engineers and producers to compete with the other guy's records by making theirs as loud as possible. Nothing inherently wrong with that, except the only way that we know how to do that now involves introducing things that make music unpleasant to listen to OVER MORE THAN A FEW SONGS - lack of dynamics (everything is at the same volume - BORING!), and distortion.
Most engineers and producers I have read say they HATE making this kind of music, but that they are forced to by the management (who won't use their services if their product isn't as loud as the guys across the street), and the musicians themselves!
I took a look at Paul's Chaos & Creation (focused on one song - Friends to Go) , and compared it to I Want to Hold Your Hand on the 1 album. Overall, there was a lot less dynamics on FTG than IWHYH, and even some clipping. Nevertheless, I think Nigel whatever his name is (the producer of C&C) made his album with a lot more dynamics than the average that is coming out recently.
If you're interested in reading more about this, this website
http://www.digido.com/ has LOTS of discussion about these points.
Happy reading!
