This is why I don't buy CDs any more... >:-(

[frikkie]

Linkin Park - A 1000 Suns. Yet another completely fucked Vlado Meller master. It is clipped so badly it is unlistenable.
Have a look - this is track 5:


Let's zoom in a bit, shall we?


The mastering volume is pushed up so high that a very large part of the waveform simply got thrown away...

My GF bought the Live In Madrid DVD/A 1000 Suns CD combo - the DVD sounds great, the CD is unlistenable.
I simply cannot buy CDs any more...

[GearSlave]

Wow, that's terrible...

[d0dja]

Vlad the Impaler he truly is...

[frikkie]

Roughly the same section of the same track - this off the DVD's PCM stream...

[audiomuze]

This is why I'll always opt for the DVD over a CD if it has a LPCM stream.

[Steerpike]

Did you return it for a refund? One should always do so, if it is a "manufacturing defect" such as this, the dealers and people up the chain should be told.

[naughty]

wowsers - frightening

[frikkie]

Did you return it for a refund? One should always do so, if it is a "manufacturing defect" such as this, the dealers and people up the chain should be told.

No point, I don't think - they'll all be like this. And have you ever tried explaining something like clipping to the average Musica shop assistant? They go all glassy-eyed and move on to the next customer...

[Atjan]

One for the dummies:
Is the LPCM stream on the DVD  not a low quality/lossly/'not unlike mp3'  or is it about the same as CD?

[frikkie]

One for the dummies:
Is the LPCM stream on the DVD  not a low quality/lossly/'not unlike mp3'  or is it about the same as CD?

No, the LPCM is as good if not better than normal CD. And almost always, it seems these days, mastered much better than the equivalent CD.

This particular DVD also includes an MP3 set of the same tracks - in 192kbps...   Which, I might add, is STILL much more listenable than the damn CD. Let THAT be an indication of how bad the CD really is...

[Atjan]

No, the LPCM is as good if not better than normal CD. And almost always, it seems these days, mastered much better than the equivalent CD.

This particular DVD also includes an MP3 set of the same tracks - in 192kbps...   Which, I might add, is STILL much more listenable than the damn CD. Let THAT be an indication of how bad the CD really is...

Fanks Frik.
I listened to a few tracks off that album and have really enjoyed the music. I'll definitly give the CD a skip and go straight to the dvd for my listening pleasure.

One more, what do you use to rip the LPCM tracks? Never actually done that.

Why do guys like Vlad even get employed? Surely theres AE's out there that understands how to NOT make music clip?

[audiomuze]

Is the LPCM stream on the DVD  not a low quality/lossly/'not unlike mp3'  or is it about the same as CD?

If it's a PCM stream it's lossless and as Frikkie says, often of higher quality than the CD pressing, both in terms of dynamic range and more often than not it's 16/48 or 24/48 as opposed to the CDs 16/44.1.

[audiomuze]

One more, what do you use to rip the LPCM tracks? Never actually done that.

I use dvddecrypter, it does a great job extracting the PCM to WAV and splitting the DVD chapters into tracks.  Thereafter I transcode them to FLAC.

Why do guys like Vlad even get employed? Surely theres AE's out there that understands how to NOT make music clip?

It's the asshole record company execs that have it in their tiny minds that the louder something is the more likely it is to get noticed and therefore sell.

[Atjan]

I use dvddecrypter, it does a great job extracting the PCM to WAV and splitting the DVD chapters into tracks.  Thereafter I transcode them to FLAC.
It's the asshole record company execs that have it in their tiny minds that the louder something is the more likely it is to get noticed and therefore sell.

Thanks! I'm sure I've got dvd decriptor somewhere.

On the execs, the chorus of a song by The Bloodhound Gang suddenly came to mind, that old jewel, The roof is on fire.

[frikkie]

Fanks Frik.
I listened to a few tracks off that album and have really enjoyed the music. I'll definitly give the CD a skip and go straight to the dvd for my listening pleasure.

The problem is that the DVD is the live concert only - it includes quite a few tracks off the 1000 Suns album, but not all of them. The CD is the only option for the studio tracks at the moment...