Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate Thread
Page 1 of 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Fun with Audacity - Dynamic Compression
#197637 02/23/08 04:16 PM
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 138
zhimbo Offline OP
veteran
OP Offline
veteran
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 138
So, having been pointed towards the "Audacity" audio editing software on Audioholics' AVRant Podcast, I've been having some fun.

Here are the waveforms for:

1. Leonard Bernstein conducting Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue - nice wide dynamic range - it's an orchestral arrangement, after all.


2. Miles Davie, "So What" from Kind of Blue. Small group jazz, so much less natural dynamic range in the source. Lots of breathing room in this mastering of the recording (well, Coltrane's solo in the bottom channel is pushing it a little, perhaps, although there's no clipping visible when you zoom in on the wave peaks).


3. Fleetwood Mac, "Go Your Own Way".
The highest peaks correspond to the drum beats, and the song is mastered to just allow for the loudest peaks at the climax of the song.


4. Dixie Chicks, "Lubock or Leave It".
Dynamic compression Hell. When you zoom in on the peaks there is clipping out the wazoo, right there in the source material where there's nothing you can do about it.


Re: Fun with Audacity - Dynamic Compression
zhimbo #197639 02/23/08 04:24 PM
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 12,077
Likes: 7
C
CV Offline
Founder, Axiom Upgrade Club
shareholder in the making
Offline
Founder, Axiom Upgrade Club
shareholder in the making
C
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 12,077
Likes: 7
Drown in the blue ocean.

Re: Fun with Audacity - Dynamic Compression
CV #197646 02/23/08 04:35 PM
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 7,463
Likes: 1
axiomite
Offline
axiomite
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 7,463
Likes: 1
Yuck.

I've been paying more and more attention to dynamic compression lately. I wish I didn't know about it.


***********
"Nothin' up my sleeve. . ." --Bullwinkle J. Moose
Re: Fun with Audacity - Dynamic Compression
zhimbo #197651 02/23/08 05:28 PM
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 5,745
Likes: 17
axiomite
Offline
axiomite
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 5,745
Likes: 17
Nice graphs.
Good demonstration.


"Those who preach the myths of audio are ignorant of truth."
Re: Fun with Audacity - Dynamic Compression
chesseroo #197654 02/23/08 05:35 PM
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 12,077
Likes: 7
C
CV Offline
Founder, Axiom Upgrade Club
shareholder in the making
Offline
Founder, Axiom Upgrade Club
shareholder in the making
C
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 12,077
Likes: 7
Yeah, there should be a music review site with these graphs as standard.

Re: Fun with Audacity - Dynamic Compression
zhimbo #197727 02/24/08 05:07 AM
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 10,654
shareholder in the making
Offline
shareholder in the making
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 10,654
Very good, Jim; a graphic illustration(literally)of some of the garbage being turned out in the pop area.


-----------------------------------

Enjoy the music, not the equipment.


Re: Fun with Audacity - Dynamic Compression
JohnK #197756 02/24/08 11:48 AM
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 868
aficionado
Offline
aficionado
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 868
Nice demo, Thanks.


Dave
Re: Fun with Audacity - Dynamic Compression
DaveG #197762 02/24/08 01:41 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 13,840
Likes: 13
shareholder in the making
Offline
shareholder in the making
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 13,840
Likes: 13
Is this easy to run with my HTPC, how do I hook it all up? I know Audacity does a whole lot more, but I would just be interested in seeing the compression of my CD collection.


M80s VP180 4xM22ow 4xM3ic EP600 2xEP350
AnthemAVM60 Outlaw7700 EmoA500 Epson5040UB FluanceRT85


Re: Fun with Audacity - Dynamic Compression
SirQuack #197764 02/24/08 01:59 PM
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 138
zhimbo Offline OP
veteran
OP Offline
veteran
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 138
Audacity is pretty darn easy to use (and also free) - just rip a file from CD, open in Audacity, and there you go - you'll get a graph like the ones above. You can zoom in, etc, for different views (to actually see the clipped waveforms on the Dixie Chicks, for example).

(It's also easy to make a file of test tones using Audacity, your choice of frequency and duration.)

Re: Fun with Audacity - Dynamic Compression
zhimbo #197772 02/24/08 04:33 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 13,840
Likes: 13
shareholder in the making
Offline
shareholder in the making
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 13,840
Likes: 13
So, you can't just play a track of a existing CD while the program is running? You have to rip the track first off the cd, and then open within Audacity?

What does the clipped waveform look like? Is it in the above pitures.?


M80s VP180 4xM22ow 4xM3ic EP600 2xEP350
AnthemAVM60 Outlaw7700 EmoA500 Epson5040UB FluanceRT85


Page 1 of 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Moderated by  alan, Amie, Andrew, axiomadmin, Brent, Debbie, Ian, Jc 

Link Copied to Clipboard

Need Help Graphic

Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics24,939
Posts442,452
Members15,615
Most Online2,082
Jan 22nd, 2020
Top Posters
Ken.C 18,044
pmbuko 16,441
SirQuack 13,840
CV 12,077
MarkSJohnson 11,458
Who's Online Now
1 members (BBIBH), 226 guests, and 1 robot.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newsletter Signup
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.4