Is music being mixed or remixed for iPods?

[70salesguy]

I know that back in the 70s, a lot of the music that I liked was mixed on JBL monitors. I seem to recall that the Werner/Electra/Asylum (WEA) group as well as Reprise used JBLs.

In as much that most "popular" music never occurred "live", the goal of a speaker for this music would not be to reproduce a "live recording" as much as to replicate what the mixing engineer wanted you to hear.

Not to beat this dead horse too hard, here is the question...................

Is today's music being "mixed" for iPods and MP3?

I believe that a lot of the "pop" music of the 60s and 70s was mixed to sound best on low-fi equipment.

Are they mixing for what they see as the largest audience? I don't buy much of todays popular music, I listen a lot to older music and the new music I buy certainly doesn't qualify as "popular".

I even read about CDs going the way of the vinyl lp and new music being available strictly by MP3 download.

What type of listening or playback gear is it being mixed for?

I also hear people talk about reissues that are "remixed" not sounding as good as the original issue (on vinyl).

I would like to solicit your information and opinions on this subject please.

[whoaru99]

IMO, I think it's recorded just to sound louder than the previous artist. To do this, they increase the dynamic compression. It just so happens that dynamically compressed material often sounds better on portable gear and in cars because it helps the quiet passages from being lost in the ambient noise.

Also, I think the issue of MP3 is sort of just noise in that whole situation. Sure, it's a lossy format, but a well done MP3 at medium to high bitrate isn't as bad, IMO, as often made out to be. There is a big difference in encoders and their settings.

[Fletch]

I just use MP3's to sample music and that is all. Too many variables, humans being the biggest. What sounds good to an untrained ear and what sounds good to an Ak'r is highly debatable. People don;t know how to use the encoding software or they dont care, etc. The end product is far more inferior to CDs. I am NOT sold on MP3's - they sound terrible.

[whoaru99]

Audibility of MP3 artifacts is hotly contested

I do mine with LAME encoder using proper settings for 192 VBR. I'd be really surprised if more than a handful of people could tell them apart (with more than random chance) from original CDs.

I can almost always identify MP3 when it's at 128, usually at 160, but 192 and up gets pretty hard, IMO.

Of course, MP3 really has nothing to do with the dynamic compression or "loudness wars" thing which is what I was trying to say in my original response. Afaik, studios aren't (yet?) mastering in MP3 so we can't blame it on that.

[sauuuuuce]

In a sense yes. Dynamics doesn't exist in todays pop music. Squash the hell out of it so it rides on the verge of clipping regardless of how loud or quiet the passage is supposed to be. Actual loudness has become apparent loudness.

[soundmotor]

I'd be really surprised if more than a handful of people could tell them apart (with more than random chance) from original CDs.

I've done high-end speaker demos with MP3's and know that statement to be true.

[FalconEddy]

Is today's music being "mixed" for iPods and MP3?


Absolutely not. However, tweaking may be done after the mastering process (by iTunes, Rhapsody, etc) to improve it's playback characteristics in certain specific formats. MP3 formats getting the majority of tweaks.

When I've completed mastering an album (or song) I'll send the producer/client a 320mbps MP3 to review for any changes they'd like to incorporate. I always use the highest quality encoding (also the slowest) so any artifacts will be at a absolute minimum, and generally always inaudible to the vast majority of listeners.

If I get a chance in the next few days, I'll put up a sample of the difference between a finished wave file versus one of my 320mbps files. This will give you an excellent idea of what's getting left on the cutting room floor during the encoding change.

. . Falcon