What's interesting is just how different the quality was of some of the stereo releases vs the mono bounces. For an example, the stereo HDCD version of Pet Sounds is a little wack, but even if you joined the two channels to mono it sounds a hundred times better than the shittastic mono release. Got to wonder if they optimized it for AM radio play the way that similarly awful sounding releases in the early 2000s optimized for iPod earbuds.

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 1 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Is that why some 00's songs sound so compressed?

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 2 months ago (2 children)

00s music sounds so shitty because that was when digital music first became a thing. People thought 128kbps bitrate MP3s were acceptable (until they hear that mp3 they got from KaZaa play over the PA at their wedding and realize it sounds like raccoons fighting in a trashcan).

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

No, like songs I listen to today on Spotify or from TV shows during that era sound weirdly compressed.

[–] Fox@pawb.social 3 points 2 months ago

I think it's the tendency of producers in that era, around 2000-2010 was peak Loudness War, and many albums were pushed into clipping. IMO it started getting better through the 2010s as the emphasis on radio charts started to wane and listening habits shifted away from earbuds and portables.

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