Compression and bass clarity

[NAM]

It seems to me, comparing a number of original recordings with remasters that have had their dynamic range compressed, that bass clarity is disproportionately negatively impacted. Anyone else find this? Is it a genuine effect and if so what are the reasons?

 

[gjm]

Yup - the overall quality of a compressed recording seems almost invariably compromised, but it is in the extreme frequencies that I notice it most. Treble gets thin and ultimately a bit screechy, but bass seems affected sooner. It gets bloaty, indistinct and seems less controlled. (Maybe less controllable?)

I'm not sure why. It seems as though the compression is applied more to the frequency extremes than it is to the mid-range... More use is made of the mid-range frequencies in most musical recordings, and typically compressed recordings are played back on devices that are unable to adequately do justice to higher and lower frequencies, meaning that any failings in these areas are less likely to be noticed.

That doesn't answer why it should happen to remastered recordings, unless those recordings have been 'brought into line' with other mainstream musical offerings.

 

[browellm]

Maybe it's to do with the way the brain doesn't process low and high frequencies at the same relative loudness, or perhaps there's a complex masking effect of low frequencies which gets worse as you squash the dB range of the programme material.

Or a combination of the two

 

[i_should_coco]

Adding compression with change the frequency spectrum - you're adding harmonics. i.e. distortion vs the original signal.

 

[SergeAuckland]

Adding compression with change the frequency spectrum - you're adding harmonics. i.e. distortion vs the original signal.

It depends whether the "remaster" involves working on the original stereo mix, or whether what's called for convenience "remastering" went back to the original multitrack tapes and remixed as well as remastered. If the former, then Mr Coco is substantially correct, although it also depends on whether the compression is done broadband which has a more limited effect on frequency distribution or multi-band which divides the audio band into 3,5 or 7 bands and compresses each band individually to get maximum energy out of the recording. That changes the entire frequency distribution of energy.

If the "remastering" has gone back to the original multitracks, then each track or submix, like drums, can be equalised and compressed independent of the other instruments, so should retain much more of the individuality of the instrument, although the sound will change as otherwise there's no point in doing it.

Remastering isn't always bad as modern tools can correct for things like pitch instability in early tape machines, or even, as in one Miles Davis recording, the tape machine was running at the wrong speed all though one recording.

S.