The Official Metallica - Death Magnetic Thread

MetalH wrote:

Somebody PM me with the Guitar Hero link please?

See example above

We're thinking about compression the wrong way here.

1. The reason the guitar hero mix won't fit onto a single CD is because there are 2 versions of Suicide & Redemption (one with a Hetfield solo, the other with Hammett). It's only that reason that makes it too long for a single disc. The total running time of the actual CD is 74:16 which more than comfortably fits on a 80 minute CD medium.

2. The type of compression (also called limiting) we're talking about here is of the audio variety. The "dynamic range" of a song is the difference between the quietest and loudest part of the song. Compression "squashes" the dynamic range to move the quietest and loudest parts closer together, to create a more uniform sound.

A little bit of compression is almost always used, it makes the song sound "tighter"...but too much compression (which has become the norm over the past 5-6 years) just ruins the sound of the original song by unnaturally trying to make everything the same volume. This is "supposed" to make it sound LOUDER...but in reality it just makes it sound noisier.

The problem with Death Magnetic is they compressed it so far (over -10db of compression when -4 would be sufficient) that the song actually goes into digital clipping (anything over 0 VU in digital is noise) which is what creates all the distortion.

The picture below demonstrates this. The upper photo is the end of My Apocalypse from the CD. Notice the wave form is basically square (no dynamic range). The lower photo is from the Guitar Hero mix, this is what a wave form should look like, with many differences in peaks.

Hope this helps:

Example of digital clipping

That YouTube clip isn't a very good example, whoever made it recorded IT too loud.

Thanks for clearing that up Detuned. Do you have an answer for my FLAC question? Will it sound better if I rip the original CD to my hard drive in FLAC vs. MP3 or some other codec?

bgast1 wrote:

Thanks for clearing that up Detuned. Do you have an answer for my FLAC question? Will it sound better if I rip the original CD to my hard drive in FLAC vs. MP3 or some other codec?

FLAC is a "lossless" file type, it removes no audio information from the source, so a copy of that format is identical to the physical CD.

MP3 is a "lossy" file type, it removes frequencies from the audio so it can make the file smaller. What we gain in portability we lose in fidelity (I should get a t-shirt made with that on it).

However, neither will improve the sound of the physical CD, ripping it to the computer will only give you the option of EQing it digitally which can help some, but it's essentially a turd-polish.

If you decide to download the Guitar Hero version, I recommend going the FLAC route.

I have it in MP3 format. So if I look around I might be able to find it in FLAC.

You guys keep talking in Greek.

can who thought of making it clip is a donkey

I'm not listening to this album again for a few months, just because this thread has sucked all the interest in the album out of me.

I heard most of the album Friday night, and while leaps & bounds up from St. Anger, I'm in no hurry to get this. I'm just so over with these guys.

Still never got my coffin box set. I wrote them and they havent even received them yet but will be shipped out soon. DAMN!

You know, the more I listen to this, the less I like it.

Schbopo wrote:

You know, the more I listen to this, the less I like it.

The more I listen to it, the more I like it.

Metal Misfit wrote:

You guys keep talking in Greek.

Yeah, I couldn't understand a word of it myself. Like in Monty Pythons banter skit where the guy runs in and yells, "Bunch of monkeys on the ceilings sir! Grab your eggs and forks and lets get the bacon delivered!"

I'm not listening to it nearly as much as everyone else but I do like it more each time I listen. The bad drum mix gets less noticable as do the song lenghts. May not be in my top 10 this year (or maybe it will be) but could easily be in the other 10. The packaging is annoying (especially the lack of the Metallica logo) and I was at first put off that the lyrics were cut out in places. However, with the wonderful internet, looking up song lyrics is a walk in the park so I don't mind it anymore.

Over 10,200 sigs now.

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/re-mix-or-remaster-death-magnetic.html

gafel wrote:

Over 10,200 sigs now.

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/re-mix-or-remaster-death-magnetic.html

That's a lot of retards.

This record is so much better than anything since the Black album. The production isn't great but it doesn't really bother me either. I'm used to Lars's lame drum sound anyway.

lol I'm one of those retards.

Rex wrote:

lol I'm one of those retards.

So am I. The production doesn't bother me but I figured I better sign it if I want to remain hip.

Calling all retards....

this album clips so badly when played on an ipod its insane

TheGooch wrote:

this album clips so badly when played on an ipod its insane

That's odd. Everywhere else people are praising the auditory bliss that this album creates.