I've been listening to HTDAAB, and while I think the music is really great- their best in a long time, I also think this CD is the worst sounding they have ever made.
It's basically way too loud. The entire thing just screams at you and doesn't let up. There is very little dynamic range in its dB levels. Nearly everything is brought to the surface and as a result the audio sounds flat, and one dimensional.
I can't believe U2 would put out a CD that sounds this bad. Louder is not better. Its really really bad; I start to go numb listening to it. ATYCLB was produced really well, and doesn't have this problem at all. HTDAAB had to have been mastered this way due to record label pressure, because I just can't see U2 purposefully putting this crap out there.
One of the side-effects of mastering a CD so hot is a lot of times you will get a lot of digital distortion. I'm checking for that now, and I've already found a few spots. It's just really really sad....
It's basically way too loud. The entire thing just screams at you and doesn't let up. There is very little dynamic range in its dB levels. Nearly everything is brought to the surface and as a result the audio sounds flat, and one dimensional.
I can't believe U2 would put out a CD that sounds this bad. Louder is not better. Its really really bad; I start to go numb listening to it. ATYCLB was produced really well, and doesn't have this problem at all. HTDAAB had to have been mastered this way due to record label pressure, because I just can't see U2 purposefully putting this crap out there.
One of the side-effects of mastering a CD so hot is a lot of times you will get a lot of digital distortion. I'm checking for that now, and I've already found a few spots. It's just really really sad....