No it isn't. The original made my ears hurt like hell and the new one was much more listenable.
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I have both the original Vapor Trails and the remixed version. The remix is a completely different album.
Those graphs speak a 1000 words... I've been happily buying 80s/90s CDs for a while now, and a very cheap prices.
A brickwalled vinyl record would really do a number on one's stylus, throwing it violently from one extreme side to the other, then back again.
Update: to put it more succinctly, the grooves of a brickwalled record would become more like saw blades, with similar teeth.
Check out Emerson's "Three Fates" recording for an CD that is not compressed. Well done. Also I think EJ Reunion DVD is also non-compressed. If you have a decent amp these really sound good.
^ Maybe they need to take a third try.
I have. One version, I can listen to without my ears bleeding, and the other I can't even listen to in full.
They need to put out a new version of Clockwork Angels. I liked the music but is unlistenable for me due to the excessive mastering compression.
It sure sounds brickwalled to me. "Brickwalling" is the technical term for extreme limiting. Limiting is extreme compression with an infinite ratio. Standard compression will have a ratio from around 2:1 to 5:1, or thereabouts. Some more, some less, depending on the range of the hardware or software compressor being used.
Here's an example of the title track on Kaipa's Children of the Sounds album. Below was recorded off the vinyl:
http://www.symphondipity.com/images/kaipa-vinyl.jpg
Here's the same clip from the brickwalled CD:
http://www.symphondipity.com/images/kaipa-cd.jpg
Here's that CD clip zoomed in:
http://www.symphondipity.com/images/kaipa-cd-zoomed.jpg
Imagine a record needle trying to ride through a groove closely resembling that valley. It would probably sound more like a buzz saw than actual music.
yup... no nuance at all