Iron Maiden - Deja Vu (best dynamic range | CDP 546341)
AUDIO TRACK INFORMATION USED:
Source: CD (16 Bits/44.1 kHz)
Codec: WAV (no loss)
Dynamic range (DR) = 14 | LUFS (int) = -15.10 | Peak = -0.05
Penalty: 100% / 100% (content loudness -1.2dB) = Null
EDITION INFO:
Pressing: USA (CDP 546341)
DISCLAIMER:
1. Sound thunderous by default, not synonymous with good audio quality. The vast majority of albums or songs uploaded to YouTube by the artists' official channels, as well as unofficial amateur channels, not only have a lousy audio quality, but also omit technical specifications of the audio track employed, as well as the codec employed to create the video.
2. Although YouTube compresses/reduces (encoded to Opus codec) the quality of all types of video uploaded to its platform, I make sure the loss is as low as possible, as I upload the audio tracks according to a strict audiophile criterion.
3. No volume penalty on the vast majority of audio tracks used, or failing that, an extremely minimal (imperceptible) penalty.
4. Use audio tracks (16 Bits/44.1 kHz) taken from the first editions of the official albums in my music collection
5. I only employ official remasterings, as long as they're worth it.
EXPLANATION OF IMPORTANT TOPICS IN AUDIOPHILIA:
What is "Loudness War" and "Dynamic Range"?
Loudness war refers to a progressive preference over the years (according to some from the late 1980s to the present) to record, produce, emit, master and remaster with excessive volume. In itself, it is already a preference installed in the music industry to apparently simplify people's lives and so that they do not remain in musical oblivion.
The "dynamic range" (DR) can be explained by a representative graph similar to that of a cardiogram, only that, in this, the horizontal axis represents the "time" and the vertical the "volume/amplitude." It has a maximum peak, which should not be exceeded so that it does not lose its naturalness. It is recommended to watch videos where the topic is addressed in greater detail.
The importance of the dynamics was popularized with the website "Dynamic Range Database" | https://dr.loudness-war.info/ |, in which information is shared/recorded, worth the redundancy, related to the dynamics of the official albums.
That website, I establish a score criterion for each audio track with a respective color, characterized as follows:
Red/Low (0 - 7) | Yellow/Middle (8 - 10) | Green/High (11 - 48)
This channel is influenced by the criterion of the aforementioned website, since only audio tracks are used with a score or analysis result greater than or equal to eleven (11) which, without a doubt, represents the standardized audiophile preference.
Features of music in high dynamic range:
Does not cause hearing fatigue or health damage.
Does not vibrate windows and/or commercial speakers with emphasis on bass.
Pristine and detailed sound.
What is volume penalty?
It is a criterion adopted by all streaming platforms, which consists of reducing the volume of audio tracks to provide a better hearing experience, or, in other words, is a measure to deal with "Loudness War"; measure known as "volume normalization." At the moment, it is possible to disable this feature that is enabled by default in the vast majority of streaming services.
The problem with YouTube, is that there is not yet an option to disable the aforementioned, leaving at the mercy of the administrator/owner of the channel, to upload an audio track in high dynamic range that is not harmed by this measure.
The aforementioned can be corroborated by right clicking on the video, then clicking on "Statistics"; where you can see the "Volume/Normalized" feature, which will indicate values like:
100 %/100% = Null | 100 %/90 - 99% = Minimum | 100 %/76 - 89% = Average | 100 %/10 - 75% = High
If as we go down the volume (left value), the right value (volume penalty) does not decrease homogeneously, it is that we are facing a case of penalty for excessive volume.