Quote Originally Posted by Evil G
it's not just techno. the loudness wars are pushing producers in all genres to use too much compression. on first listen, a louder track is perceived as "better" than a quieter one, and the first listen is very important in terms of getting a track noticed, but on the 10th listen (or sooner), that over-compressed track starts to sound distorted, dull and flat. people need to stop competing for the attention of the distracted masses, relax and let their music be what it is. people who actually like music will appreciate it.
Very well said, I learned this the hard way

To add to that sometimes it’s that over compressed sound which makes a record what it is. It adds a little rawness to it which compromises the clarity/bandwidth. There is a line in there too, but where the line is, is subject. Example, I find so called schranze crosses the line with over compression, distortion I also find a lot of techno too polished (like a pop records) as I like dirty sounds and powerful mids. I mean listen to a wu-tang album and that grittiness and flatness adds a little character, listen to 2pac and it’s a completely different story. Some would argue that the mastering on a 2pac track is much better than a wu-tang yet they are two very different sounds. It’s all subjective personal preference. Should we really try to standardize everything? People already argue that everything is sounding too similar. I agree with all the points made, just offering a little bit of a different angle there.

Ive got a bit of beef with the amount of top end people use, everyone seems to add loads of it. Even at the start of a track there’s those bloody hihats. Like its somekinda rule, same with bass and rides

“I remember back in’t when 1st 17 bars was just a kick drum wiv a bit of reverb and some synth and not all these bloody hi hats everywhere” :lol: