Trecand de misto-urile pe seama formatului "HD" prezent in toate cele, muzica in acest format (24 bit, 96kHz - sau mai mult) e din ce in ce mai prezenta pe net.
Daca la lansarea de noi albume, precum "Compton: A Soundtrack by Dr. Dre", putem fi siguri ca artistul a fost cel care a aprobat fiecare punct si virgula din mix, la albumele vechi situatia sta cu totul altfel.
Dupa anii 2000, muzica a inceput sa fie din ce in ce mai tare. Nu "tare, frate", ci cu volumul mai ridicat. Vorb-aia, "sa-ti faca varza boxele". Din acest motiv, sunt circumspect cand vad albumele anilor '70 remixate in zilele noastre. In plus, ma uit chioras cand piesele sunt mixate de terti.
Pentru exemplificare, sa luam albumul "Toys In The Attic" (Aerosmith), prezent in format 96kHz/24bit pe HDTracks.com. In pagina cu detaliile albumului se specifica:
Recorded January - March 1975 at The Record Plant.
Mai jos, detaliat:
Jack Douglas – production
Jay Messina – engineering
Rod O'Brien – assistant engineering
Corky Stasiak – assistant engineering
Dave Thoener – assistant engineering
Doug Sax – mastering
Vic Anesini – mastering engineering
Deci asta e albumul pe care-l stim, pe care l-am ascultat de atatea ori. Desigur, de-a lungul timpului au mai fost variante diferite de mixaj, tocmai ca sa mai bage putin volum. Dar aici informatia e clara:
This digital release was remastered by Ryan Smith of Sterling Sound from the original analog tapes.
Intr-un interviu pentru CNET, aflam cateva amanunte despre acest inginer de sunet cunume generic, Ryan Smith:
[...] he immediately starts to imagine how he would like the music to sound, and how he's going to make that happen. Sometimes, but not always, that might involve dynamic range compression, and Ryan said, "I might be thinking about what kind of impact is required, or it might be more about what sort of equalization would serve the music." If the mix is basically good Smith might want to just make it a little clearer or bigger, but he never wants to change the character of the sound. Smith stressed that's his approach, but some mastering engineers go further and put their stamp on the sound. He also feels the entire album should have a cohesive sound, but if it's a single, Smith might take another approach. Singles are treated differently than album tracks.
Evolutia devine involutie. Ne cumparam echipamente scumpe si consideram ca muzica 2.0/44.1 kHz/16-bit e depasita. Vrem muzica HD, dar in afara lansarii de albume noi, mixate in prezenta artistului, primim doar variante ale originalului, mixate de diversi ryansmith-i.