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State of Trance Compression???

Greets TA community, i have a question about the "sound" of an ASOT episode

(now before i get flamed about the sound of ASOT being shitty because asot sucks, let me just say that i agree with you for the most part as asot as gone down the shitter in terms of quality)

right, so

i'm sure many of you with very fine tuned ears have heard by now, tracks that are played on ASOT sound slightly different from their official releases, some tracks in which i have bought the full .wav tracks from various online sites for some reason sound slightly better in a 192kbps rip from asot... I'm assuming this is some kind of compression or parametric EQ trick, but none of my parametric EQ skills could help me reach this type of sound improvements... it's hard to describe how the tracks sound better.. they sound more fuller, more melodic... I was wondering if anyone can shed light on this, and if anyone knows anything about this... thanks in advance, the TA studio forum is a very SOLID community and there are alot of knowledgeable people on here, i look forward to hearing from you guys!

It's the production forum. We won't flame you for liking a particular type of music or radio show. Well, most of the time

Armin definitely applies some sort of compression but I can't remember exactly what he uses.

Optimod broadcast compression is the industry standard, and is why dance tracks sound good on the radio.

Lots of cash btw...but significantly cheaper than they used to be. Can pick one up without too much hassle nowadays.

quote:

Originally posted by Fledz It's the production forum. We won't flame you for liking a particular type of music or radio show. Well, most of the time Armin definitely applies some sort of compression but I can't remember exactly what he uses.

i hope you can remmeber... and i hope i can do it without buying no optimod stuff... i mean.. almost every DAW has compression.. asot is mixed on ableton.. it would really only take three seconds to apply some compression

Re: State of Trance Compression???

quote:

Originally posted by TRNG Greets TA community, i have a question about the "sound" of an ASOT episode (now before i get flamed about the sound of ASOT being shitty because asot sucks, let me just say that i agree with you for the most part as asot as gone down the shitter in terms of quality) right, so i'm sure many of you with very fine tuned ears have heard by now, tracks that are played on ASOT sound slightly different from their official releases, some tracks in which i have bought the full .wav tracks from various online sites for some reason sound slightly better in a 192kbps rip from asot... I'm assuming this is some kind of compression or parametric EQ trick, but none of my parametric EQ skills could help me reach this type of sound improvements... it's hard to describe how the tracks sound better.. they sound more fuller, more melodic... I was wondering if anyone can shed light on this, and if anyone knows anything about this... thanks in advance, the TA studio forum is a very SOLID community and there are alot of knowledgeable people on here, i look forward to hearing from you guys!

Post a 10 second soundclip in both formats or encode the .wav to a high bitrate mp3 using a proper encoder and lets hear it. Some folks here might be able to ASOTify the .wav and tell you exactly whats going on.

Re: State of Trance Compression???

quote:

Originally posted by TRNG I'm assuming this is some kind of compression or parametric EQ trick, but none of my parametric EQ skills could help me reach this type of sound improvements... it's hard to describe how the tracks sound better.. they sound more fuller, more melodic...

No post-production trick is going to enhance the melody of a track...

quote:

Originally posted by Freak Optimod broadcast compression is the industry standard, and is why dance tracks sound good on the radio.

I guess it's a matter of taste, I really hate radio compression. The worst was when I heard a track of my own on the radio. Since I knew it so well I could hear exactly what it was doing.

Think about it, are you going to go for how the producer + mastering engineer want it to sound, or that + some generic soundbulldozing over it?

quote:

Originally posted by Pjotr G I guess it's a matter of taste, I really hate radio compression.

+1

by enhance the melody of the track i mean it makes it stand out more, makes it more audible and more powerful than in the full release..

TRNG I have wondered this exact same thing because I too have noticed when a track is played on ASOT vs the real thing, it always sounds much better to me on ASOT. Tracks played on radio sets of anykind for that matter always sound superior to me. Optimod broadcast compression huh?

my god people it always sounds much worse on ASOT, please dont try to make that sound on your tracks, its horrible. keep it pure and dynamic!! that kind of compression technique is only meant to make bad stereos (like in a car or boomblaster) sound better/louder. but on good stereos it sounds crap, i cant even turn up the sound at 9 o'clock when listening to radio.

yes i agree with palm you loose so much dynamics in the sound when it's over compressed.

run a well mastered track through a waves L2 multimaximizer a few times and you will squash the kick and make the whole thing even louder than it already is. what you are hearing is serious brickwall limiting and as palm said, this style should stick to cheap ass internet radio and not your home listening on proper systems.

its like holding your breath for two hours listening to asot (and ofcourse alot of other radioshows)

quote:

Originally posted by richg101 run a well mastered track through a waves L2 multimaximizer a few times and you will squash the kick and make the whole thing even louder than it already is. what you are hearing is serious brickwall limiting and as palm said, this style should stick to cheap ass internet radio and not your home listening on proper systems.

Look at the dB-meter while playing an asot set and you'll see its limiting ofcourse, but theres still alot dynamics left. Sometimes it even seems to be more headroom than in the original. But its undoubtly compressed ye, as all radio mostly are. Dunno if its the radio broadcaster or armin himself who applies it though? I thought it was the broadcaster..

i always apply multiband compression/limiter to my recorded mixes.. it might "destroy" the tracks, but it also gives more fulness and a more club-sound to the set imo.. most clubs also have the sound going thru compressors and limiters and shit..

bleh... anyways, i havent gotten any complaints..

blabla guess this fits better in the "dj booth"

quote:

Originally posted by dj_alfi i always apply multiband compression/limiter to my recorded mixes.. it might "destroy" the tracks, but it also gives more fulness and a more club-sound to the set imo.. most clubs also have the sound going thru compressors and limiters and shit.. bleh... anyways, i havent gotten any complaints.. blabla guess this fits better in the "dj booth"

what are your settings?

oh and for the people saying that this is only for shitty recordings and shouldn't be messed around with higher quality sound systems...

im listening on either 2 headphones, technics rpdh 1200's (bassy i know) or the sennheiser hd25's (pretty flat studio monitoring phones)

and on both... the asot rips superior...

quote:

Originally posted by TRNG and on both... the asot rips superior...

Superior being you appreciating its sound over the normal recording. This goes without saying of course, but I mention it because it makes the discussion harder; if you like it better that way, you just do, I can't falsify that. If it sounds better it is better.

Limiters and compressors don't improve any sounds, they alter them. The way radio compression works, it reduces dynamics dramatically. That is not a matter of taste, it's what the things do with those settings.

quote:

Originally posted by dj_alfi it might "destroy" the tracks, but it also gives more fulness and a more club-sound to the set imo.

That's a bit of an odd thing to say. How can it do both at the same time?

I was looking at the waveforms of some tracks on anjunabeats, which I think sound really good, and I saw that there was an awful lot of clipping going on, square peaks on every fourth bass note in some cases.
Its interesting how much of a difference the settings you use can make, I really like the Anjunabeats compilations, but I find the Euphoria ones really grating, even when its the same song. I think I'd have to put it down to the EQs and compressors applied at the mastering stage.
As far as ASOT goes, I think you'll find he's pulling down the high range a bit and bumping up a few frequencies. Just fiddle with your EQ till it works

the thing about asot compressor for example, is that it only really works with simple tracks. tracks with only 1-2 synths playing at the same time and simple percs. put a very detailed trance track through it, with lots of pads and huge soundscape and it will sound like crap, one big mess.

what it does is it brings sounds on the front even more front and make them sound bigger and fatter. but at the same time it puts all the background stuff even more background or make them sound messy.

sure a modern techy track in asot might sound pumping and fat at home, but that wouldn't nessasery sound good in a club in high volume for instance.

but if you really like that sound, then your best bet is to get a compressor/enhancer plugin for winamp or whatever program you use to listening your music.

loved the eugina and david remixes!! keep up the good work

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