Disturbed, 10,000 Fists
This one is really growing on me. The CD run is over-compressed, and the mastering is overly crisp, but the music makes me move.
The over compression and ultra crisp sound that comes from heavy compression and gating seem to be pretty much standard for most music these days. Ever hear Iggy Pop's remaster of The Stooges Raw Power Cd? This came out in 1996 or 1997, and was essentially a harbinger of trends in the field of audio mastering. --The signal is so hot that it clips out playback equipment at about half volume. ( around -50 db on decent playback equipment, and around 4.5 on the shit playback equipment that I subject myself to)
BTW, Listening to Kraftwerk's Neon Lights
I really like Kraftwerk, thanks to you. I bitch constantly about modern mastering on other boards. I think those fuckers should get some decent speakers in the studios and learn a biit about dynamic range.
I'm not sure I understand your line level references. I tend to use dBm as a standard, which is common in pro audio. 0 dBm is equal to 0.707 volts across a 600 ohm load. (Yes, it implies some current capacity)
