[iamnotafraid]

Originally Posted by mylittledemon

It can be a tough thing to explain but I'll give it a go. What happens is they take the song and put a limiter on it... a limiter removes large peaks in the track. Google the term "wav form" and you'll be able to see what I'm talking about from a visual perspective... natural "hills" and "valleys" in the song. Anyway, hit on the snare drum from Mick can cause these peaks, or maybe a crash on a cymbal. When these peaks are removed, the overall volume of the rest of the song can then increase. But what happens is you lose some of the natural dynamics that previously existed. Sure, quieter parts become loud, and more pronounced (Hey, I heard a guitar lick I've never heard before!), but the parts that were always easy to hear also have now been turned up to 11. (Nigel Tufnel reference there) The subtleties of the album are often lost. Back in my audio engineering days this would've lent to what's called listener fatigue... like being at a concert... your hearing becomes diminished over time from the wall of loudness. (Did that make any sense at all?) haha

Compression