Hi Mark, > No, in my experience it doesn't favor louder always. I'm talking about historical trends, not individual experience, individual instruments, every single genre, etc. > had pictures of how volumes have grown over the years That's it! > I do not for a second think that this has all happened because the best > producers were doing a bad job 15-20 years ago. I agree. (Doesn't everybody?) > I'm just saying that I've not heard this argued in any other forum. That's why I brought it up. > Where do these come from, and why? See my earlier posting here (nonlinear processes in inner ear). I'm not claiming that everybody prefers this under all circumstances, just that there MAY be a general preference for denser spectra that drives this loudness increase. I also suggest that a preference for better dynamics occasionally reverses this trend. Other explanations (for the gradual increase in loudness) I've seen are not very satisfactory, esp. "Oh, it's just fashionable." I think it's related to the general trend towards richer orchestration which occurs in many genres.
