To make the Loudness Wars issue better known, this user-submission-based database -- call it DRD for short -- apparently now has over 49,000 entries.
You can search for (or browse thru) entires by artist/album. You can sort on Year, DR (track, album, max) and source (lossless, etc). The color coding makes reading/absorbing results/trends easier.
It's not entirely accurate, but it's mostly accurate. E.g., I got slighly better results for Stereophile CD 1 (1990) than the ones shown at DRD:
http://www.dr.loudness-war.info/index.php?search_artist=&search_album=stereophile
Vinyl rips, MFSL (and other audiophile labels) and pre-1990s stuff does seems overall better.
Download the free DIY tool Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1) using links under "Software:" on upper right. I use the version for Foobar2000. When you install it, it's fun to go thru your music and see how well it does (and how your hearing/perception) (dis)agrees with its results. You can keep logs, and even submit them to DRD to help further build the database.
Now, DR -- per the mathematical design of THIS tool -- isn't everything as many hard-core anti-loudness folks want to believe. Certainly, many of the early (pre-loudness-era) CDs, so cherished by these folks, have that early-CD hardness/glare that's difficult to ignore. That said, the DRD and its DIY tool is quite useful and practical for a music attribute so fundamental.
==== Edit ===
Below is my DR log data for Stereophile Test CD (1990). It was EAC ripped to WAV.
foobar2000 1.1.11 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2013-11-17 13:41:44
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: ? / ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR15 -0.44 dB -23.51 dB 0:36 ?-01 - Channel Identification
DR15 -3.20 dB -24.09 dB 0:47 ?-02 - Channel Phasing
DR18 0.00 dB -22.00 dB 3:39 ?-03 - Acoustic Drum Solo
DR20 -2.11 dB -26.43 dB 3:08 ?-04 - Acoustic Guitar Solo
DR14 -3.89 dB -24.63 dB 0:58 ?-05 - Igor Stravinsky- L'Histoire du Soldat (excerpt)
DR11 -2.29 dB -17.27 dB 7:01 ?-06 - Sergei Prokofiev- Flute Sonata in D, Op. 94, Allegro con brio
DR12 -9.76 dB -24.84 dB 4:37 ?-07 - Franz Schubert- Ave Maria
DR13 -0.58 dB -19.31 dB 3:39 ?-08 - Traditional (arr. Charlie Caranicas)- St. James Infirmary
DR10 -14.08 dB -27.27 dB 5:14 ?-09 - J.S. Bach- Trio Sonata BWV 525, Adagio
DR20 -15.28 dB -45.55 dB 1:02 ?-10 - Mapping the Soundstage
DR15 -9.09 dB -30.81 dB 5:24 ?-11 - Brahms- Intermezzo, Op. 117, No. 1 in E-flat
DR13 -12.13 dB -29.42 dB 0:46 ?-12 - Beethoven- 'Mozart's Minuet in G'
DR16 -2.29 dB -24.82 dB 7:10 ?-13 - Edward Elgar- The Dream of Gerontius, Part I (conclusion)
DR10 -6.38 dB -20.70 dB 3:16 ?-14 - Corey Greenberg- Eden
DR12 -8.77 dB -20.97 dB 1:24 ?-15 - Pink Noise at -20dBFS L+R (uncorrelated from 0-42)
DR3 -16.44 dB -19.82 dB 2:47 ?-16 - Bass Decade (200Hz-20Hz) 1,3-octave warble tones at -20dBFS
DR4 -15.93 dB -19.81 dB 2:32 ?-17 - Midrange Decade (250Hz-2KHz) 1,3-octave warble tones at -20dBFS
DR3 -16.14 dB -20.00 dB 2:32 ?-18 - Treble Decade (2.5KHz-20KHz) 1,3-octave warble tones at -20dBFS
DR5 -6.30 dB -11.85 dB 1:19 ?-19 - Music Articulation Test Tone
DR3 -7.00 dB -10.90 dB 0:24 ?-20 - The Harmonic Series, 500Hz fundamental, at -10dBFS (L+R)
DR3 -7.11 dB -10.20 dB 1:42 ?-21 - Second harmonic histortion A,B Test (L+R)
DR1 -7.10 dB -10.05 dB 1:42 ?-22 - Third harmonic distortion A,B Test (L+R)
DR3 -7.13 dB -10.30 dB 2:02 ?-23 - Seventh harmonic distortion A,B Test (L+R)
DR2 -7.26 dB -10.44 dB 0:32 ?-24 - Typical amplifier distortion signatures (L+R)
DR0 -9.70 dB -11.01 dB 0:22 ?-25 - Harmonic & sub-harmonic distortion (L+R)
DR0 -10.11 dB -11.76 dB 0:49 ?-26 - Jitter demonstration track (L+R)
DR0 -20.00 dB -20.10 dB 6:16 ?-27 - Spot frequency tones at -20dBFS (L+R)
DR0 -10.96 dB -14.75 dB 0:52 ?-28 - De-emphasis test tones at -20dBFS (L+R)
DR1 -49.89 dB -57.66 dB 1:03 ?-29 - Noise Modulation Test Tones with dither (L+R)
DR3 -0.10 dB -6.91 dB 0:22 ?-30 - 19 + 20KHZ at 0dBFS (L+R)
DR0 0.00 dB -5.14 dB 0:30 ?-31 - 20KHz at 0dBFS & -20dBFS (L+R)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of tracks: 31
Official DR value: DR8
Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 1411 kbps
Codec: PCM
================================================================================
To make the Loudness Wars issue better known, this user-submission-based database -- call it DRD for short -- apparently now has over 49,000 entries.
You can search for (or browse thru) entires by artist/album. You can sort on Year, DR (track, album, max) and source (lossless, etc). The color coding makes reading/absorbing results/trends easier.
It's not entirely accurate, but it's mostly accurate. E.g., I got slighly better results for Stereophile CD 1 (1990) than the ones shown at DRD:
http://www.dr.loudness-war.info/index.php?search_artist=&search_album=stereophile
Vinyl rips, MFSL (and other audiophile labels) and pre-1990s stuff does seems overall better.
Download the free DIY tool Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1) using links under "Software:" on upper right. I use the version for Foobar2000. When you install it, it's fun to go thru your music and see how well it does (and how your hearing/perception) (dis)agrees with its results. You can keep logs, and even submit them to DRD to help further build the database.
Now, DR -- per the mathematical design of THIS tool -- isn't everything as many hard-core anti-loudness folks want to believe. Certainly, many of the early (pre-loudness-era) CDs, so cherished by these folks, have that early-CD hardness/glare that's difficult to ignore. That said, the DRD and its DIY tool is quite useful and practical for a music attribute so fundamental.
==== Edit ===
Below is my DR log data for Stereophile Test CD (1990). It was EAC ripped to WAV.
foobar2000 1.1.11 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2013-11-17 13:41:44
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: ? / ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR15 -0.44 dB -23.51 dB 0:36 ?-01 - Channel Identification
DR15 -3.20 dB -24.09 dB 0:47 ?-02 - Channel Phasing
DR18 0.00 dB -22.00 dB 3:39 ?-03 - Acoustic Drum Solo
DR20 -2.11 dB -26.43 dB 3:08 ?-04 - Acoustic Guitar Solo
DR14 -3.89 dB -24.63 dB 0:58 ?-05 - Igor Stravinsky- L'Histoire du Soldat (excerpt)
DR11 -2.29 dB -17.27 dB 7:01 ?-06 - Sergei Prokofiev- Flute Sonata in D, Op. 94, Allegro con brio
DR12 -9.76 dB -24.84 dB 4:37 ?-07 - Franz Schubert- Ave Maria
DR13 -0.58 dB -19.31 dB 3:39 ?-08 - Traditional (arr. Charlie Caranicas)- St. James Infirmary
DR10 -14.08 dB -27.27 dB 5:14 ?-09 - J.S. Bach- Trio Sonata BWV 525, Adagio
DR20 -15.28 dB -45.55 dB 1:02 ?-10 - Mapping the Soundstage
DR15 -9.09 dB -30.81 dB 5:24 ?-11 - Brahms- Intermezzo, Op. 117, No. 1 in E-flat
DR13 -12.13 dB -29.42 dB 0:46 ?-12 - Beethoven- 'Mozart's Minuet in G'
DR16 -2.29 dB -24.82 dB 7:10 ?-13 - Edward Elgar- The Dream of Gerontius, Part I (conclusion)
DR10 -6.38 dB -20.70 dB 3:16 ?-14 - Corey Greenberg- Eden
DR12 -8.77 dB -20.97 dB 1:24 ?-15 - Pink Noise at -20dBFS L+R (uncorrelated from 0-42)
DR3 -16.44 dB -19.82 dB 2:47 ?-16 - Bass Decade (200Hz-20Hz) 1,3-octave warble tones at -20dBFS
DR4 -15.93 dB -19.81 dB 2:32 ?-17 - Midrange Decade (250Hz-2KHz) 1,3-octave warble tones at -20dBFS
DR3 -16.14 dB -20.00 dB 2:32 ?-18 - Treble Decade (2.5KHz-20KHz) 1,3-octave warble tones at -20dBFS
DR5 -6.30 dB -11.85 dB 1:19 ?-19 - Music Articulation Test Tone
DR3 -7.00 dB -10.90 dB 0:24 ?-20 - The Harmonic Series, 500Hz fundamental, at -10dBFS (L+R)
DR3 -7.11 dB -10.20 dB 1:42 ?-21 - Second harmonic histortion A,B Test (L+R)
DR1 -7.10 dB -10.05 dB 1:42 ?-22 - Third harmonic distortion A,B Test (L+R)
DR3 -7.13 dB -10.30 dB 2:02 ?-23 - Seventh harmonic distortion A,B Test (L+R)
DR2 -7.26 dB -10.44 dB 0:32 ?-24 - Typical amplifier distortion signatures (L+R)
DR0 -9.70 dB -11.01 dB 0:22 ?-25 - Harmonic & sub-harmonic distortion (L+R)
DR0 -10.11 dB -11.76 dB 0:49 ?-26 - Jitter demonstration track (L+R)
DR0 -20.00 dB -20.10 dB 6:16 ?-27 - Spot frequency tones at -20dBFS (L+R)
DR0 -10.96 dB -14.75 dB 0:52 ?-28 - De-emphasis test tones at -20dBFS (L+R)
DR1 -49.89 dB -57.66 dB 1:03 ?-29 - Noise Modulation Test Tones with dither (L+R)
DR3 -0.10 dB -6.91 dB 0:22 ?-30 - 19 + 20KHZ at 0dBFS (L+R)
DR0 0.00 dB -5.14 dB 0:30 ?-31 - 20KHz at 0dBFS & -20dBFS (L+R)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of tracks: 31
Official DR value: DR8
Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 1411 kbps
Codec: PCM
================================================================================