DEALING WITH LOUDNESS

Ha ha, I'm not actually writing about the Japaneese '80s hair metal band Loudness.  Rather, the loudness of today's music, which is mastered not for vinyl or even CDs but MP3s and MP3 players.  Back in September of 2008, I wrote about the controversy around Metallica's Death Magnetic album. Fans complained that it sounded better on Guitar Hero than it did on CD, because the Guitar Hero one was mastered for a large stereo system, while the CD version was mastered for iPod earbuds. NPR has a story explaining the loudness issue that sheds some light on the issue.