production?

[Cloudshaper]

I love the production on undertow and I think it’s very organic. However there’s been an issue which has been annoying me lately and it’s the volume of the record. I think it’s just a bit too low. I know it’s an old record, but I’ve compared it with other albums from its era. It’s not a problem on my big stereo, because I just crank it up, but it’s pretty annoying on my Ipod. I don’t know if it’s just me.

Any thoughts?

[the_milkman]

i had that problem too. did you try increasing the volume of the songs on your ipod?

hold shift and select all of the songs on undertow and right click and hit get info. there's a volume adjustment slider, increase it by 100% and you should be golden.

[Cloudshaper]

i had that problem too. did you try increasing the volume of the songs on your ipod?

hold shift and select all of the songs on undertow and right click and hit get info. there's a volume adjustment slider, increase it by 100% and you should be golden.

That's a pretty good trick :) Still think it's weird though.

[wolfhalen]

Yes, the volume is a little bit low.

That was more common back then.... now records are released with audible distortion, ala Metallica Death Magnetic. I would prefer records with some dynamics, and turn them up
myself later.

There has been much discussion about this. And talk of albums with a "Turn it up" logo, to indicate that it was produced not to the absolute limit of intense volume.

Even Aenima was quite a bit louder, although Tool's music is not lacking dynamics in any way.

[Michał]

I agree completely. I believe that important part of Tool fans is also somehow interested in audio technology, recording, equipment etc. I find myself in this group and know or heard of a few more people like that. These people seem to share the idea, that Tool music deserves listening to it in a special manner - concentrated, devoted, on good hardware. One audio professional and music performer I know admits that the recording quality is surprisingly high "for the genre" and keeps using them also for hard-testing the most sophisticated (and expensive!) pieces of hardware.
I think they keep the level of compression close to the sweet spot on all albums 'til 10000 Days. Some songs (espec. the main two, and Rosetta Stoned) seem to be given a bit too much compression. Some still (namely Intension) maintain the full dynamic range, from virtually inaudible to "fully present". You can, also, progress trough the album and distinguish the softer&quieter stuff from the powerful and loud songs. I think it is positive.
I really regret that such an once sympathetic legend like old 'tallica considers their listeners to be dumb, deaf headbangers (this even hurts the image of metal fans in general). I do not love them, but I like some of their stuff. Their image of a pure legend and hero got blurred though - they haven't managed to save themselves from loosing their honour sometimes. Something TOOL never does. Thank you Jesus.