Roles/ Methodology

Josh will use the program Reaper to adjust the decibel levels of songs in order to have equal volume regardless of dynamic range for the songs clips that will be used for our preference testing.  Reaper will also be used to remaster a song in the manner found to have the highest “sound quality” rating by our test subjects.

Gio will use a microphone as well as Reaper to measure the dynamic range of each of the recordings used in the test as well as collect the mastering preference data from test subjects as well as create the tables, charts and graphs of our collected data.

The testing of subjects will entail listening to several 30 second clips (randomly selected to be original or remastered) and asked to rate their sound quality on a scale from 1 to 10.  All clips will be adjusted to have equal volume.

The Science and Technology Involved:

Our project revolves around different types of sound encoding, analogue (vinyl) vs digital (mp3).  Furthermore, the mastering processes during the recording of music effects the dynamic range of said recordings and the measurement and personal preference to type of mastering is also of concern.  Therefore, microphones, a recording and mastering program (Reaper), and a consistent sound system for testing purposes are all required for our project.

Expected outcome:

As volume has been boosted over the years, we expect clipping to have occurred.  Therefore, we expect people to prefer the original recordings over the remastered ones when they are adjusted for volume.