On the one hand, the argument, "It has to be loud to sound good on the radio" is a fallacy, because the stations all have something like this in the audio path:

[Linked Image]

The Optimod includes an AGC (automatic gain control) that acts like an automated volume knob that keeps everything at a consistent level. Then there's more processing that boosts everything up. The mastering guys I've corresponded with say that CDs that aren't crushed actually sound better on the radio because the station's processing is doing more of the work and isn't so much "fighting" the processing that's already there.

On the other hand...
Getting on the radio in the first place requires an "in your face" sound coming out of the radio programming guy's CD player when he listens to it for the first time. Bringing dynamics back to recorded music is going to require some attitude adjustments in the radio world.

Pat Bryant's second album, 2020, out now!