While I thoroughly enjoyed John Marks' dispatch from the "Loudness Wars" by the end of the essay I ultimately found myself very confused.
Here's why:
The graphic on page 53 clearly shows how dynamic range compression, aka "The Loudness War", adversely effects the sound of a given piece of recorded music. In addition Marks explains how the harmful effects of dynamic range compression cannot be undone by simply lowering the volume of an offending track.
So far so good.
On the next page (page 54) JM goes on to explain how the newer Loudness metering is a much better gauge than the standard Peak metering when it comes to measuring loudness.
Again, so far so good.
Then comes the confusing statement that by using software which normalizes volume based on Loudness metering the effects of dynamic range compression will somehow disappear.
My humble understanding is that dynamic range compression cannot be undone by the listener. All one can do is lower the volume but the compression will still remain and the music will sound lifeless, just as JM states on page 53.
Could someone please clarify Mr. Marks' seemingly contradicting statements. TIA!