DARK, DARKER, GREAT
Or about the sound in 2025

⌈ For years, “leftovers” of what biographers have called the Loudness War has dragged on. The drive by radio stations, and by extension publishers, to make music sound as loud as possible, no matter what volume we choose, almost led to the collapse of the music market. But we seem to be entering a new era of sound. For us audiophiles, a dream one. ⌋

FOR SOME TIME I thought it was a coincidence, that it just so happened. Or that I subconsciously chose one type of audio products over the other to test, one type of albums to listen to instead of other, preferred to talk to a certain kind of manufacturers and musicians. And maybe that's the case, it can't be ruled out. But the longer I thought about it, the better I looked into it, the clearer became for me the regularity I want to tell you a few words about: more and more sounds in the audio world are “dark”.

⸜ More Audio CS100 integrated amplifier – an example of a perfectly ‘dark’ sound

The triggering moment for this article was a conversation with Mr. TOMASZ DĘBSKI, who, along with Mr. Jan Siwy, brought the More Audio CS100 integrated amplifier for the test. Since we listened to a dozen tracks together, with their product in the “High Fidelity” system, it was natural to discuss what we heard. And we both heard the same thing, which was the dark sound.

˻ DARKNESS: 1. «lack of light, blackness» 2. «a freemasons’ term for ignorance, ethical ignorance characterizing the uninitiated,», source: Słownik Języka Polskiego PWN, → SJP.PWN.pl, accessed: 19.12.2024. ˺

But, even though we agreed on our observations, even though we were talking about the same thing, it was difficult for us to define exactly, or rather to pinpoint, what this “darkness” was to us. Because it was not a sound devoid of the top end. On the contrary. After all, when bells and percussion enter in ˻ 7 ˺ Black Magic Woman, the track written by Peter Green, closing the original release of PATRICIA BARBER's album Companion , on Mobile Fidelity's penultimate SACD release, they sounded strong, full, sonorous. They were simply sparing and glowing. As did all the other upper range sounds.

So what did we, in fact, mean? - You shall ask, just as we asked ourselves. And this is the thing I would like you to think about: we wanted the kind of sound devoid of that something that makes us think that it is open, but in fact it is bright or exaggerated. The kind of presentation that makes us sit back in awe and at the same time relaxed. Everything is “there”, but nothing is imposing, just a truly resolving sound, not artificially “blown up”.

⸜ Optical cartridge by DS Audio – it is a technology that offers precisely the sound I am talking about • photo by Marek Dyba

I became painfully aware of how difficult it is to convince you to take such a view of audio, when the Pylon Audio Emerald High Fidelity Edition speakers were introduced to the market. Maybe High Fidelity readers remember, maybe they don't, but it was a limited special version of this Polish manufacturer's speakers, prepared jointly to celebrate the 150th issue of our magazine; more about it in the October 2016 introduction → HERE ˻ PL ˺.

The cooperation I'm talking about came down to the fact that Marek Kostrzynski, the engineer responsible for Pylon's designs, together with Mateusz Jujka, the company's head, brought me prototype speakers with the crossovers taken outside the cabinets. Knowing my preferences, knowing what my views on sound are, he had already tentatively “tuned” them, which gave us a good basis for further adjustments. The result was speakers that I liked very much and that sounded a bit “in the style” of my Harbeth M40.1. That is - dark.

⸜ Pylon Audio Emerald High Fidelity Edition speakers, prototype presented at the Warsaw Audio Video Show

˻ DARKNESS: When defining light as encompassing the full spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, darkness is understood as an area in which there is no electromagnetic radiation. Darkness defined in this way cannot be created because all bodies radiate heat in the form of infrared. source: → pl.WIKIPEDIA.org, accessed: 18.12.2025. ˺

As it turned out, for quite a few listeners this was a problem. And this was because the sound seemed to them - yes - too dark. The ‘regular’ version of the Emeralds did not have this ‘downside’ anymore. Thus, this was probably the first time I found out in such a direct way that my thinking about sound is not quite compatible with what some audiophiles and people involved in listening to music on high-end audio equipment think about it. Quite a few people wanted, quite simply, a brighter and clearer sound. In their quest for clarity, they were similar to those for whom the Harbeths are “sluggish” and “withdrawn.”

In my opinion, this is the wrong direction, which is confirmed by the changes in our industry that I mentioned at the beginning. And the aftermath of many, really many years of exposing us, the listeners to sound distorted by the loudness war. Which, I believe, is changing before our eyes. It may not have started today, but as it seems, 2025 will be a landmark year for us. “Us” meaning audiophiles in the first place, but also just people listening to music. Because, what's good for us is also good for the people who are not interested in this aspect of musical presentation. As the changes I'm talking about show, it is important to them, even though they don't realize it.

The More Audio amplifier is just a symptom or an example. Listen to the acoustic version of the Whiskey In The Jar by THIN LIZZY, available on streaming services; on Tidal -→ HERE. It heralds the Acoustics Versions album scheduled for January 24th. this year. It is, after all, one of the least aggressive productions I've encountered recently. But, on a pars pro toto basis, so to speak, it will do a good job of showing what I'm talking about. Because in a similar way, it's dark, it's dense, it's low, it's starting to sound like many other music productions.

⸜ A cover of the digital single by THIN LIZZY Whiskey In The Jar (Acoustic Version) • phoyo press mat. Universal Music Operations Limited

˻ DARKNESS: Darkness was over the depths, Darkness covers the earth, (Darkness) so thick you can touch it, Cimmerian darkness, The power (a. Power) of darkness. WŁADYSŁAW KOPALIŃSKI, Słownik mitów i tradycji kultury, Warszawa 1991.

And this includes new recordings, as well as remasters and remixes of older ones. A perfect example of the former are BILLY EILISH's albums, and of the latter, the direction has been set, in my opinion, by Paul Hicks, Simon Hilton and Sam Gannon, who in 2018 prepared the box Gimme Some Truth. The Ultimate Mixes with six discs featuring new versions of JOHN LENNON songs; more → HERE. This track was later followed in his remixes by Giles Martin, preparing new versions of THE BEATLES albums. And, finally, exactly in this spirit, Steven Wilson is preparing his latest remixes of KING CRIMSON albums.

Not long ago, the “High Fidelity NEWS” website featured a review of the box set released for the 50th anniversary of the Red album; more → HERE ˻ PL ˺. I know, like and appreciate this group, so I have quite a few versions of this title. But none is as good, even close to what Wilson presented this time. It was a remix, not a remaster, done in the digital domain, with tracks ripped from a 24-track analog tape. And for the first time, the mixer admitted that he was keen to reflect the intentions of the original producers as closely as possible, rather than impose his ideas.

As a result of this approach and a better technical environment, the final result is a disc whose sound is excellent. Dense, low, but also resolving. And, above all, quite dark. In the sense that, although there are plenty of sounds in the upper part of the range, they are not dominant, but very natural. In doing so, one can clearly hear the transition from intellectual to emotional positions. Because just bringing out the details, honing selectivity at all costs was a feature of many earlier recordings, remasters and remixes. Until now.

⸜ Three King Crimson boxes with Steven Wilson remixes

It seems to me, and it has not been supported by any research to be clear, it is simply my inner conviction that the process that began back in the 1960s with the loudness war between radio stations in the US, first AM and then FM, is coming to an end. This war carried over into the 1980s, but already in a digital environment, crystallizing the trend we know today as the Loudness War. The term describes the audio market's tendency to compress a signal as much as possible, making it appear louder. Dynamics disappear, timing blurs, timbre is distorted, but the slam remains. In addition, highs and lows are boosted, creating something that used to be achieved with a Loudness filter - hence the name.

Thus, as Greg Milner says in his book Perfecting Sound Forever, music labels began to shoot themselves in their feet. They assumed that no one cared, no one heard what was being done with sound. After all, few people are as focused on it as we are. It turned out, however, that listeners are sensitive to sound quality and that driven to the maximum volume level, resulting in bright, and jazzy sound, tires most of them. And if it tires them out, they stop listening. Milner's invoked Kevin Gray, today known for remastering albums coming out of his Cohearent Audio studio, who said he couldn't listen to anything released after 1992.

Completely without thinking of confirming my theory, just looking for something on the web, I recently came across the Hyperbits website, and in it a separate tab for The Ultimate Guide to the Loudness War. There we find a description of the phenomenon and... information that the time of the loudness war has passed. Bob Katz, the Grammy award-winning mastering engineer referenced on it, says: “The devastating war on loudness has finally been won”; more → HERE. Which would only confirm what I'm saying.

˻ DARKNESS: lack of light. Also: blackness, evil, incomprehensibility. Wielki słownik języka polskiego, → WSJP.pl, accessed: 20.12.2024.

⸜ Another example of thinking about the sound with maximum resolution and thus dark - Siltech Master Crown cables

And I'm talking about a kind of return to normalcy. Made possible by new people in the world of music recording, thanks to listeners and technological advances. For it is the case that better and better algorithms of recording systems, as well as a better understanding of digital as such, that is, changes in approaches to cabling, reduction of EMI and RFI noise, as well as vibrations, lead to a more natural sound, a dark sound. With which we return to the beginning of this article. For what, in fact, is it?

Talking with Mr. Debski, who tried to express his impressions after listening to the “High Fidelity” system, we tried our best to describe what was on our minds. Every now and then we repeated the term “dark”, but after all, that's not the point. Darkness is associated with something bad, culturally it is the opposite of brightness, which is good. Darkness we fear, darkness we chase away, in darkness - finally - we do not want to live. It is no coincidence that in the Judeo-Christian tradition the emanation of brightness is God, and darkness is Satan. In audio it is exactly the opposite. But not directly. I apologize for being convoluted, but it is impossible to explain this in simple terms and can only rely on approximations.

Darkness in recordings means the absence of something underneath the sound, making it unnatural, scratchy or bright. Sometimes even piercing. And in the long run - tiring. Seemingly we don't hear it, yet our body perceives it and lets us know that it's bad. That is, there is a reversal of the traditional brightness dualism in question. And, in fact, it's about reversing the natural balance in presentation. In the case of audio systems, this means the direction I outlined in my system many years ago.

⸜ And, finally, the top example of drive for ‘containing’ the sound, Daniel Hertz Ciara

Because “dark” sound is organic sound. It's a presentation that is soft on the one hand, and perfectly timed on the other. It is also music played in such a way that the tonal dynamics, or tonal differentiation, is better than before. What we have shown with the example of music seems to have an anchoring in the audio world as well. Therefore, more and more products, especially cabling, somewhat surprisingly, are beginning to sound ‘right’. Amplifiers, speakers and signal sources are following suit, but above all the software, i.e. the recorded music.

At first, until about two-three years ago, I thought that manufacturers were deliberately starting to send me products that would be “to my taste.” And even if this was sometimes true, I now see that this is a bigger trend. Which I'm truly happy about. It's what I've always talked about and what was taken by many as a fad and a personal ‘deviation’. At last we are coming home. ●

WOJCIECH PACUŁA
Chief editor