Hi Mark,
No, in my experience it doesn't favor louder
always.
I'm talking about historical trends, not individual experience, individual
instruments, every single genre, etc.
had pictures of how volumes have grown over the years
That's it!
I do not for a second think that this has all happened
because the best
producers were doing a bad job 15-20 years ago.
I agree. (Doesn't everybody?)
I'm just saying that I've not heard this
argued in any other forum.
That's why I brought it up.
Where do these come from, and why?
See my earlier posting here (nonlinear processes in inner ear).
I'm not claiming that everybody prefers this under all circumstances, just
that there MAY be a general preference for denser spectra that drives this
loudness increase. I also suggest that a preference for better dynamics
occasionally reverses this trend. Other explanations (for the gradual
increase in loudness) I've seen are not very satisfactory, esp. "Oh,
it's just fashionable." I think it's related to the general trend towards
richer orchestration which occurs in many genres.