Why we create music

DALI music releases
With our music releases, we have committed ourselves to continually strive for dynamic, authentic sound which exudes emotion and character by facilitating great, genuine recordings – in tribute to the performers and out of respect for music lovers around the world.

An essential aspect of this work is to make sure the music we release has been recorded, mixed, and mastered to high technical standards. For us, this means a result that respects the natural dynamics and fidelity of the music. In this, we are deliberately going against current trends in the recording industry. It is no secret that the standards for sound quality of new music releases are in a steady decline.

The sound is becoming more and more compressed, raising the quiet passages and squashing dynamic peaks, meaning that dynamic contrasts and air are largely absent. As a result, many new releases lack the excitement of dynamic variation and 'breathing space' for the ears.

This is not a new phenomenon, as record companies have known since the days of the jukebox that the loudest record tends to get more playing time. For decades, the 'sound' of pop has been about dynamic compression and loudness, and the poor handling of dynamics by low bit-rate MP3's, as well asmiserable fidelity by smartphone speakers has done nothing to counteract that trend.

It's not just the move to digital downloads and streaming, however; even on CD, many recordings come nowhere near testing the technical limits of this format. The sound of many modern performances and even remastered older recordings is compressed to a narrow 10-15 dB dynamic range, by turning down dynamic peaks and boosting quiet passages so that the track's high uniform loudness grabs and holds the listener's attention. This is quite a departure from the Hi-Fi goal of natural, engaging musicality.

As a maker of seriously capable Hi-Fi loudspeakers, music is obviously important to us; too important to allow it to be mangled by MP3 conversion, crushed by dynamic range compression, or diminished by inferior playback equipment. We take immense pride in our musical selections and productions because we know it makes a positive difference in the experience of good music.