That's pretty ironic. It's sorta the online version of a disappointment I've faced frequently since I started buying music. It always sucks when I see/hear a great band live and buy their CD based on the performance. Then I listen to it and think "Who the hell is this? It doesn't sound like the band I saw." I've good quite a few of those in my collection. They're sorta like a blurry picture I have of my deceased Grandma--it helps remind me of, but I can really tell what she looked like any more.
This kills me...
So, I get all into with this new singer / songwriter fellow and download a couple of mp3's from his website and spend a couple of weeks playing them entirely too much at work every day on the old office computer. Obsession ensues. Finally, I manage to order a copy of the CD from him (one of those small-time, not-in-stores deals), get it home to the trusty hi-fi, and go straight to the favorite track. Lo and behold, they had gone and snuck in a whole drum section and a relatively complex baseline that the mp3 and office speakers just plain weren’t up for. It was fine, sure, maybe even better, but not the track I had fallen for (so I became obsessed with a couple I didn’t have at work, no problem). How do you like that, though, betrayed by the resolution and fidelity of my own system. Sure, it was a prime example of the "I've never heard that before" syndrome that we all enjoy so, but I was actually disappointed. Just goes to show, the magic (when and if magic) is all about the software, not the hardware. Sobering, really. Am I alone on this one?