It’s always something. Auto tune is the new compression! Which was EQuing the old Compression lol
compression is a tool. Used well and judiciously, it shouldn’t be noticed by even good ears. There were loudness wars…mainly started by competing FM stations trying to pump up the volume which in turn led to artists wanting their songs to “stand out” vs the “competition.” Louder sounds “better” in comparison situations which is why AB testing requires volume matching A and B!
The transition from CD’s to streaming should, and is resolving this. Also I believe the FCC stepped in with terrestrial broadcasting. Most if not all streaming services have volume moderation algorithms in place.
Rick Beato has a good YT video on compression and Tim Pierce (maybe Rhett Schul) cover how compression on guitars is used in recording…all on their YT Channels.
I was going to post on a related issue. But what the heck it involves loudness.
Anyway, I happen to like the sound of tubes combined with good solid state. For years, I have had a CJ tube preamp into a Krell solid state set up. Recently I upgraded to a better CJ and discovered what I think is too often overlooked.
I also feel kinda dummy like not knowing this fact of life but…the output impedance of a pre amp needs to be matched to the impedance of the amp. (A side issue is the current delivered to your speakers..not so much the rms stuff).
I found I could not set the CJ volume control at any reasonable level without getting an unacceptable overall volume level from my speakers. I called CJ and they recommended attenuators. I now use them to lower the input into the Krell by 10db.
I believe there is a volume sweet spot for most systems. My Swart guitar amp at 5w
combined with the guitar pickups/volume has a definite point where clarity begins to gradually enter a realm of very nice distortion.
I think many of us need to consider where our systems sound best. It is important to consider the source material. So many CD’s (especially) are just poorly recorded. It’s not the playback. A badly compressed cd will sound bad regardless of what adjustments we make in our playback.