> (watch out for loudness war, avoid 2000s) I think the coincidence (in time, not necessarily causal direction) of master quality issues and growth in lossy c

> (watch out for loudness war, avoid 2000s) I think the coincidence (in time, not necessarily causal direction) of master quality issues and growth in lossy codecs is probably one reason people get confused by this. People are hearing crappy recordings, listening to it on mp3s, and drawing conclusions. I think measuring this stuff is tricky because there's so many variables involved, from the master, to the compression (or lack thereof), to the amps, speakers, quantifying perception, etc. I agree with you completely but suspect there's a bit more to it.