Well, now you're just talking about volume compression, which has nothing to do with whether you record digital or analog, it's just that studios seem to be under the impression that louder is better, so they bump it all the way up, making the quiet parts just as loud as the loud parts.

I have to say, though, the album I own with, in my opinion, the best sound quality and dynamic range is the MFSL "Gold" CD of Pink Floyd's The Wall. I have it as a lossless CD, and 320kb AAC files on my computer/iPod. Guess what? I've tried and tried and tried, with many different types of equipment, including a professional mixing studio here at Columbia College that was donated to us by Skywalker Sound, and I CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE.