God damn you guys! Now that I've researched the loudness war I can't help but notice that crap in my music. Sure, I'd heard of it before, but I'd never really paid too much attention. Now, it's especially jarring on my iPod, where my Santana is quiet and has the high points with the drums and then I listen to something else later and it's all pretty loud. Shit, listening to Santana's most recent release - Guitar Heaven - is pretty jarring even from recent "greatest hits" collections.

...And keep in mind I compress most (if not all) my music to fit on the iPod and I can still tell the difference depending on how something was mastered!

Christmas - The Who