John Mayer's Latest -- Too Compressed!, Heavy compression on modern CDs.. ugh. Options

[delusion_]

I've been listening to John Mayer's latest CD, "Heavier Things", and cannot believe how compressed it sounds. Does anyone else share this opinion? Listen near the end of the first track, Clarity.. when the trumpets start in with the guitars. Or a great example is on "Something's Missing", from about the 3:20 mark and onward. Terrible distortion of the bass/high end, from what sounds to be heavy compression.

Is it just me/my equipment, or what? Anyone else listened to this CD and thought similiar?

At first I thought it was a ripping problem, but I've tried three different drives, and all using Exact Audio Copy in secure mode... exact same wavforms each time.

This post has been edited by delusion_: May 19 2004, 23:23

[shadowking]

Interesting. I was at a local Thai food dine in recently where they play a 80's to present mix on a Sony boombox. The modern songs just sounded like anything else i.e. - dull. When they played a 80's track it wasn't any louder or softer, just stood out more like you can tell its 80's.

So I think the opposite is happening: the less compressed mix is the standout - even on very cheap equipment.