There are times when a less-than-original dynamic range is helpful via "expansion and compression," such as listening in a noisy environment or when listening while you are busy with other tasks and are not available to pay attention to nuance. If there were full dynamic range at those times, you would either miss the “quiet” sounds or be “blown away” by the larger signals. Then there are the inconsistencies between one recording and another that, without expansion/compression, would leave you adjusting the volume on each song. The problem comes when you have a good system and the time to listen for listening sake. The effects and results of expansion/compression and other processing can be easily heard when they have been applied with a heavy hand, and they become irritating.

A non-viable solution, but one I would like, would be to leave a full dynamic range on each recording, even though that would make mixing more of a challenge, and let the consumer add expansion/compression as needed for the listening environment at the time. The problem is that so many consumers have trouble with the options already available to them that providing more options does not make good mass marketing business sense. There are many out there choosing sound equipment based not on the excellence of the sound, but based on the simplicity of operation. Some pay dearly for “less.” And how many out there really want to learn about “attack, release, threshold, ratio, peak,” etc., and become proficient in the use of such? And who will pay an extra $300 to $2k or more just for the privilege? Maybe a few, but that would be a special minority. Most consumers would say, “Isn’t that the job of the professionals anyway?”

So, there are different recording/mastering styles for different purposes, not to mention the “suits” trying to squeeze the production budget, that there is no single way to make everyone happy.

Personally I wouldn’t mind having ‘full range’ recordings available, which I would modify via software in my PC and then burn a ‘limited range’ version. That way I would have the appropriate version at the appropriate time.

Now let me put a foot in another quagmire … “radio” listening, whether good ‘ol FM, or streaming internet audio, or cable/satellite audio, or whatever … all these mediums modify the original signal for one reason or another, and usually the bottom line of all the various considerations is, “What makes the most sense for our business?” The “absolute best” audio is rarely the “real” consideration for those that make certain decisions and never “touch a knob.”