Like many of you, I've been seriously in to audio for decades, starting before digital anything. And like many I still have my favorite recordings from the 60's and 70's, although my taste has changed to more classical and jazz.

I love to rant about modern recording techniques, but since I don't listen to current rock or rap I missed this compression/saturation phenom (haven't heard it on classical/jazz recordings). My complaints of modern recording techniques include miking too close (I don't want to sit on Eric Clapton's lap or have my head inside a piano to listen).

Just add this one to the list of "hyper reality" recording industry practices. These seem to reflect a society that's into extremes. Maybe I'm just an old fart.