Question for those with “Golden ears”, and a frustration! (The Loudness Wars)

i've gotten into the habit of re-remastering the sound of many releases both old and new, to suit my preferences and nervous system. brick-walled recordings can at least be somewhat ameliorated via more digital trickery. 

I’m just very sad some stupid “suit”, god help us if it was the artist choice, but some “suit”, saying: “GOTTA BE LOUDER TO SELL!!”. 😡😡😡😡😡. I can sorta understand: Van Halen, DEFINITELY Metallica’s album that everyone talked about being UNLISTENABLE! But I REALLY respect: the members of: Fleetwood Mac, especially Lindsey B., and Trent Reznor, and how they could release albums (CD’s), that have ZERO sonics, just to make them LOUDER! And that goes for R. Plant, and “The Mothership”. I call it “The Mothers##t”.
So, who’s responsible for RUINING my “The Dance” by Fleetwood Mac?? Yes, I KNOW, the LP would be “sonically” perfect, because if they cranked the LP master up, the needle, would literally bounce off of the record!!! But not CD’s.😞 I had records, many worth a lot now, sold by my mom at her garage sale, along with my: Star-wars toys. And comic books. I just like the convenience of CD’s. Play at home, play in car, saved as FLAC files on my MacBook Pro. And no pops, warps, no static electricity issues, no, OMG! I scratched it!!! So, who’s fault is it? How could R. Plant have approved “The Mothers##t”? Glad I didn’t pay for it! Bummed. So many wonderful CD’s ruined....

It all depends on YOUR ears brother. Not only how your ears decipher sound, but what type of sound pleases you. Give you an example. If your ears simply cannot decipher and process certain frequencies as well as others, then generally (remember i said generally lol) the sounds that you hear best and are produced really well by the musicians sound fuller, clearer, and crisper. Those that your physiology doesnt process as well often sound dull or muddied. No one else can for sure hear what you hear, so while looking for consensus might give you a proper lead, it may not. I’ve always just bit the bullet and buy several versions that i can compare on my gear, keep the best, and sell the rest. Personally, I’ve usually found the Japanese versions of most of my Rock recordings to pretty consistently provide the best listening along with some mofi and dcc. Some will say they’re too precise, analytical, etc. Well i would say if you’re a Rock fan and like the power bands (Zep), there’s a good chance depending on your age that you’ve lost a bit of your high frequency hearing. If accurate, you need precision or you’ll wonder why Bonham was using such shitty cymbals ! Hopefully, your hifi system can adapt to exactly what YOUR hearing preferences and adaptations are. Good luck my friend!

Sorry, but I can't resist. Anyone notice how many posts in this thread about Led Zep and the Loudness Wars overuse exclamation points? And ALL CAPS? And even loud emojis? Gotta love it.

Dear Psychranger,
                             Thank you for your post!! You may not believe this, but I went for a hearing test at my ear Dr., just to see what’s what. Unbelievably, he told me, “you can hear all the way up to 14 KHz! Very impressive!”  Someone your age shouldn’t be able to hear high frequencies that high at “your age”🙄. I’m 52. I’ve been very protective of my hearing, since, when I was a teenager, went to have a bang’n ALPINE stereo system put in my car, and the teenage installer had very bad hearing loss. That scared me. He has been partially deaf since about 18 y.o. That’s sad. Not from meds, or fever, but listening to LOUD music. Very sad. Permanent damage.  But I’m very upset these great albums (CD’s) have been victims of the “LOUDNESS WARS”. No transients, bad sonics. I will try to buy Japanese copies. Or, bite the bullet, and dive back into LP’s.
  My Japanese Led Zep CD’s have AWESOME sonics of my favorite drummer Bonham! It’s the crappy drum/cymbals on “The Joshua Tree”. Listen to the opening drums/cymbal crashes being so muted on “Where the Streets have no name”. No bright cymbal crash/no decay. Drums muted. Have three copies of this album, all sound the same. Honestly, the drums/cymbals sound better on the YouTube video of that song, that they filmed on the roof of I think, a liquor store in LA. Listen to the difference, see if I’m right. But Bonham on 1,2,3, are AWESOME!

God bless all!!