The kid that brought it said "That really sounds like crap."
That's too bad to see kids totally miss the point like that. If they were a bit more on the ball they'd realize that if recording B is louder than recording A then recording B IS better. Like, DUH! I thought that was common knowledge!
I certainly hope kids aren't making music choices based upon such frivilous criteria like taste. The peak to average ratio is all that you need to know. If you get a record in 2008 that's pretty loud that's great, go ahead and listen to it all you want; but it's likely than in 2009 something will come along that's louder. You must then dispose of the 2008 record and listen only to the louder selection. It's the only logical choice.
Every day recording engineers are working hard to get as many samples as close to 0db as possible, and it's not easy. Sure, you can talk about far-off utopian visions of listening to pure direct current, but that's still just science fiction. Right now we have to be satisfied with the volume we are able to get with the tools at our disposal. Kids today should be glad that they don't have to put up with the vile dynamics and textural shading of the early days of recording. In the bad old days a guy could hit a snare drum too loud and it might startle you. Do you want to listen to such frightening sounds? I certainly don't! Now we have the technology to make everything even and straight, the way it's supposed to be. I just hope children aren't being needlessly lured into the sordid world of quality sound when there's perfectly good square and sawtooth waveforms to be listened to.
