[pbronez]

I think it's a combination of things.

- Showroom effect. You want to put your best foot forward when a consumer is only dipping in for a moment. Louder grabs attention harder.

- Crappy consumer stereo equipment. Low sensitivity, poor linearity, disposable earbuds and android phone speakers are the default. There's no room for nuance on those systems.

[yannikyeo]

The high res version has a crappy DR, which is not expected, which means the only way to get a good digital version is to rip from vinyl. I understand the need to cater for low-end consumer equipment. It can be done by having good DR for vinyl , a good DR version for high-res Flac and physical Hybrid SACD and physical CD, and a loudness version for lossless/lossy streaming. It is safe to say most people who listen to Hybrid SACD/CD/High-Res Flac will have sufficient hi-fi equipments.