[djwaudio]

Loudness compensation is designed as the inverse to the average human hearing response at quieter settings. As this is a feature that the end user controls, it is not something that the recording process can manage directly.

In the mastering room, we make balance and tone desisions at listening levels where the ear is most linear. In my experience, this results in music "translating" to a broad variety of settings. I also check my work at different levels to verify balances and timbre. When I get new gear, etc. I will spend a lot of time listening to my work in other systems to get more perspective, which involves toggling the loudness controls.

In recent years, there is more of a moving target with the advent of DSP processing in playback. Listeners can select settings like "jazz hall, or rock stadium, etc" which are impossible to cater to. However, great recordings seem to survive these settings pretty well.

Along with musical balance issues, in mastering we are "playing the speakers" much like a good musician would work nuance out of an instrument. I am intimately connected to how the speaker responds to music, and take advantage of the strengths & weakeness to get the best translation to *whatever* the listener has for settings.


I think your question points to why listeners prefer a recording that is mastered louder in a comparison...