[BudgetMC]

The sad fact is that most casual listeners don't have a clue that there is ANY kind of effect on a song.

I was once hosting a party and had a bunch of people (none of them musicians) take interest in my home studio. They talked me into turning everything on and demonstrating how it worked. Inevitably, I wound up recording somebody singing, and then started to massage the track. First thing I did was slather some reverb on it. Only a couple even had a clue what I had done. The consensus was simply that it was "louder" and "better"... and that was reverb! I have no doubt that compression would have been invisible to them.

Now, as recording types, I think this is important for us to keep in mind. There is a beauty to the innocence of people who just listen and enjoy (or not). It's an honest zen-like response.

I, for one, have gone through stages where it was difficult to just enjoy music, because I was too busy dissecting it... "Hmmmm... wonder what mic that is? Are they compressing the Chorus more than the verse? Oooh... is that a touch of flanging on the snare???" Meanwhile, others are just thinking "groovy... let's dance!" Worse, it means that I am almost never able to just sit back and enjoy my own work.

Knowledge is beautiful, but sometimes you just need to enjoy.