That's a complete turnaround for you Madisonears, and I admire it. Also, that's EXACTLY what I hear. I think of it as a grainy distortion, but one MFSL gold CD's copy actually was more compressed and even quieter sounding (in addition to the graininess)...which was very troubling to me, because I didn't want to buy the original (they're all out of print, and out of business now). Tell this to Ejlif, he thinks copies ALWAYS sound better!!! I CANNOT FATHOM THAT. I've never heard a copy that sounds as good as the original, much less "better". I'm trying one of his, and he wants to send me the original (since my copy is not the exact physically same disc). I say it doesn't matter, because either his original is the same as mine, or it's worse. His copy definitely is not as good as my original (this is Sarah McLachlin's "Mirror Ball"). Also, I recently opened up that Pandora's box called the "green pen". I used to think that it'd be permanent, but this one comes off with rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab, in case you want to remove the green.