Simply that I feel all too often nowadays, the Master EQ and Compression is set to define the overall 'sound' of an arranger, rather than the arranger sound that good to start with, then the EQ and compression are used as corrective tools to compensate for different speaker systems and playing environments.

First thing I do with any arranger is turn all that stuff off, and try to listen to it uncolored. I generally find it sounds more natural, and less squashed. Admittedly, I have some pretty decent studio monitors to play it through (and a nice flat PA system), but even so, I have a problem with how hyped much of that stuff makes the arrangers sound. I know there's a tendency in modern music, radio, satellite, and the way modern CD's are mastered to have a FAR more squashed, limited and EQ's sound... The kids today are spending their discretionary income on smartphones and iPads rather than a killer set of hifi speakers like they did in the 70's, so this stuff needs doing to sound decent on a crappy set of computer monitors.

But for those of us with PA's and decent speakers, I feel it only serves to make the sound LESS realistic, not more.

Very thoughtful Diki. Points picked up. I'm gonna start from scratch and work up to get the sound I need. U r right. Today we rely highly on digital tweaking ignoring the natural sounds which are at the bottom of the layers of fx.

Thanks for the inputs. Appreciate it.