Why does streaming music sound awful when compared to physical media or a downloaded track? You connect the phone to the stereo, fire up your favorite music streaming service, find your favorite album and push play.
You're disappointed because the musical experience is as flat as the front of my khakis.
The reason it sounds flat is that it has been flattened out. The music amplitude has been constrained to a specific dynamic range. Loud peaks are quieted down and soft passages are pumped up. Streaming services call this "normalization".
Normalization is turned on by default because most of the audience streams from a mobile device to a small Bluetooth speaker or a stock car stereo for background noise.
Which is fine if you just want background noise.
If you're like me and want to experience the music, you need to experience the highs and the lows, the quiet and the loud. You gotta have all of that to really feel the music.
You need to turn off Normalization.
To turn off Normalization, grab your phone. Open your streaming service. Find the settings. Scroll down until you find normalization. Set it to off.
Now that your streaming service isn't constraining your music, go rediscover your favorite albums all over again.
