I suppose this post has no real solution, but I am pondering out loud.  Doesn't it just kill you to have spent huge sums on your monitors, gear, soundcard, mixer, instruments room, etc.; plus years building up your recording and mixing skills, only in order to send out an mp3 of your latest masterpiece to a pack of friends and family who don't own a single hi-fi between them?
 
I recently had the honor of having one of my Sonor-creations played on NATIONAL radio (takes a bow ;).  Before the broadcast, I sent a high quality mp3 to my entire circle.  In the accompanying email, I joked something like "don't even bother playing this (or any other) music over LAPTOP speakers or earbuds, or Jesus kills ten bunny rabbits".
 
(My sister, who doesn't have my non-literal sense of humor, still hasn't played it....)
 
Seriously, though, of my non-Sonar peeps, almost NONE of them have ANY way of playing music other than Laptop speakers (pukes) or earbuds.  Really?  Really?
 
For those of you who obsess over room treatments and spend huge amounts of time and money getting mixes as perfect as you can, don't you want to go a bit nuts when you stop to think that almost no one will be hearing your creations on anything costing over ten cents?  Honestly, almost NO ONE in my circle of friends has even so much as a boom-box quality stereo these days.  It is pathetic!  And here we stress & struggle for the "nth" degree of audio quality (that no one can hear.)
 
Not looking for a solution; just thought I would open a discussion,
ed

I think I have to believe that the better engineered a recording is, the better it will sound when degraded to an MP3 file.

That said, I have heard MP3's that sound great. My recordings unfortunately do not sound great as MP3's (not yet !)

If you burn them a CD from WAVE files, maybe you will force them to listen on Higher - Fi ?

On the upside, MP3's will never sound as bad as Cassette tapes, glad to see that era pass away.

It isn't really about MP3s; I'm more focused on the fact that so few people  have decent playback equipment these days.  When I was a teen we were all out buying stereo systems for our bedrooms.  Now it seems that practically no one even owns a decent set of bookshelf speakers anymore.  (When was the last time that you saw a hi-fi in a family room  or living room?  Having one USED to be the norm in America.)
Oh, I know that WE (the sonar community) has gear... I'm talking about our intended audience of listeners & non-studio people.

This is what it has come down to: the cell phone / tablet is "the new stereo".  Yikes.  People spend $400 on a phone, to listen to their music over the included earbuds (that cost $0.40). 

Yes I know what you mean.  It's unfortunate that our music won't be played back on ideal or even basic speaker systems.  Because of this issue I normally test my mixes out on a variety of speakers - including ear buds.  The mixes have to work on everything, and each one of these crappy systems reveal certain problems in my mix. 

I don't even create CD's for myself anymore for testing - just MP3's for my iPhone.  On my iphone I have some reference material too so I can quickly change back and forth between my mixes and my favorite commercial mixes.  I plug in to a couple different Sony / iphone compatible clock radios.  One with hardly any low end.  This one is important, because if I don't have enough "click" in the kick drum, the kick drum is lost.  I've got 3 more "real" speakers systems in the house - with varying degrees of quality - each with the ability to plug in my iphone. 

And then my car which is also iphone compatible which has a nice sub-woofer.  This is where I crank it to "feel" if the bass and kick are pumping the right amount.

At my daughter's swim practice I'm testing a couple versions of iphone ear buds.  The new buds for iphone5 have been redesigned and the low end is very full.

I look at it this way Ed. There are people in the commnunity here that you will impress with both your production and your songwriting skills. The other community....the one called "the listeners" isn't really as concerned with production. So, when in that situation, you do the best mix you can on your gear and don't even worry about anything else.

If I allowed the common folks and their lack of good listening equipment to get to me, I'd be making "ear-bud only mixes". I really don't let anything bother me anymore other than when some jack-a-lope speaks for the sake of having a voice. That's my #1 pet peeve with the world...people being "inconsiderate". I could care less what someone listens on....but the day they talk trash about someones mix or my mix and then fess up to "well, I listened on this little Toshiba lappy" or "I used these ear-buds that came with my Walmart phone" followed by "your mix sounds terrible"....then I get annoyed. I do see your point though....it's just not anything that's really bothered me because even in you gave out free systems to people, they'd still revert back to their lappy's and ear buds. LOL! :)

-Danny

send out an mp3 of your latest masterpiece to a pack of friends and family who don't own a single hi-fi between them?

Hi-Fi? I haven't heard that term used in about 40 years.  

I'm not sure I agree. Don't a lot of people have home theater systems with surround sound or am I in the 2%? Of course nobody knows how to operate them, but I digress.

Home theaters for watching DVD movies, sure, but an actual dedicated home stereo hooked up for just listening to music? Not so many (anymore). Even my grandparents had a nice stereo in their living room.

I don't buy this premise at all. There has never been a golden age for listening gear. Despite which, the *average* listener has better equipment than they ever did. Hi Fi has always been a minority pursuit. The cassette-based walkmen and all-in-one stereo systems of yesteryear were *appalling* compared to your typical iPod + dock setup. The engineer's job has always been to make mixes that come over well even on very sub optimal equipment.

daveny5

I'm not sure I agree. Don't a lot of people have home theater systems with surround sound or am I in the 2%? Of course nobody knows how to operate them, but I digress.

I think it's the people who had good sound systems that now have the good home theater systems.  You have to learn that good sound exists.  Nobody I know cares.
 
I get a chuckle out of the big box store home theater systems.  The bass drivers are like 2" in diameter...

I don't get too down over this. At the end of the day, a great song is a great song whether it's heard on a high end audiophile system or a crappy pair of portable iPod speakers. If it's mixed well then it will sound great on cheap equipment . These days you see kids going nuts over a song played over a rattling phone speaker. You can look at it like this. Either it's a travesty that sonic quality is not being heard to its full potential, or it's great that kids can get this enthusiastic about music even if it's coming out of a potato. 

For me, there is something nice about hearing a great tune played on AM radio through a small mono speaker. I really don't mind the lack of high fidelity. In fact there have been times when I've heard a great tune in the car, thought "I must download that when I get home," only to find that I don't enjoy it as much when I heard it through my Grado's. 

My gym plays classic rock through a mono speaker in the ceiling that gets only one side of a stereo signal. And I still enjoy the tunes. They sound great through crap equipment because they've been mixed by talented pros.