I dislike shitty productions for the sake of a shitty production. Which is why I have no problem with it when I listen to early DM for instance, but I do expect a modern band to use modern production. This is the case for the genres I listen to ofcourse. As I don't listen to much black or doom, I don't know about those genres, and ofcourse those are the genres that most prefer a raw production for.

One of the reasons I listen to a lot of modern grind but not the pre-2000 stuff is because of the production. If I can't make out the different instruments, I'm not going to like it.

I don't wish to derail or hijack the thread, but I'd be interested to know what the earliest instances of this kind of extremely compressed modern production are. Probably some alternative metal from the early 00s?

as far as i know californication by the RHCP was a pioneer regarding this.

Dynamic range day. Maybe this little movement that has been going on will have an impact and we can start hearing albums sounding more like the early 90s or so.
http://dynamicrangeday.co.uk/

I recommend people check out this site too:
http://www.dr.loudness-war.info/

You can download the dynamic range meter (I use it with foobar) and analyze your own audio rips then upload the info for others to see. It's a simple but great tool and site that allows us to compare the audio between different editions of albums. Show some support and help by uploading DR info.

I really dislike some modern productions. Not because the sound clean but because they do not have any dynamic range. This is also why many re-releases sound like shit. Many re-mixes just mean the dynamics have been mixed out and the album has been brick-walled.

When you want to listen to loud music. You should turn up the volume. I have some older CDs many of them are a lot quieter then many modern CDs but the old CDs sound better. But I am not saying old is good new is bad. Far from it.

I own Transilvanian Hunger by Darkthrone is really really bad. I cannot listen to that album. I really cannot understand why a band would ruïn their own recording. But I do like most Opeth recordings, they all sound good. When a album has a really crappy sound I tend to never listen to it, even if the music is good.

I am an audiophile.

Explain dynamic range. Loud parts are loud and quiet parts are quiet? I hate fidgeting with volume throughout a song because the quiet intro doesn't match the loud part. Especially when I'm running on a treadmill or walking along a highway where there's tons of noise I'm trying to block out. In those circumstances, I need the levels slammed. Not to an extent where they are clipping...but certainly not quieter in different parts.

Yes quiet parts should be quiet and load parts should be LOAD. That is the whole point. Slamming the levels is very very bad practise. Why have quiet parts at all when the volume level is all the same? When I listen to music I would like to come as close as possible to the live experience. That is why classical recording are often so much better. The dynamic range is not that fucked up with most classical recordings.

When I there is an acoustic guitar intro it should be quiet and maybe even fragile sounding and when the electric guitars kick in the volume should go up by at least 12dB.

I don't mind modern production

it's not even that "modern" to try and get the best sound possible if you think of it since lots of early bands spent money on mastering

however triggers on drums annoy the hell of me, so each time I spot some I stop listening

Yeah, I hate it when there is no difference between the soft and loud parts. While it wasn't a great album when I downloaded the guitar hero 3 mix of Death Magnetic it was so much better since it wasn't just a brickwalled clipping pile of shit. The dynamics gave the songs much more power. I think the problem is that so many people are listening to music while driving, doing other things that are loud so any dynamic parts are lost over the din of the background noise. Music isn't mastered and mixed for people at home listening to music instead its mixed to be heard over the background racket I suppose. When the quiet part is just as loud as the heavy parts it looses the impact that the transition would have on a properly mixed recording.

It's not about that, every part of the song naturally has peaks and variance in volume, e.g. a snare hit will often peak above other sounds.
Individual tracks and sounds don't have perfectly even waveforms either, E.G. pick attack on guitars.
When you Squash those peaks it can remove distinction and punch.
Here is a comparison video, if you can't hear it/are listening on laptop speakers or whatever, try listening to the cymbals in particular.

Drums need punch. Not overwhelming but the hits should punch through. Too many modern albums the drums are just part of a soupy mix of sound that nothing stands out of.