I think that iTunes 2 has that feature that tried to make all songs play at the same volume. Some CDs are louder than others and the stuff I copied from cassete tapes was certainly all over the place in terns of volume. it is not perfect (some songs still play softer than others), but I think that Apple must have done something because the great majority of songs now play at roughly the same level.
Also, I think apple put in a bug fix. I've had a problem with playing iTunes for long stretches of time using the sourndsticks. At some point, the sound would cut out (even the alert sounds). I called harman-Kardon and they said that this was an issue with iTunes. Sure enough, I could play for hours with another MP3 player, but with iTunes all out o fthe soundsticks would eventually die. This seems to be fixed on iTunes 2. =>
All in all, a truly excellent update!