Is There an Echo in Here????

No time for a thoughtful post, for we are staggering under an unprecedented avalanche of audition applications. (Blogging mantra: Do the Work First, Then Write About It.)
But.... I am about to lose my mind with this %^$(*& reverb.

Hundreds of our audition applications arrive complete with audio samples. Not so many years ago, my challenge was trying to hear a voice that was trapped inside a low-fidelity cassette tape. Not ideal, but (I thought) achievable. If you knew what to listen for.

But now...

For heaven's sake, if I were recorded with the acoustical enhancement of most of these CD's, even I would be granted an audition. And that's just wrong.

I am really not sure what to do about it. We've always encouraged audio samples as a tool for someone whose paperwork might be weak, but who might have an edge if they could actually be heard in the screening process. But with a 5-second reverb, who can tell? It's the aural equivalent of trying to make out a moving object in a deep fog. A luscious, warm, deep, confusing fog.

Trying to make contact with the essense of the voice (never mind the text, pitch, or articulation) inside this aural fog is making me tired and oh so cranky.