so, i got the files to null, and now it sounds "normal" again. i'm going to carry through with what i was doing, regardless, because i want to make sure the tracks are truly normalized.

if somebody changed something, thank you for listening. pun intended. please do not revert to the previous corrupt mixes and please do not alter any more of my files.

and, if i was just imagining it, all i can do is keep going.