When I first started using LimeWire I noticed the volume level is considerably lower on the downloaded mp3s than music from a CD.

To make an accurate comparison I downloaded TuPac's "I Get Around" and played part of it, paused it, and played the same song from a CD I had previously purchased. Adjusting the CD volume and the WAV volume to the same level (I use Windows 2000 Professional), the CD version of the song was twice to three times louder than the downloaded mp3.

This poses a problem when burning a compilation CD from multiple sources. Does anyone know why this happens? Is there a solution? When I paid $28 for a subscription to this thing I expected quality exactly as that of purchasing a CD from a store. Maybe I made a wrong assumption?

All wrong yes.....
To start with Limewire is free, so you made some swindler happy with your money.
Perhaps you could contact your creditcard comp. for a refund ?
See : http://www.gnutellaforums.com/showth...threadid=28751

About the difference in volume, this could be becouse the MP3 was recorded at a low volume, or there is still a setting you have overlooked.
For example :
I use Winamp and I use Irfanview, Irfan has a MP3 player and somehow the volume slider of that acts as a master for WinAmp.
So it's easy to overlook something

Futher, most burner programmes have a "normalise" option so that the volume levels are set equal.

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