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[rsg]

Having just added a column to my library (DR), I am suffering from DR shock. While I am just beginning to take a look at dynamic range, I am astounded by how much of my music collection (CD rips) has crummy DR scores...7,8,9. And some of it I even enjoyed listening to too! What's it all about? A Nick Drake poem ("Time Piece" from Family Tree gets 23, while Neil Young's "Walk On' from On the Beach gets 8. Can this stuff be taken seriously?) . Some of it makes sense, though...check out the CD/download comparison for Tom Petty: An American Treasure on the DR Loudness Wars website: http://dr.loudness-war.info/, P,S Looking at you Beck

How useful is all this for locating great sounding music tracks?

Three points will arise, I know:
1. Some will say "That's why I only buy vinyl."
2. Others will add "Doesn't matter. Trust your own ears. That's all that matters"
3. Others will sniff "That's why I only listen to hi-res downloads"

I am ignoring #1, but willing to accept #2. #3? Over-priced

[Hendrik]

(2) is the only truth that matters in the end. Enjoy listening to music, don't read too many numbers. 

[RD James]

How useful is all this for locating great sounding music tracks?

I would say that it's only useful information if you have volume leveling enabled. If not, differences in volume will cloud your judgement.
And good music is good music regardless of the quality of the master. I would use it as a reference point when comparing different releases, rather than different tracks/albums.
 
The albums need to either be tagged with unique names (including the release in the name for example) or the media sub-type tagged as "podcast" to force them into track-based leveling for comparison though.
I wonder if something like "play selected tracks using per-track leveling" could be added as an option for "play > preview mode" to make that easier.

1. Some will say "That's why I only buy vinyl."

These people are wrong because analog recordings give falsely inflated results. See here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-AE9dL5FG8
The medium is objectively worse than CDs or downloads. The only real exception might be a pristine record of an older pre-CD release.

3. Others will sniff "That's why I only listen to hi-res downloads"

"High resolution" downloads tend to have lower dynamic range than older releases.

[DJLegba]

Many albums have tracks with low DR for legitimate reasons. When all the tracks fall within a narrow range, say 6 or 7, you know it's been badly mangled. I don't let that dissuade me from buying music I want to hear, but I do apply a sort of negative option 3 rule. There's no point paying a premium for a high def version of highly compressed music.