Old vs. new


I have a simple(maybe?) question for you guys, I have some new versions of albums that I’ve replaced from older vintage records that I’ve  had thinking they would sound better than my older ones, but they don’t, since vinyl  has made a comeback , we’re the older versions engineered and mixed for vinyl and now the new recordings not mixed to favor vinyls characteristics?
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Showing 4 responses by bdp24

A major focus of Michael Fremer in his LP reissue reviews is the provenance of the tape used as the source for the new mastering of an old album. Seeing that a reissue is made from a digital source automatically disqualifies the LP for me. What's the point of buying a digital LP?!

New album releases on LP is a different matter, in that the corresponding CD in all probability contains far more electronic manipulation, and sounds worse, than the LP. While some contemporary recordings are made on analog multitrack recorders, many are done digitally. Not a desirable situation for music lovers with an audiophile bent who prefer the sound of analog, with it's well-known faults, to most digital, but that's out of their control. It's often a matter much like elections, voting for the lesser of two evils ;-) .

Cooder heard about the new recording format, digital, and, being a fanatic about the recorded sound of his incredible guitar tone (he's a master), gave it a try on his Bop Til You Drop album. He hated digital! Back to analog he ran, and eventually heard a Water Lily LP, which prompted him to ask "Why don't my records sound this good?" He ended up making an album on the label (A Meeting By The River), and was very happy with the sound. Water Lily's Kav Alexander is one of the absolute best contemporary recording engineers in the world, and of all time, another master!
"Bop" was not the first digital recording (by a long shot), it was the first commercially-released Pop (non-Classical) recording, on LP only originally.

I myself was never too bothered by the sound of "Bop" wolf, but it DOES sound kinda antiseptic. It's worth it for the music! The New West record label puts the following sticker on the shrink wrap of the front cover of their LP's: "Audio mastered for Vinyl" which I assume means no digital conversion in the mastering stage.

The New West artist roster is a great one: Richard Thompson, John Hiatt, Rodney Crowell, Buddy Miller, many others. They're having a Black Friday sale all weekend (some of John Hiatt's albums are $3.99 on CD!), and on Monday 2018 new releases are $13.99 for LP's, $7.99 for CD's.