A Question: What makes for Good Vinyl?

Here are a few from a mostly jazz perspective.

Roy Dunann - Contemporary Records.  In my opinion the best who ever lived.  He is the guy who figured out how to properly mic and record in stereo.

Al Schmitt - Another great engineer.  He did a lot of work for RCA, later Capitol, and was instrumental in Diana Krall's recording success.

Val Valentin = Verve

Tom Dowd - Atlantc

Ebonie Smith - Atlantc, proving it is not for men only

Bill Smith - Capitol

That is just the tip of the iceberg.

Thanks again Bill!!

:thumbsup:

@billstevenson 

He seems to be the one every time…..

One aspect that isn’t discussed too often.
In order to to truly have that Analog Magic…I find the album needs to have originally been recorded to analog tape.  
Any newer albums that were recorded to digital lose that magic.

I listen to mainly rock, metal and pop from 60s, 70s, 80, 90s.   
I will ONLY buy vinyl originally done to analog tape now.  
Every digitally recorded rock or metal album I’ve purchased on vinyl sounds like digital….brick wall mastering and not worth the investment in vinyl.  Lesson learned. 

Stick to Analog tape originals for vinyl. 

I think the problem is the high level of compression being employed on most modern recordings.  It is not that a digital master is inherently incapable of being the basis for a good vinyl record.  It all gets down to how the recording, digital or analog, is mastered.  I'll give you an example of an analog recording from the sixties that is one of the most popular rock records in history that is so compressed to make it loud that it is just terrible to listen to.  I mean distortion city, but fans love it.  Led Zeplin, and the sequel Led Zeplin II.  So the problem is not confined to digital recordings at all.  Let's be clear sighted about this, though, and recognize that records are being made this way because that is what the majority of the intended audience wants.  More sophisticated consumers, like audiophiles, are a small fraction of the total market.