Discovered I had a One Step pressing....from 1978!

The direct-to-disc LP still beats all LP's pressed using a recorder of any kind. Skipping the recording "step" is the biggest of them all.

Have you listened to any one step pressings? Most are of older records so hard to gauge how much info could really be put on disc in this manner. I know it’s unlikely to be able to compare a tape generation with a pressing generation, but the reality of direct to disc is extremely limiting, not practical for performers or labels, and while the results can be outstanding, it is sort of a gimmick.

One steps are practical in that any master can be used, and there isn’t a limit to number of pressings, as there would be in direct to disc (or the need to make more pressings from a stamper than would be ideal)

@emailists: Oh yeah, d-2-d is very impractical. Very few musicians (or singers) can record an entire LP side live without playing a number of clams. I was speaking only of the best-sounding LP system, not the most doable.

You use the term "older records" in a way that implies their age alone suggests limited fidelity. Nothing could be further from the truth! The recorded fidelity of Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue is stunning, as are many other 1950's Jazz and Classical recordings, Some early Rock 'n' Roll records too, like the two Elvis albums reissued first by DCC (mastered by Steve Hoffman. I have these LP's.), then Classic Records, and currently Analogue Productions. Recorded using tape electronics and microphones, very simple signal paths, and very mild electronic manipulation (EQ, reverb, echo, limiting, etc.). Roy Orbison's early recordings (after he left Sun Records) also possess fantastic sound quality.

Agreed that many older recordings sound good but the master tapes do age, and that's what the one steps seem to be using.  

but the master tapes do age

Nope, and you can watch interviews with mastering engineers working for Analogue Production label. Old master tapes from the 50s are still incredible, those tapes still amazing source for audiophile reissues.