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Does digital mastering/remastering "ruin" LP's?

I'm fairly new to the audio world, and looking at getting into vinyl. I've read, of course, of the benefits that analogue proponents cite, i.e. a more organic and natural sound, and about some of the downsides of CD's, i.e. a harsh or metallic presentation (at least for early digital). I know that companies like Telarc started recording in digital in the late 70's, and then did some sort of D/A conversion to press their LP's. I would imagine other labels did so through the mid-80's. I've noticed some 80's DG LP's that proclaim on the label that the recording was "digitally remastered".

So my question is this. If digitizing music introduces undesirable artifacts, has the music on such LP's been "ruined". That is, do these records sound like early 80's CD's? Or do they still sounds like analogue recordings (if so, why?). Just curious about this, and wondering if I should stay away from such records as I start to buy used LP's. Thanks!

John
john_adams_sunnyvale
photon46
1,086 posts
 
IMO only those possesed of misplaced values would ever eschew music because of digital sourcing in the recording process. The music is the foremost reason to buy a performance! I've got numerous classical lp's sourced from digital recordings and I love them immensely. Perhaps they aren't the sonic equal of the best all analog recordings, but I NEVER think about their recorded origins while listening to them I assure you. To answer your concerns, no I haven't found the ones I own to sound like cruddy early cds. Perhaps the conversion of digital bits to vinyl waveforms in the mastering renders the harsh artifacts less obtrusive? I sure those more immersed in the technical minutae of audio will enlighten us.
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
Yes, IMHO digital mastering/remastering does degrade the sound. I own some LP's from the early 80's that were 'digitally mastered' that sound pretty close to cd like quality. There is nothing quite like a pure analog signal.

John
photon46
1,086 posts
 
After my initial response, your query really got me thinking about this and I went over to Audioasylum's "vinyl" section and searched "digital mastering." There's a lot of interesting reading and opinions there on the subject. One thing I hadn't thought of is the fact that much material was digitally remastered in higher resolution than standard redbook. When an engineer converts from the digital domain to vinyl analog, they can take advantage of the lack of need to go down to redbook. It's not a question that can be answered simply, many different factors come into play.
r_f_sayles's avatar
r_f_sayles
872 posts
 
Basically... to my ear, YES.
But the newer remastering of the Rolling Stones ABKCO records with DSD were very fine indeed and few of us own a full set of minty fresh UK originals.

What I also find curious is how a home recorded CD from a good vinyl, off a solid TT sounds better than a store bought red book CD everytime!

Happy Listening! 0100101101010001111011011010100110101010101000011000
emailists
923 posts
 
An interview with Bob ludwig (I think) mentioned that there is a full extra octive of upper end info on LP's cut from 96K digital sources compared with the CD version.

Also many new LP's signal path becomes digitized in the lathe, even is fuly analog before that, which is a bummer.
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