Old vs. new

Taz is right. buying LPs is a hit or miss proposition and it always has been. I have some incredible reissues and some pretty crappy ones but if I like the music I'll listen to the crappy ones anyway. There are many other good points here. Many of the old popular masters sucked. They were made by stoned people using what we would now call sub standard equipment. The remasters digital or not sound much better. Bop is a great record what ever the sonics are but my favorite is The Slide Area. He puts Blue Suede Shoes on fire. 
A digital Master can sound better than the old analog one even on vinyl.
Cowboy Junkie's Trinity Sessions is a great example. It was a digital recording. Pretty much everything after 1985 is digital. I think Telarc was the first to release digital recordings. I remember everyone being blown away by the dynamics in The Firebird. I think they were using 24/50.
Downloads are also hit or miss. A real 24/96 download can be terrific. I do not waste money on 24/192. I can't tell the difference. Again, it is all about the mastering. You have to download from respected sites like HD Tracks or Acoustic Sounds. I am sure there are sites that just download up sampled CDs. 

Bop To You Drop was the dawn of digital. 40 years ago, I guess vinyl recordings sounded better between 1910 and 1950. So technology improved, that is always the case. I love it when CD’s are put down and they talking about the sound of CD’s at the beginning, and many of those released were rushed to market with no care, I own a limited release from Japan of BTYD, remaster and it much sounded better. I continue to by CD’s from around the world and being a vinyl man growing up, but I enjoy most of them if like good vinyl they are produced well, and many CD’s releases have smoked by LP’s. Why? They were remastered better and remixed at times. Time it’s about enjoying the music, not the format. Change an TT arm or cartridge you can total change the sound, so you are always hearing a coloration, gear the same, so build a system where a your music sounds good to great and enjoy the music. 

When German king asked Kant:'' Professor is there something
new in science?'' Kant answered: ''Does your majesty know the
old''? 

I have found that even  if a reissue is done directly  from the original master tape,  the original lp can still sound better. The reason is that a 50-60 year old tape can degrade. A 50-60 year old record doesn’t. It will just suffer play wear if used. Which I find is mostly a little noisier but with all the fidelity intact. 

I prefer original pressings.  That said, even new Lp's sourced from digital material sound better the average compact disc.  At least to me they do.