Half the information on CDs is analogue

Exlibris,

Doug Sax at the Mastering Lab is very good and in very high demand (he has won so many awards). For pop stuff/country, he uses compression like most everyone these days but at least he uses it sparingly. Check him out on Artist Direct and see which albums he is credited with...

A great example of his work is the remastered Toys in the Attic Aerosmith CD or SACD...this album sounds much better than earlier CD versions or greatest hits versions. He founded Sheffield Labs and has a long track illustrous track record of high quality productions.

Exlibris

All this stuff about the superiority of vinyl and tubes over CDs and solid state and it turns out you only listen to rock! Who the hell cares how accurate the audio as long as it blasts you away. Do you ever have any idea what the intent of the musicians and/or producers was at the time of the recording?

Thanks to Axelfonze and a few others, the thread was a worthwhile read. My experience is that there are excellent CDs and SACDs, but then I prefer jazz and chamber music, the likely target for those producing high quality recordings, so my sample may be biased.

db

Unfortunately 'rock' is catch-all term that covers lots of music. Most of the music that I listen to is very emotionally involving and yes, my system portrays the intent of the musicians.
Sorry, chamber music just doesn't speak to me. Why should it, look who it was written for and by. I live in a huge urban centre in the 21st century; the music I listen to is generally written by people like me. I understand where they are coming from. I have no connection to those who wrote chamber music, nor do I have any connection to the audience they wrote it for.
Enjoy the chamber music and let me enjoy artists like:
Sufjan Stevens
Radiohead
Sun Kil Moon
Beck, etc.

By the way, your post is a little elitist and if the 'phd' that you end your ID with stands for what I think it stands for, well, in these circles that's a little elitist as well.
Best regards,
DH
MA, MLS

You haven't lived unless you have laid down flat on the floor and kicked your legs to propel yourself around in circles with an air guitar in your hands and with "Back in Black" playing at 110 decibels (average) and screaming all the time Angus, Angus....

Long live Rock and Roll!

Seriously: Back in Black is a pretty awesome recording....it reminds me of another Aussie band that produced extremely high quality recordings: INXS.