Analogue from Digital

with respect to others, i think that many newer recordings can sound great on vinyl, in some cases superior to the digital master. there are so many factors (the master, the remaster in some cases, who cut it, this or that piece in your setup etc) that sometimes it's hard to pin down what, exactly, might be "off" about a given recording. but when it sounds really good, you don't think about source too much. it just works. only my .02c

Unless I missed it no one mentioned that no matter how well mastered the vinyl is there are further stages that can affect the sound of vinyl versus digital and that is the record playing gear, the turntable, the arm and especially the cartridge each have their won characteristics which will affect the sound. Plus change to another record playing component, especially changing the cartridge can have profound sonic affects.

Want analog from digital? Feed the output of a DAC into tube amplification. I changed from a solid state Yamaha A-S501 - a pretty good integrated amplifier - to a Quicksilver Integrated amp. It doesn't make a lousy digital stream into a good sound; it just gives a great rendition of a good digital file.

@Charles7, your comments and those before it lead to the rational conclusion that what we are really talking about is our preferred form of distortion. For some it is the phonograph needle for others it is the dac, Speakers, cable, etc.. I agree with Anthony Cordesman that what we are really missing in these discussions is the pedigree or provenance  of the recording. If there was a uniform method of reporting the history of a given recording I think we would be much more involved in discussing those choices rather than the few that are open to us at playback. My experience tells me that those choices make much more difference than those that are most commonly the subject of audio file discussions. A good recording makes even crappy equipment shine.

Hi, interesting thread here.   It's interesting to know that a lot of the vinyls out there are created from digital recordings these days.   That just seems stupid to me.  I can't see how such vinyls can beat the digital products created from the same source, assuming your analog and digital equipments are of equal quality.   I think I'm going to stop buying new modern days vinyls.

Anyway,  I have a couple of questions:

- First, how do I know if a vinyl is created from digital recordings?
- Secondly, from what year on are vinyls start to be pressed from digital source?

Thanks.