The character of analog and digital

ghdprentice: “The late 50’s / early 60’s vinyl really stand out as jaw droppingly good.”

Agree wholeheartedly 

How much does the difference between 50s/early 60s and later discs have to do with the quality of the material, do you suppose? There was a dramatic increase in the number of records pressed in the late 60s and onwards, and that probably led to compromises in material.

Add my voice to the chorus, welcome back Millercarbon!

The question is, and has been answered here and elsewhere ad nauseum, is what is being discussed a feature of the media or the many issues related to the recording and engineering of that recording.

Judging by many comparisons between vinyl and CD, I have little faith in the skills of the geeks with hats who have an ejucaton in marketing or advertising and who  pretend that they know some stuff about the fine art of producing quality music in the digital domain.

In the USA there still exists capital punishment. Doesn’t work.

To wit - grabbed a legitimate CD of Aqualung last week, and it is painful to listen to. Compared to the worn out vinyl I have from about 1971, the comparison is interesting.  Ian Anderson provides a short discussion, and his voice is just perfect.

So, this is not a fault of the hardware or the software, but that of the dolts who are pushing the buttons.