CD mastering a lost art?

I wonder sometime as well, who is engineering some of these recordings. I recently purchased Adele 21 on vinyl and the recorded distortion is a disappointment to a great performance. How does that get past anyone in the chain producing any music in this day and age?

most of all of the art is lost nowadays.....not to mention skills.....

IME, there is little to none respect for physical media these days.

I think its more pining for days gone by than anything based in reality.

The fact is everything about digital has only improved over time and continues to in general.

Often, economics dictate that cheap products be made. Other times, not. Nothing new here. It's always been this way.

If you really beleive this, stick with your original master CDs and save a lot of money on remasters when they come out. I find most to be a big improvement though there are always a few clunkers now just the same as always.

The best sounding CDs made in the last 10 years sound better than ever. Crap still sounds like crap, same as always, though I'll go so far as to say that I think even the worst crap made today still sounds better tnan in years past.