Re-issue vinyl vs. the original pressing

Is it true that records currently made in the USA aren't made with 100% virgin vinyl because of EPA regulations,so possibly the best sounding current reissues are made overseas.At least as far as surface noise.I assume virgin vinyl is much quieter.

even the best remastered re-issues often 'change' the original recording's balance. sometimes its slight, but for those who have an appreciation of what made the album great in the first place, it can be anoying. pumped up bass, and a need to hide tape hiss on quiet passages render lots of re-issues on vinyl nothing more than high maintenence cd's.

David: The simple answer to your question is this: by around 1988 virtually all of the cutting rooms in the world doing vinyl started using the Neumann lathes. These lathes utilize a digital delay and digitise the signal just before the master lacquer is cut. So pretty much any reissue done after 1988 is partially digitised, even if its an all analog (AAA) recording.

It's very easy to hear, as many of the above posters have pointed out, when you compare even a high quality reissue to a high quality original. Unfortunate, but true.

The Neumann cutting lathes do not digitize the signal going to the record. Later production Neumann units used extensive microprocessors to control the cutting process, but the music signal sent to the disc was all analog.

Hdm: Not knowing anything about what you say, I'm curious, for what reason would a lathe be equipped with a built-in delay, digital or otherwise?