True Analog LPs versus Digital Recordings

At the very beginning of CD they converted everything to digital often with unstable clock. Jitter introduced that way cannot be removed, makes recording sounding harsh (typical for early CDs) and the only way to fix it is to digitize again if analog masters still exist.

Mapman , makes an excellent point as usual . Put another way , Its the results that matter to music lovers not the technology . When I study or try to understand a given audio technology I often come away with more questions than answers . I guess thats the down fall of having a pump handle for a brain .

I have one album which was recorded in analog in 1987 both on original Japanese cd and original Japanese LP. Mastering was done in digital. My analog set-up is a bit better than digital. You know what? While the record sounds a little better, its sound is definitely close to cd. Not really worth it. And the recording itself was analog. Though the digital technology improved considerably, I would generally think that it's not worth buying LPs when the recording or/and mastering was done in digital. And as others said most of today's recordings and masterings are digital. And many re-issues will have digital in them too somewhere.
With some exceptions records are really for older music.

I have a classical Lp which, according to the jacket, was digitally recorded in 1978. So there ya go - some digital goes back to the 70's.

Old_6,

I think 1978 or so is about the time i recall first seeing the first digitally recorded lps, on Telarc label I believe, but these were quite novel and very few and far between at that time.

Their most distinctive sonic attributes were the dynamics. The grooves in these records were heavily modulated accordingly and presented a challenge for many turntables around in that day to track well without breaking up.

Then, as digital matured, the vendors realized that most systems out there could not handle these kinds of dynamics without distorting severely (be the source vinyl or CD) so they gradually geared things back over time with recordings in general in order to make digital more digestible for the masses.

Conversely, I assume sonic smearing due to jitter was a common problem with many digital recordings early on as Kijanki points out and digital recordings actually improved over time in this regard.