Done buying new vinyl

Hi guys. I have been listening at John Surman and Garbarek ECM CDs for decades. Digital as well. I recently bought a collection of ECM LPs of the same albums ie Private City, Legend of the 7 dreams, Rites and so on. What I can say is that I have been highly disappointed. The quality is not what one can expect from an analogue sounding LP. The sound is thin, in a nutshell, I even find it sometimes less good than the CD or digital streaming. These pressing are of course digital, as opposed to an old ECM pressing from the 70’s I found in a second hand shop at Montreal which is called Conference of the Birds (Dave Holland) which in turn is an analogue pressing and sounds marvellous, with flesh and so on. I suspect ECM to deliberately create "CD sounding LPs" as a way to satisfy a majority of people who own poor equipment and cannot extract the best of a rich analogue pressing. I do not want to look paranoiac but I guess this is a profitability issue at the end ie they can sell more of these "CD sounding LPs". I am so disappointed from ECM, that I definitely stopped buying their new releases, even in CD, and enjoy the streaming versions with Spotify.  If someone can advise on a label which is only making LP pressing from analogue sources, I am interested to know which one is.

For some people it's a PITA , for others it's a labor of love.

My experience with all of the mentioned mediums has always been mixed.  I don’t know know a lot about the whole recording, mastering, and transfer to each medium.  I’ve got great sounding vinyl, eg jazz from East Wind and Three Blind Mice, but some recent reissues that are not very good.  Same for CDs, my main source.  Most are great, some awful.  In the end, I think its all about how well the original recording is made, and how well its mastered and transfered to the product that reaches the consumer.

FWIW, as you all know, vinyl is a major commitment. Pressings that aren’t the best in terms of transparency or suffer from an overall lack luster performance are made more enjoyable with a good US cleaning.

Some great points. At the end of the day, we are in agreement. It is the recording/mixing and not the pressing or the medium. I played my 1968 White Album which is not in the best of shape. Pops, crackles, frying eggs, the lot. Yet the music bursts forth off the vinyl. Crystal clear and full of detail, studio air, with Ringo’s rim-shots that crack you out of your chair. So, I don’t mind vinyl noise as long as the recording excels. Muted, dull with dead acoustics, mixed to death digitally, that sound like Dolby is on, seem to be the order of the day now.