Every LP is of course the end product of a number of separate manufacturing steps. And the term "master tape" has a couple of equally valid definitions: since the introduction of first the 3-track machine---then the 4-track, 8-track, 16-track, etc---there is both the multi-track master and the final 2-track mixdown master.
Every piece of gear used to make an LP has an effect upon the PVC disc you place on your turntable. The recording microphones and their related electronics (mic pre-amps, etc.), the multi-track recorder, the 2-track mixdown deck, the recording and mixing consoles, the outboard gear (limiters, equalizers, etc.)---everything. Then the lacquer-cutting machine and it’s electronics, the talent of the mastering engineer, the quality of the "fathers" and then "mothers" created from the lacquer, the plating of the mothers, the quality of the stampers (each mother is used to make a certain number of stampers, and each stamper a certain number of LP’s, those numbers a reflection of the quality standards of all involved), the quality of the PVC used to make the LP, and on and on.
The matter of original pressings vs. "audiophile" reissues has been raised. When Music Direct bought MoFi, they hired Tim de Paravicini (EAR Yoshino, Luxman) to design a perfectionist mastering chain. Kavi Alexander had previously hired Tim to design electronics for the recorder he uses to make his incredible Water Lily label recordings. The electronics employed in the making of mass-produced LP’s (whether White Hot Stamper or otherwise) vary in quality, but it is quite safe to assume that none approach the quality of that found in the LP-producing equipment found at Mofi’s RTI pressing plant, Analogue Productions’ QRP, and Pallas in Germany. It is like comparing a mass-market budget surround-sound receiver to a high-end pre-amp and power amp (such as made by EAR Yoshino and Luxman). And the 180 gram PVC pellets those plants use to make their LP’s is vastly better than was the vinyl used in the 60’s/70’s/80, etc.
When Kevin Gray and Ryan K. Smith create a new production master tape for an audiophile reissue, they spend a lot of time and money finding the original 3, 4, 8, or 16-track master (whether 1/2", 1", or 2"), the 1st-generation 2-track midown tape (either 1/4" or 1/2"), or both. They then use high a high quality system of electronics and recorders to create that new master tape. The newly-created master is used to cut a new lacquer, a new father and mother, and new stampers, all done to the highest standards. If you think mass-produced LP’s (routinely made from 2nd or 3rd-generation "safety" tapes) were ever made with this degree of care, you are free to try to find a few "good" ones.
It is arguable that every audiophile-quality LP is a White Hot Stamper disc, as the reissue companies press a very low number of LP’s from each stamper, all copies therefore being far more alike that dissimilar. The question then becomes: Does the passage of time from the making of the recording have more of a deleterious effect on the sound of the master tape than do all the factors covered above, or visa versa? For a good test, compare an original UK "pink" label Island Tea For The Tillerman to the current Analogue Productions LP. I have my answer.
Not even mentioned are the compromises made in mastering and LP production in the old days. Bass was routinely rolled off below 100Hz (or summed to mono---or both), and compression was applied to reduce dynamic range, and that’s just to name two. The best LP’s ever made are those being made now, by far.
Every piece of gear used to make an LP has an effect upon the PVC disc you place on your turntable. The recording microphones and their related electronics (mic pre-amps, etc.), the multi-track recorder, the 2-track mixdown deck, the recording and mixing consoles, the outboard gear (limiters, equalizers, etc.)---everything. Then the lacquer-cutting machine and it’s electronics, the talent of the mastering engineer, the quality of the "fathers" and then "mothers" created from the lacquer, the plating of the mothers, the quality of the stampers (each mother is used to make a certain number of stampers, and each stamper a certain number of LP’s, those numbers a reflection of the quality standards of all involved), the quality of the PVC used to make the LP, and on and on.
The matter of original pressings vs. "audiophile" reissues has been raised. When Music Direct bought MoFi, they hired Tim de Paravicini (EAR Yoshino, Luxman) to design a perfectionist mastering chain. Kavi Alexander had previously hired Tim to design electronics for the recorder he uses to make his incredible Water Lily label recordings. The electronics employed in the making of mass-produced LP’s (whether White Hot Stamper or otherwise) vary in quality, but it is quite safe to assume that none approach the quality of that found in the LP-producing equipment found at Mofi’s RTI pressing plant, Analogue Productions’ QRP, and Pallas in Germany. It is like comparing a mass-market budget surround-sound receiver to a high-end pre-amp and power amp (such as made by EAR Yoshino and Luxman). And the 180 gram PVC pellets those plants use to make their LP’s is vastly better than was the vinyl used in the 60’s/70’s/80, etc.
When Kevin Gray and Ryan K. Smith create a new production master tape for an audiophile reissue, they spend a lot of time and money finding the original 3, 4, 8, or 16-track master (whether 1/2", 1", or 2"), the 1st-generation 2-track midown tape (either 1/4" or 1/2"), or both. They then use high a high quality system of electronics and recorders to create that new master tape. The newly-created master is used to cut a new lacquer, a new father and mother, and new stampers, all done to the highest standards. If you think mass-produced LP’s (routinely made from 2nd or 3rd-generation "safety" tapes) were ever made with this degree of care, you are free to try to find a few "good" ones.
It is arguable that every audiophile-quality LP is a White Hot Stamper disc, as the reissue companies press a very low number of LP’s from each stamper, all copies therefore being far more alike that dissimilar. The question then becomes: Does the passage of time from the making of the recording have more of a deleterious effect on the sound of the master tape than do all the factors covered above, or visa versa? For a good test, compare an original UK "pink" label Island Tea For The Tillerman to the current Analogue Productions LP. I have my answer.
Not even mentioned are the compromises made in mastering and LP production in the old days. Bass was routinely rolled off below 100Hz (or summed to mono---or both), and compression was applied to reduce dynamic range, and that’s just to name two. The best LP’s ever made are those being made now, by far.