Analogue from Digital

 By the mid 1980's just about everything was recorded digitally

that's not true

I also see no point now in buying any new vinyl. It’s almost all digitized now and notice the vagueness where most new pressings now never say it’s all analogue. This is because I have found out that the cutting lathes are driven digitally. So even if great care was taken keep it all analogue the final “mile” of the signal going to the lathe is often digital.

the sound of most new vinyl including reissues is antiseptic, loud, and flat. The original analogue vinyl may not be as in-your-face loud with every instrument overhyped as with the new digitized pressings. But I typically find the older original pressings are more liquid with depth, warmth, and ambiance

dacs have improved greatly and continue to improve. Buying new or new reissue vinyl means you are stuck with whatever digital converter they used at the cutting lathe.

I continue to buy original vinyl but will no longer spend money on new pressings. Been disappointed too many times with loud antiseptic flat grainy sound.

I also see no point now in buying any new vinyl. It’s almost all digitized now and notice the vagueness where most new pressings now never say it’s all analogue. This is because I have found out that the cutting lathes are driven digitally. So even if great care was taken keep it all analogue the final “mile” of the signal going to the lathe is often digital. 

the sound of most new vinyl including reissues is antiseptic, loud, and flat. The original vintage vinyl may not be as in-your-face loud with every instrument overhyped as with the new (digitized) pressings. But I typically find the older vintage pressings are more liquid and musical with depth, warmth, and ambience 

dacs have improved greatly and continue to improve. Buying new or new reissue vinyl means you are stuck with whatever digital converter they used at the cutting lathe. 

I continue to buy vintage vinyl but will no longer spend on new pressings. Been disappointed too many times with loud antiseptic flat grainy sound. 

• The correct answer nobody wants to give is vinyl always sounds better because even if all you do is drag a stylus through it this at least is analog, and analog beats digital, full stop period.

I get the sarcasm. But the appropriate answer is more nuanced.   I have just added a high end clock to my all digital system.  It is very revealing and my take from listening to it relates directly to this point.  

I feel that it is not really relevant what the source of the new recording was, digital or analog (leave aside extreme cases like direct to disc).   The real difference is in home replay.

Digital studios (all studios nowadays?) generally use excellent clocks and most listeners (in my opinion, all listeners) would not be able to tell the difference between the two types of masters in the studio - if anyone ever made that experiment. 

Digital signal reconstruction is difficult to time and without a high accuracy clock (even a good TCXO wont cut it) in the digital stream prior to conversion in home systems, analog is going to win most times.

The fact that digital mastering makes sense in so many other ways is neither here nor there.  Give psychoacoustics its credit - it was only in its implementation in the home digital process over the last 40 years where things went wrong, i.e. market considerations and the belief that all consumers are idiots.

But now very good quality digital clocks for home systems are cheap.  How long before this permeates into the audiophile collective unconscious? 

Best wishes
Aubrey

@mikelavigne  I agree.  I have 28,700 LPs/7,000 CDs/7,000 78s.  I stopped purchasing jazz LPs (so many great but expensive recordings) and substituted CD versions.  So many are absolutely wonderful.  I have good quality audio gear and a great room so that's my advantage.   I intend to eliminate about 8,000 LPs and 2,000 78s over time (I've sold 18,000 records over the years) as I am a listener and not a collector (hence like @millercarbon, I listen to music almost always absent doing chores, just in the listening room).