"The muddy waters of Analogue vs. digital today"
"But when we go out into the market to purchase a vinyl recording, how do we know how good the sonics on that recording will be? For analogue audiophiles, most new reissues or new music will probably come from a digital source unless the album says that it was pressed from an analogue source. How do we know the quality of that digital source, as well as how well the recording engineers pressed music from that source?"
Its as simple as knowing who produced the reissue. Why would ever rely on chatgpt? It's information is only as good as the sources its compiling from many of which are from forums like this one of which the validity of the information presented is dubious at best. Take what you've read in this thread for instance!
When purchasing new vinyl there is usually one or more hype stickers on the shrink or bag that the jacket is packaged in where the record company wants to catch the eye of the discriminating audiophile. Phrases like, mastered from the original analog tapes or all analog mastering or if there is a digital step, sourced from the original analog masters. There is also a lot of fine print on the lower reverse side of the album jacket that will often disclose the source, the mastering engineer and where the lacquers were cut. For instance, most releases from the Neal Young Archives, The Estate of Frank Zappa, many of the mass-produced Elvis Costello reissues. Only requires your due diligence.
Many reissue companies specialize in using all analog elements whenever possible like Analog Productions, Speakers Corner, Blue Note Tone Poet, Blue Note Classics, Rhino etc.. Then there are those that use the best possible high rez sources as well as analog, Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs, Music on Vinyl, Run Out Groove, Pure Pleasure to name a few. You can also look at who did the vinyl lacquering or the direct metal mastering. Chris Bellman, Kevin Grey, Bernie Grundman, Mathew Lutthans, Ryan K. Smith, Myles Showell and many more who don't want to be associated with anything but the best productions. As for whether you enjoy the sonics of a particular mastering or not, well I guess that's a matter of taste.
