Actually, the original production’s overall sonic ambience is what drew me to the music in the first place. No issue w/the original recording at all ( Album Of The Year, c’mon). Too, much of the "ethereal" sound was instigated by Dylan himself. Lanois recalled in one interview how Dylan asked him if he could make the harmonica on one specific song sound "more electric". Lanois ended up using a Tube Screamer overdrive/distortion pedal (for the guitarists out there, you’ll recognize this very widely-used effects pedal (Stevie Ray Vaughan, Lee Ritenour, Trey Anastasio, John Mayer and Gary Moore are/were among its users). Dylan liked the sound so much, he had Lanois use it on every song on the album. Add in the fact that the album's recording was started (and finished) in an old, circa 1940s Mexican porno cinema in Oxnard California that Lanois transformed into a studio, and.........there you go. Instant ambience.
So one could say the original production is closer to what Dylan heard in his head, and so...........is what HE really wanted us to hear.