@faustuss Oddly, many digital titles do not have the dynamic range of their analog counterparts for the simple reason that the digital release has expectation of being played in a car while the LP version does not.
Distortion obscures low level detail. The dynamic range you're talking about isn't the same thing as 'dynamics' to which so many audiophiles refer. The latter tends to be caused by distortion rather than actual dynamic range.
So as a result lower distortion amplifiers tend to sound less 'dynamic'. This is simply because the ear uses higher ordered harmonics to sense sound pressure. If this is coming in the form of distortion it can have the effect of greater 'dynamics'. This has absolutely nothing to do with the dynamic range of the recorded media.
Dynamic compression is nothing new, it has been used routinely since the beginning of electronic recording and the signal to noise ratio of the recording medium, tape, vinyl, CD, SACD, MP3 etc., is truly the only limiting factor. With the exception of classical music and maybe acoustic jazz, popular music and rock is recorded routinely with only but a few decibels of dynamic range simply because its just loud or compression is used as a matter of course from an artistic effect and the type of limiting or brick walling you're referring to on CDs is relatively recent occurrence due to the fact that iPods and low bit streaming have taken over as the format of choice by most listeners over the past couple of decades. The intent being that the louder the new hot single is the more attention it gets. Commercially produced CDs often contain exactly what crescendos, subtlety or nuance the artist, producer and the engineers intended depending on what type of music and audience they intend to market to. Sometimes the studio executives decide otherwise and the release formats are mastered differently.
