Is New Vinyl Exempt from Loudness Wars?

It's hit or miss with the new stuff, for reasons stated above. You have to make sure where it's sourced from.

However, if you go with the established re-issue labels, such as MoFi, DCC, Classic Records and many others, it's clearly stated the records were cut from the original masters, i.e. analog. Do a little research.

There are MANY vinyl records being re-issued from many, many labels now that go back to the ORIGINAL ANALOG MASTERS.

I'd give some links here to internet sellers that specialize in this. There is a TON of good stuff out there sourced from the original analog masters. However, I don't know if it's allowed to give a direct link in this case. If it is, someone please advise and I'll throw a few out there. If it's not and you want to know, send me an e-mail and I'll answer directly.

I've got a LOT of the re-issue stuff, and it's very,very good. WAY Better than any CD version, and usually better than hi-res digital files.

Be advised, as a disclaimer, I am a resolute vinyl junkie. To me the best vinyl always trumps the best digital.

Cheers,                         Crazy Bill

Audiotomb,
The simple answer is money. People will buy them because they think that new vinyl carefully remastered must sound better than the original stuff.
Not so.

Now, in most of the cases, the remastered stuff has been carefully remastered by very competent folks. I won’t mention names. The problem, as I have seen it, is HOW GOOD is the original master tape.

Let’s just use an example of one of my fave classic rock bands; Jethro Tull.
I’ve got original first pressing Island Pink,Chrysalis,Reissues by DCC,MoFi. The sound quality is all over the lot. Usually, I prefer first pressing stuff from Germany. Nothing sounds more open and real to me than those pressings. In the case of Aqualung, I’ve got just about all the important varieties including the Classic Records 45 rpm Clarity Vinyl version, and you know what ?

They all sound like shit. Because, in a nutshell, the original master tape is just that. Not good. The Clarity Vinyl version is the best of the lot, but still not good. Sad, because I love Aqualung, and its hard for me to listen to any version.

That said, most of my re-issue stuff ( and I’ve got a lot ), is very good. But there are some bad ones too. It’s hit or miss. The reviews by the major mags can help a little, but they don’t review them all, so you’re taking a chance.

In many cases the master tapes are old and have degraded over time. Remember that the good first pressings were made from fresh master tapes, and the reissues were made from aged master tapes. The stuff from the 60’s and 70’s is now 40-50 yrs old.

As an example, the last Doors re-issues that used the untouched master tapes were those by DCC. After that the master tapes had deteriorated so much that they needed some digital repair. That said, I have one of the box sets made that way and they are quite good.

For the record, I’ve got a fair amount of Sundazed re-issues. Most of them are excellent, but not all. It’s hit or miss with those and any re-issue.

Cheers, Crazy Bill

P.S. I must disagree ( though only a little ) with Raul about forgoing vinyl and going all digital. While I still prefer vinyl over digital, digital has improved. And as Raul has correctly pointed out, to a point where it is crazy good and very real sounding. But be advised that I’m basing my findings on some very high end digital stuff. My stuff is pretty good ( computer source and three DACs: ifi IDAC2, Weiss DAC202, and Auralic vega played back through high end headphone set-ups ) My buddy’s set-up is actually surreal it’s so good, but between everything ( power,source,DAC and headphone set-up, we’re talking a quesstimate of 70-75K ).

Right now, as I write this, I’m listening to the ifi through Sennheiser HD650 w/ Cardas cable, and I’m feeling no need to stop. For a diehard vinyl junkie like myself, that is saying a lot. So, while I myself will never give up vinyl, Raul’s advice could be totally appropriate for many of you.

Cheers again, Crazy Bill