Vinyl for Digitally Recorded Music - ?

In most cases with the LP, you are getting an analog of the original resolution, almost always 24-bit dynamic resolution with sampling rate ranging from 88.2 to 192 Khz. The D-to-A conversion is also usually done on pro-level equipment. With a CD of that recording, the playback resolution has been reduced to 16/44.1, or about 1/4 of the original data.

It's true that my very best LPs were recorded in analog with an unmatched lushness and ampbience, but several of my recent digitally-recorded LPs sound very good as well, such as James Taylor's "Covers" album, McCartney's "Memory Almost Full," and Charlie Haden's "Ramblin' Boy."

I have a modest LP rig at about $1K total-- Technics SL1210 with vibration/resonance controlling aftermarket tweaks and Audio Technica AT150MLX playing into a Cambridge 640P. This deck consistently plays back digitally recorded or remastered LPs with more warmth and liveliness than the CDs of the same. I'll take playback sourced directly from 24/96 over something dithered down to 16/44.1 any time.

What would be a much closer comparison would be a well-done digitally recorded LP vs. the 24/96 digital masters available directly from vendors such as HDTracks.

02-18-11: Inna
Albert and Johnnyb53, I would like to test this and hear for myself. Could you recommend couple of LPs where the recording and/or mastering was done in digital?

My previous post mentioned three digitally recorded LPs that I like. Others include most of the low-cost $11.99 LP reissues on OJC (Original Jazz Classics). Granted, the $35-40 all-analog reissues sound better, but many of the $11.99 ones digitally remastered at Fantasy Studios aren't half bad. Also, Pat Metheny went digital when he moved to Geffen records, and I have a few of the European-pressed LPs--Still Life (talking), Letter from Home, and especially Question and Answer. Q&A sounds especially good, though I had to get it from the UK on eBay.

02-18-11: Albertporter
...although I have no proof I'm betting the Allison Krauss live LP set on Mo Fi is digital master.

I have two Norah Jones LPs, "Live from Austin TX" and "Come Away with Me", the latter mastered by Bernie Grundman on Classic Records. On its own, the Live album sounds excellent and I'd hardly suspect it's a digital recording were it not for the incredibly lush and ambient "Come Away with Me." I definitely prefer the LP over the CD regardless.

Speaking of Alison Kraus, I have the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou on both CD and LP. I'm sure it was originally digitally recorded, but I definitely get more enjoyment out of the LP than the CD.

I just recently got the Metheny Nonesuch double LP of Day Trip and Tokyo Day Trip Live. I don't know which way it was recorded, but I suspect it was digitally recorded. Whatever it was, the LP sound is awesome and the ambience is pretty lush. By that I mean you can really hear the room and the instruments' bloom, resonance, and decay.

02-18-11: Albertporter
Yep, that new Metheny, "Day Trip" is a great sounding LP.

I found mine on sale at Music Direct (3 LP + free CD) at $19.99, making it a true bargain and far more enjoyable musically than I expected...

Yeah, I got mine on the same sale (MusicDirect, Acoustic Sounds, and Elusive Disc all had that sale) plus James Taylor's Mud Slide Slim, Ricki Lee Jones (self-titled debut), and Van Morrison and the Street Choir for $11.99, Faces' A Nod is as Good as a Wink for $12.99 and Chicago (the horn band's second album, not the soundtrack or the Fosse musical) for $16.99. I particularly like the Ricki Lee Jones and Van Morrison remasters (and the Metheny, of course).