Return to Vinyl

[Squishman]

I bet that is loudness wars. You don't have to use much, or any for that matter, dynamic compression on digital sources like CDs. They have to use a modicum of compression when mastering an LP, or you get no playing time. So what you are actually experiencing is an abuse of technology.

Fortunately in the classical domain that is not an issue, as producers and engineers want to take full advantage of the dynamic range offered by digital technology.
I do have a few CDs of some of my favorite LPs, and the dynamic range of the CDs is greater.

There is a Badfinger LP called "Ass". It was their last LP on Apple Records. The mastering sounds no better than an FM broadcast. Then 20 or so years later, a Japanese limited edition CD came out with the same horrible mastering! I bought it thinking it'd be better than the LP. I sold it on Ebay around the year 2001 for $212! A couple years ago, I bought the remastered LP that sounds terrific, like it should have sounded originally. But, this is kind of off the topic I suppose.

 

[TLS Guy]

There is a Badfinger LP called "Ass". It was their last LP on Apple Records. The mastering sounds no better than an FM broadcast. Then 20 or so years later, a Japanese limited edition CD came out with the same horrible mastering! I bought it thinking it'd be better than the LP. I sold it on Ebay around the year 2001 for $212! A couple years ago, I bought the remastered LP that sounds terrific, like it should have sounded originally. But, this is kind of off the topic I suppose.

Not really, you have made my point, that they were forced to master the LP differently and the LP was have been made from the studio master and not the one used to in the digital conversion.