I have perhaps a bit more western interpretation of the oriental concepts, aka for example Alan Watts type stuff. I wish in a ideal world that the music industry actually cared about making good recordings instead of money as the lowest common denominator....funny isn't it, the MUSIC industry...oxymoron
Oh so do I, so do I! It doesn't take away from the fact however that those in the industry that DO care about making good recordings are doing so in a constraint filled environment. That is, down to the tools available at hand too. Just as in any human endeavor, limits are set and you either take them or try to find ways to mitigate the deleterious effects often times creatively.
What I'm saying is the message isn't the medium. If a message is simple and of little importance like a note to pick up a loaf of bread at the supermarket, it doesn't matter if it is a hand written post-it or a text message on your phone. The medium however can be used to reinforce the message but you will find, it is only to give the message more import and not change the message itself. A thank you note hand written in stationary versus a text. A full blown presentation versus a printed report. A ransom note made up of cut out letters from magazines versus an e-mail. I digress.
The creative process is also always influenced by how the creator envisions the message to be delivered. Take Opera. The vocal parts are written in such a way that requires the singers to sing the way they do. The change formant structure allows the audience to understand the lyrics as singing in this fashion allows them to not be masked as much by the accompanying orchestra or even chorus because he knows singing "normally" wouldn't work in the typical opera venues. So, as you say, a lot DOES happen along the way and it starts even before a single note is tracked. Decisions are made and these are hopefully not all made in a vacuum.
RIAA is a necessity just as dither is, as well as compression employed to be loud while staying below 0dB above which all hell breaks loose. Those are limitations set by the medium. So the question is again begged. Do we consider deviations distortions or are they merely decisions knowing that the end products made from the and not necessarily the master itself was an integral part of the whole process? The end product after all is the delivery product. That is where OUR part begins. Reproduction. Given that the LP and Digital copies will be different, fidelity begins at OUR source and those sources are our Files, LPs, Tapes or Optical discs. That makes them completely separate challenges.
That there are many people who find more enjoyment from analog over digital and vice versa is inconsequential to an individual who just wants to enjoy his music collection. Why one likes one more than the other is beside the point in as far as those of us who DO make efforts to optimize both. We too are working within constraints. My analog front end took another leap forward a few months ago and now I have a new DAC on the way, a new Server and ordered a new CD player last night. I'm certainly not a digital hater but I'm also not an apologist for digital. As Gary says, both are getting better. Neither are perfect and I'm perfectly okay with that truth. I do however want more MUSIC and that is MY constraint. If an album comes out that I really like, I want to be able to play it back as best I can whatever medium it comes in. I'm not asking anybody to get on or stay on the train. I just don't want to get off just yet.
In fact the selfish thought of not having more people get into vinyl crosses my mind a lot. &$*%(%^ are driving up used LP prices! Grrrrrrrrr.
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