Vinyl and the mastering decisions that distinguish the best pressings from the merely adequate is a technical topic that has real aesthetic consequences.

Vinyl mastering requires different decisions than digital mastering because the format has different constraints. The high-frequency information that sits easily in a digital file creates sibilance and groove tracking problems in vinyl. The low-frequency information that a digital stream handles without issue can cause the stylus to jump the groove in vinyl. A good vinyl master accounts for these constraints in ways that change the sound.

The best vinyl masters are made by engineers who understand these constraints and work with them rather than against them — who compress the dynamic range appropriately, who manage the stereo width at low frequencies, who make decisions about the overall level that serve the format rather than chasing loudness.

The pressings I find most satisfying are often from smaller labels with mastering engineers who specialize in vinyl rather than the vinyl masterings of major-label digital files. The difference is audible and significant.